SMECO Sponsors 2023 Math Competition

The first-place MATHCOUNTS team from Leonardtown Middle School is Mason Hall, left, Everett Thompson, Isadora Chorney, Morgan Goul, and coach Kathryn Smith.

The Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative sponsored the 29th annual regional MATHCOUNTS competition earlier this month. The February 4 contest, held at Calvert High School, challenged more than 150 students from 17 schools throughout Southern Maryland to test their math skills.

A competitive technological world requires a proficiency in mathematics as a foundation for success in science, technology, and engineering. MATHCOUNTS aims to boost student interest in mathematics by making the subject challenging and entertaining. Each year, more than 500 regional competitions are held in middle schools across the country, with winners advancing to state competitions and then to the national competition.

According to its website, MATHCOUNTS alumni are more likely to continue with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, with three of every four alumni studying a STEM field in college — nearly three times the national average. And MATHCOUNTS builds the critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for success: 95% of teachers believe that MATHCOUNTS problems are effective at improving their students’ problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

The local MATHCOUNTS competition features rounds of mathematics problems to challenge students one-on-one and as teams over the course of the three-hour event. First is the sprint round, a 30-question test that students complete individually. The competitors go next to the target round, where they have four sets of math problems and six minutes to complete each set of two questions.

In the individual competition, which is based on combined scores in the sprint and target rounds, Alexander Luc of Chesapeake Public Charter School in St. Mary’s County finished first, and Mason Hall of Leonardtown Middle School in St. Mary’s County finished second.

The top 12 scorers finish the competition by facing each other in the countdown round, a single-elimination bracket-based tournament in which students must respond verbally to questions in a matter of seconds. Asher Popernack of The Calverton School placed first, and Everett Thompson of Leonardtown Middle School placed second.

In the team round, foursomes of students answer 10 questions in 20 minutes. Leonardtown Middle School won first place; team members included Isadora Chorney, Morgan Goul, Mason Hall, and Everett Thompson, coached by Kathryn Smith. Windy Hill Middle School placed second; team members included Ayodeji Adeshiyan, Madelyn Burkholder, Nick Harrington, and Donovan Stone, coached by Carrie Pendleton.

Northern Middle School won third place; team members included Ali Ahmed, Andrew Bisang, Logan Oberg, and Alex Schultz, coached by Kathy Dempster. The team from Chesapeake Public Charter School took fourth place and Spring Ridge Middle School in St. Mary’s County took fifth place.

Sponsors for the local MATHCOUNTS competition are SMECO and the Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s County public schools. Volunteers from SMECO helped score the tests. Winners of the Southern Maryland chapter competition will go on to compete in the statewide contest at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The top four individual competitors from each state competition receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competition in Orlando, FL, in May.