When other middle school-aged youngsters are wearing pajamas, watching cartoons and eating cereal, a few of our local students were sitting in a cafeteria wielding calculators and pencils. In school on a Saturday? Yes!
These students are participating in the 2014 GCCTM Math Contest (Greater Cleveland Council of Teachers of Mathematics) held at Cardinal Middle School on March 8. The purpose of the contest is to stimulate interest in mathematics among middle-school students. Students who are mathematically talented are able to find a broader field of competition, a chance to apply their knowledge, and a chance to meet other students with similar interests.
Students from Cardinal Middle School worked in teams of three on four events during the contest. CMS was represented by two teams of seventh graders and two teams of eighth graders. The teams competed at Cardinal Middle School against approximately 80 other students from 6 other area schools.
The 7th grade teams of Leona Mullet, Emily Soltis, and Mikayla Vlach; and Matt Carney, Kevin Hammitt, and Jacob Volante each earned a blue ribbon. The 8th grade team of Matt Stanziale, Hanna Traggiai, and Brendan White also earned a ribbon. The remaining 8th grade team of Anna Avalon, Patrick Lanstrum, and Ella Rhodes earned a red ribbon.
At about 9:00 a.m., the contest got underway. The first event, Six Places to Start, presents seven problems. The first six problems must be solved by the team before the seventh can be attacked because the answers to the first six problems are incorporated into the seventh problem.
The second event, Mental Math, will have students working individually to solve two sets of mental math questions. Each set has 15 questions.
For event three, Hurdles, the team will solve a sequence of problems. The first problem must be solved before the team can dash to a designated point to pick up the next problem. This active event is a student favorite.
In the fourth and final event of the contest, the team of three attacks twenty problems known as The Pile. They solve as many problems as possible within a time limit.
The problems used in the contest consist of challenging problems of the types found in textbooks and other math contests. While algebraic techniques can provide an advantage in any problem solving situation, all the problems can be solved by non-algebraic means. A committee of the Greater Cleveland Council Teachers of Mathematics prepared the contest questions.
Performance in these events is scored by a group of volunteers, often including teachers from the visiting schools. Each team receives an award.
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