By Maya Viswanathan and Annika Blackburn
Everyone waited excitedly in the huge room. In the front of the room, the Mathcounts chapter awards were announced. The awards were handed out to the top three teams. These awards decided who would continue to the state competition. The teams waited nervously. The announcer announced Uni in second place. Uni was one of the best schools, everyone expected them to be first. The room buzzed with shock that someone beat them, and wondered who it was. It was Jefferson Middle School.
This is what it must have been like when Jefferson won first place at the 2002 Mathcounts chapter competition. I have done many math competitions, and Mathcounts is one of my favorites. The first two rounds are like any other math competition. You work on them by yourself, trying to finish all the problems in the time you are given. But afterwards, Mathcounts has two other rounds that are very different from any other math competition I’ve done – the team round and the countdown round.
In the team round, a team of four people work together to solve ten problems in twenty minutes. I really enjoy getting to work on problems with friends. You get to discuss problems with one another and each person does what they are good at. There is less pressure than during the individual rounds.
“I am a huge advocate for students learning in a group setting so the team round is my favorite of all the rounds,” said Ms. Fox, the team’s coach. “Students get to share ideas and work together towards a common answer. It is during the team round when the richest conversations about math take place. Not only does a student need to know HOW to do a problem, but also he/she needs to be able to defend and explain their thinking to teammates.” I agree, because you are working together, you get to discuss things and learn from each other. Also, you get to spend time with your friends on the team.
I think the team round has less pressure than the individual rounds, but the countdown round definitely has more. During the countdown round one person represents their school. Two kids try to solve a problem and when they know the answer they press a buzzer. The kid that gets more right advances to the next round. The countdown round is in a huge room, where everyone is watching you. Some of the kids are really fast. Sometimes, you can’t even finish reading the question before they buzz in.
Still, there is a thrill of excitement that I felt when I was doing the countdown round. When I did it, I was scared but afterwards I realized that I really enjoyed it. “The countdown is for fun so I support any student that wants to participate in it,” said Ms. Fox. “It takes a lot of courage to be your school countdown round person, with everyone watching and listening to you do math. So not only does the countdown round help build number sense, but it also builds character for doing things that are out of your comfort zone.”
In Mathcounts there is added excitement, not only from the countdown round but also because if you do well, your team might go to state. Ms. Fox took the Jefferson team to state three times – in 2001, 2002, and 2004. “It was held on a college campus up in Chicago and we were worried about getting lost if we walked around the building. It was fun to compete though, knowing we were at the State level, The exams were all set up the exact same way, so students still felt like it was a regular competition.” Unfortunately, this year, Jefferson didn’t get to go to state, but maybe next year.
“Go for it! Try it out!” said Ms. Fox. “There are many problems that stump me too – it is normal to have math confuse you. The secret is to keep at it until you understand it and get it. That’s when the math gets easier and you are growing your brain. That’s how learning happens.”
This advice is true – it worked for me and I am sure that it work for anyone else who wants to join Mathcounts, but aren’t sure if they will be able to do it. I used to lack confidence in math, so naturally I was afraid to try out. I decided to go anyway, just to try it. I ended up learning so much and having so much fun. Imagine sitting in a peaceful room with your friends, you are all sitting around a table solving math problems. You try together, fail together, learn together, and you succeed together. When you do Mathcounts you grow your brain, get better grades in your math class, and you become so much more confident in math.
A typical day in Mathcounts would be getting a worksheet, doing it with your friends, asking Ms. Fox questions, and then getting to check your answers the next week. Some of the problems that we solve are challenging, but the harder the problem is, the more that you learn. It always feels so satisfying when you solve a difficult problem correctly, all of your hard work was worth it. Mathcounts is for every grade and every skill-level. It is all about improving your math skills, having good time, and attending an exciting competition. That is why I am encouraging you to join Mathcounts, even if math isn’t your favorite subject you will have lots of fun. If we continue with our hard-work and determination we may just make it to State next year —or beyond.