With the ability to solve complex equations in a single bound, four of the territory’s brightest mathematical minds were chosen on St. Thomas Thursday from a field of 22 to take on the mainland’s best at the national Mathcounts competition in May.
Mathcounts is a national program meant to foster interest in math among middle school students, and the annual competition, held for sixth- through eighth-graders, tests their skills in algebra, geometry, probability and statistics.
The territorial competition, held this year at Palms Court Harborview Hotel, is broken up into two parts, team and individual competitions. The team competition, determines the winning coach, while the individual competitions determines which of the top four "mathletes" overall will head to nationals in May, according to the district’s Mathematics Coordinator Ludence Romney.
Antilles School won in the team competition this year after beating out St. Croix Country Day School in the finals. Other schools fielding teams this year were: Arthur Richards Jr. High School, Elena Christian Junior High, Good Hope School, Addelita Cancryn Jr. High School, Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School and the V.I. Montessori School and International Academy.
Students also battled it out during two rounds — the Spirit and Target rounds — of individual competition. The top eight "mathletes" then faced off in a final Countdown round, after which the final four winners were announced.
Romney said in past years, the private schools were better represented, but this time, the public schools also had a good showing, fielding two out of the four final winners.
Romney said that’s because Education has been starting students out early, on the elementary school level, so they’re more ready when they enter junior high to participate in the competition.
"There are several things we’re trying to do to make sure our students are successful in any subject area," he said. "So this is some of the evidence of it. And it’s not just the competition we want them to be good at — we just want them to be good when they leave school, period."
The top four players this year are: Jerrad Havemann from Antilles, JuLysah Willock from Elena Christian, Mary Buendia from BCB and Osaze Newton from Country Day. Raheem Knight from Elena Christian will be the alternate, while Michele Garcia from Antilles is the winning coach.
"I’m really excited and surprised — I didn’t even think I would make it to the countdown (last) round," Buendia, this year’s top player, said after the competition. Her third year participating in Math Counts, Buendia said a lot of "practice and confidence" will help her team make it through nationals.
Havemann, a third-year Math Counts competitor, said he was just as shocked at his progress Thursday.
"Really, I didn’t think I would make it this far," he said. "I’m in eighth grade, I’ve competed for three years and this is the first time I’ve ever made it this far. So, I’m shocked and surprised, but I’m also happy."
Just as excited as her student, coach Garcia said she thinks her new team has a "good shot" at nationals.
"I’m super excited, really happy that it’s both public and private schools represented here," she said. "I was a public school teacher before coming here and I always kind of privately root for the public school kids to do well and to make it to nationals and now here it is, two public, two private. I think we’ve got a pretty good shot, and we’re going to have fun while we’re up there, too."
Both districts are represented among the new teammates, with two students from St. Thomas-St. John and two from St. Croix.
The team leaves for the nation’s capital on May 5, with the competition scheduled for May 6, and will return on May 8 after seeing the sights, Romney said.
The competition is sponsored by the V.I. Education and the Rotary Club of St. Thomas II.