ML math teams calculate wins at state contest

Hallett places second, MAE sixth in masters competition; two students also place high in individual rounds

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

The “Math is Cool” teams from Medical Lake's Hallett Elementary and Michael Anderson Elementary both placed high at the state masters competition in Moses Lake over the weekend.

The Hallett sixth-grade team placed second and the MAE team, comprised of both fourth-and third-grade students, placed sixth out of the top 12 Washington teams in Division 2. This division is comprised of smaller school districts from four regions – Seattle, Vancouver, Wenatchee and Spokane.

This is the third year the Hallett math team has made it to state, this time after placing second in regional competition, according to team adviser Wendy Gilbert. Gilbert said four students were chosen to represent the team at state competition because they scored highest on their individual tests at regionals. One of the Hallett students, Jeremy Ryan, placed third at state in the sixth-grade individual testing round and Ben Rose from MAE placed third in his individual category.

“The success that these kids have attained can be attributed to their hard work and dedication to their schooling with great parents and teachers supporting them,” Gilbert said.

According to the Math is Cool Web site, masters competition features more challenging problems than regional competition and consists of two individual rounds, where students work through open-ended and multiple-choice equations, followed by several team events, including team test, pressure, mental math and college bowl rounds.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].