Making math count
Local mathletes will represent Yuma in state competition
This Saturday, Mathletes from Crane Middle School and Gowan Science Academy will be crunching numbers with the rest of Arizona’s brightest mathematicians at the Arizona MATHCOUNTS competition for a chance to proceed to the national competition.
To reach the point of competing in state, these students had earned the highest scores in the MATHCOUNTS competition held for Yuma’s Western Arizona Chapter on Feb. 17.
Per a press release from the Yuma International Airport, the competition in Yuma was held virtually with competing teams and students from Centennial Middle School, Crane Middle School, Gowan Science Academy, Southwest Junior High School, Ron Watson Middle School and Wellton Elementary School.
The Yuma MATHCOUNTS Collaboration consists of local engineers, educators and professionals who coordinate support for the coaches and students. But the support continues.
The Yuma International Airport has also been a partner of the competition for years along with Arizona Western College, which traditionally offers a venue when it’s not virtual. Gen Grosse, who represents property and community relations for the Yuma International Airport, explained the airport’s involvement was the result of its director being a member of a professional society of engineers. A believer in the importance of math, the airport’s leadership is proud of the work put in by students and educators.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the
Mathlete coaches who help prepare their students for this event,” Grosse said. “It’s crazy the work they do and the challenges to do it virtually. We’re so proud of everybody.”
The work required from a MATHCOUNTS competition is extensive. Grosse shared that a competition takes about four and a half hours on average and contains written and oral rounds as well as individual and team components. Andi Martinez, a math teacher at Gowan Science Academy, affirmed that the questions aren’t as straightforward as pure computation either. MATHCOUNTS problems are creative and promote critical thinking and problem-solving.
“Today and these past few weeks we’ve been focusing on the lightning round using a buzzer and how fast you have to answer,” Martinez said. “It’s really competitive, but it allows students to develop problem-solving skills and work cooperatively … They get comfortable with each other, put down their guard and be themselves, which happens to be very talented mathematicians.”
At GSA, Martinez shared that they’ve taken a different approach in their preparation. Every Monday, former MATHCOUNTS club and GSA students that are now in high school come to tutor current Mathletes and go through various lessons, problem sets and strategies.
“Kids learn best from somebody similar to their age and so I have Cole Steinmetz and Gwyneth Perea–they’re the real stars in the show,” she said. “They get out of school early at Cibola High School and they give an hour or two each week for the entire school year.”
At Crane Middle School, math teacher and MATHCOUNTS coach Daniel Cervantes Avalos shared that the competition offers more than a traditional math class.
“The competition matters because it fosters student curiosity in math in a way a regular one-hour math class cannot,” he said. “It makes them think outside the box, and they learn about new math concepts we don’t usually get to in class.”
From Crane Middle, Angelina Arnn was very glad to win first individual place in Yuma County and looks forward to competing in state.
“I can’t wait to go to state with my teammates from the team competition round and maybe one of us will have the chance to go to the national competition hopefully!” she said. “Even if we don’t, it was all a very fun experience together and I do recommend people to join, especially if you like math because not only do you learn some new concepts about math, but you build friendships with the people around you and that’s what makes the whole experience memorable.
“Overall, I would like to thank my coach, Mr. Cervantes, and everyone that did MATHCOUNTS because it wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
For Yuma County, the top four placing students that will advance to state along with their teammates include:
• Angelina Arnn, Crane Middle School, 1st place
• Samantha Chulamorkodt, Gowan Science Academy, 2nd place
• Owen Steinmetz, Gowan Science Academy, 3rd place
• Jon Jordan, Gowan Science Academy, 4th place