Fishers High School wins mathematics competition
FOR RELEASE: Monday, October 15, 2007
Huntington, Ind.-The annual Huntington University High School Mathematics Competition took place Oct. 10 in the Science Hall at the university. Twelve area high schools met to compete for individual and team awards for the demonstration of mathematical ability. The teams were comprised of Adams Central High School of Monroe, Ind.; Ayersville High School of Defiance, Ohio; Delta High School of Muncie, Ind.; Fishers High School of Fishers, Ind.; Hamilton Southeastern High School of Fishers, Ind.; Huntington Area Home Educators; Maconaquah High School of Bunker Hill, Ind.; Marion High School of Marion, Ind.; Parkway High School of Rockford, Ohio, South Bend Clay High School of South Bend, Ind.; Southern Wells High School of Poneto, Ind.; and Stryker High School of Stryker, Ohio.
After three rounds of competition, the scores were tallied for both teams and individuals. Awards were presented to the top three finishers. The title of first place team was given to Fishers High School earning a score of 410. Coming in second for the team competition was South Bend Clay High School with 395 points. Marion High School came in third place with a score of 370.
As expected, the three teams were represented in the individual results of the competition also. The first place individual was junior Justin Chen with 150 points. Parth Patel, a senior from Fishers High School, earned 130 to capture the silver medal. Third place was determined by a tiebreaker and was earned by senior Cheng Lung Chung of South Bend Clay High School.
The mathematics competition is made up of three rounds. The first round is a 20-question written exam comprised of questions from algebra through calculus. Students may earn a total of 100 points for this exam as well as for the individual test.
The individual round of the competition is made up of 10 questions. Students are given two minutes to complete each question. Questions answered correctly within the first minute earn the student 10 points while questions answered correctly in the second minute are worth five points. In the case of a tie in the individual competition, an 11th individual question is handed out to those in the tie. The first competitor to correctly answer the question is deemed the winner of the tie.
In the final round, the team test provides additional points for the team score. Students are given five multi-task problems best solved through the cooperative efforts of the team. A total of 25 points is possible for the final round.
Joshua Fitzgerald, a sophomore mathematics education major from New Haven, Ind., coordinated the competition with assistance from Dr. Jeff Lehman, associate professor of computer science, and Dr. Bobbi Buchholz, assistant professor of mathematics.
In the spring, the Huntington University Department of Mathematics and Computer Science will hold a math competition for middle schools.
The goal of each competition is to support and encourage the efforts of students seeking to achieve great things in mathematics. More information and pictures from the competition day may be found at www.huntington.edu/math/competition.
