MUSCATINE, Iowa–Though some students may groan at the thought of doing math for fun, 59 students from eight regional schools enjoyed themselves at the MATHCOUNTS contest hosted by Stanley Consultants. A tradition for more than 26 years, Stanley welcomed the chance to bring students together for fun and learning again Feb. 10 for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eric Cole, an electrical engineer in the distribution department, felt excited to lead this year’s competition for the first time, as he competed in MATHCOUNTS as a middle school student. A four round competition, students start with a quick individual round aptly named the sprint round, followed by the target round, where they complete longer problems individually. Next, a team round changes things up, allowing a group of four students from each school to work together to answer questions. In the final countdown round, the top 10 overall individuals face off to determine who earns the honor of first, second, and third place.
Filled with questions designed to test the skills of even advanced math students, Cole felt pleased he could help students step out of their comfort zone at school and push themselves to succeed in the contest. I think it’s a good way to get students out of school and meting other students,” he said. “It’s nice they get challenged more than they usually do.”
This year, many local schools competed, with students from Grant Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School, Madison Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, Mulberry Elementary School, Mediapolis Middle School, Susan Clark Junior High School, and West Liberty Middle School participating. Students worked their hardest to make it to the top, with Evelyn Xu of Mulberry Elementary placing first, Julia McNeely of Mulberry Elementary placing second, and Liam Davis of Jefferson Elementary placing third. At the team level, Mulberry Elementary placed first and Susan Clark placed second.
Dana Carlson, the gifted and talented teacher for Madison and Mulberry Elementary Schools, shared that all of her sixth grade advanced math students have been working to prepare for MATHCOUNTS since they returned from winter break, working through the curriculum the competition provided. After seeing how students from both schools did and having Mulberry place first as a team and have the first and second place winners, she could not have felt better about their performances. “I’m so proud of them!” she enthused. “We said if they could get just one right it would be good, and they came back with way more.”
Evelyn felt good about her first place win too. “I feel amazing–I didn’t think we could do it but we did.” As her team prepares to go on to the state competition, she likes that they get to represent their town for the whole state. “I feel like it’s just an opportunity to have this small town noticed,” she shared.
This year’s state competition will take place March 23 in Ankeny. In the month ahead, Muscatine’s students will prepare themselves to put on distinguished performances there as well.
