A Piccowaxen Middle School team advances to the state MathCounts event next month after finishing among the top five teams at the regional competition held Feb. 1 at Calvert Middle School. The state competition is set for March 14 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The Piccowaxen team earned fifth place overall among competing teams from Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. Team members are Ethan Harris, sixth grade; Charlie Dement and Addison Sheridan, seventh grade; and Kaitlyn Bassford, eighth grade. Piccowaxen teachers Jill Matthews and Kristi Nelson coach the team.
Three additional Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students qualified to advance to the state event based on their individual performance. They are Simon Dean, Theodore G. Davis Middle School, sixth grade; Taylor Ellis, Milton M. Somers Middle School, seventh grade; and Andrew Bell, John Hanson Middle School, eighth grade.
The competition includes four rounds in which students compete and earn points both as a team and individuals. The rounds include a sprint round, target round, team round and countdown round.
In the sprint round, students individually complete a 30-question test. In the target round, students receive four sets of math problems and have six minutes to complete each set. During the team round, students have 20 minutes to complete 10 questions as a team. The final round is a Jeopardy-style round in which the top 12 students compete against each other.
MathCounts is an educational partnership involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. The three participating school districts and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SMECO) sponsor the regional event with support from the National Society of Professional Engineers. SMECO volunteers help to score the tests.
The top four individual competitors from each state receive an all-expense paid trip to the national competition held annually in May. Visit https://www.mathcounts.org/ for more information.
The Piccowaxen team earned fifth place overall among competing teams from Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. Team members are Ethan Harris, sixth grade; Charlie Dement and Addison Sheridan, seventh grade; and Kaitlyn Bassford, eighth grade. Piccowaxen teachers Jill Matthews and Kristi Nelson coach the team.
Three additional Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students qualified to advance to the state event based on their individual performance. They are Simon Dean, Theodore G. Davis Middle School, sixth grade; Taylor Ellis, Milton M. Somers Middle School, seventh grade; and Andrew Bell, John Hanson Middle School, eighth grade.
The competition includes four rounds in which students compete and earn points both as a team and individuals. The rounds include a sprint round, target round, team round and countdown round.
In the sprint round, students individually complete a 30-question test. In the target round, students receive four sets of math problems and have six minutes to complete each set. During the team round, students have 20 minutes to complete 10 questions as a team. The final round is a Jeopardy-style round in which the top 12 students compete against each other.
MathCounts is an educational partnership involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. The three participating school districts and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SMECO) sponsor the regional event with support from the National Society of Professional Engineers. SMECO volunteers help to score the tests.
The top four individual competitors from each state receive an all-expense paid trip to the national competition held annually in May. Visit https://www.mathcounts.org/ for more information.