Middle school math students from the Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) are building a dynasty. Not once, not twice, but for the third year in a row, the mathematician magicians at MEMS captured the Mathcounts Chapter Team Title for Southwestern Vermont at Mount St. Joseph High School.
“Not only did our four-person team excel in winning the regional title, but all our participants posted winning scores,” said Scott Diedrich, math and science teacher and Mathcounts coach. “Eight of our kids finished in the top nine positions in the individual competition!"
Leading the way for the team was Aiden Cassan with a first place finish in the individual contest. He was joined on the winning team by Marga Camarinta, Sydney Powers, and George Desario. Other MEMS performers rounding out the squad include Evan Cassan, Drew Booth , Avi Evans, and Logan Powers.
The secret sauce to their success is commitment and teamwork. “Starting early in the year the students meet twice a week during lunch on Tuesday and Fridays to practice for the Mathcounts competition,” said Diedrich. “They push and support each other in a quest to get better.”
Over the years the math enthusiasts have refined their strategy for team competition. Initially all four members would work on a problem together, but they soon discovered they could spread out their resources to be more efficient.
“We each take on a different problem by ourselves and then exchange results with a partner so we can check each other’s work,” says Aiden. Adds Sydney: “If the partner agrees with the answer, we move on. If not, we take a look together to figure out why not.”
The students agree that the Mathcounts problems take what they’ve done in the classroom to a higher level. “We need to take what we know and dig deeper,” says Marga. “The competition makes us really think hard,” said George. “It makes us better.”
As in the past, this year’s squad moved on to the state competition at the University of Vermont. The crew woke up early to meet at MEMS at 7 AM before making the two-hour plus trip to Burlington. As in the past two years, the squad fell short of placing in the top three at the state competition, but the effort was worth making.
“The competition at the State Mathcounts is just so much more intense and competitive,” says Diedrich. “Plus, just walking into the buildings at UVM can be intimidating. We may not have brought home a trophey, but it's a great experience for these kids. I’m so proud of what they do as individuals and as a team. And next year will just keep getting better.”
(Photo above: Members of the winning MEMS Mathcounts team gather twice a week on Tuesday and Friday during lunch to prepare for competition. From left to right/ Marga Camarinta, Sydney Powers, Aiden Cassan, and George Desario.)
MEMS Mathcounts team celebrate thier third consecutive SW Vermont Regional title.