MATHCOUNTS 2010

Important Dates

February 1-28, 2010
Chapter Competitions

March 1-28, 2010
State Competitions

May 6-9, 2010
The 2010 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition will be held in Orlando, Florida!

MATHCOUNTS season is upon us! The Metro West Mathcounts Regional Competition will be held at Waukesha North High School on February 6, 2010.   The Metro East Regional Competition will be held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Student Life and Campus Center on February 6, 2010.  We are always looking for volunteers to help proctor and grade at the Regional Competition.  If you are interested, please contact us. For those of you unaware of the program, MATHCOUNTS is a math competition for 6th, 7th and 8th graders of local middle schools.  The Regional Competition is the beginning step for “mathletes”.  The top schools and individuals of that competition go to Madison in March and compete for a chance to represent Wisconsin at the National Competition in May 2010.

The National Competition has been getting great exposure with broadcasts on ESPN and visits to the White House.  The 2006 National Champion was even on the Weekend Today Show after the competition!

Besides volunteering at the Regional Competition, another way to help the MATHCOUNTS program is to make a donation to Engineers Foundation of Wisconsin (EFW) and put MATHCOUNTS in the memo line.  Donations to EFW are tax deductible. 

Our Chapter of WSPE has been hosting this Regional Competition for over 20 years.  Volunteers show up year after year because we believe this is a great way to expose kids to math and get them excited about engineering.  Please come join us or consider a donation to help keep this great program going.

If you need any additional information regarding the Metro West competition, contact Kerry Hardin at 262‑317-3283 or e-mail: kerry.hardin@rasmithnational.com
 
If you need any additional information regarding the Metro East Competition at MSOE, contact Todd Stelmacher at 414-291-8840 or e-mail todd.stelmacher@symbiontonline.com

Thanks,
Kerry Hardin, P.E. and Todd Stelmacher P.E.
MATHCOUNTS Coordinators

About MATHCOUNTS
MATHCOUNTS® is a national math enrichment, coaching & competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state & territory. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, MATHCOUNTS is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors & students.

Thousands of teachers use the free MATHCOUNTS curriculum materials to supplement classroom materials or as an extracurricular activity. Those wishing to fully capitalize on the ability of the creative MATHCOUNTS materials to challenge students & motivate them to develop strong math skills also participate in the MATHCOUNTS competition series.

Schools select students to compete individually or as part of a team in one of the more than 500 written & oral competitions held nationwide. Top students advance to the state, & ultimately, national level. MATHCOUNTS challenges students' math skills, develops their self-confidence & rewards them for their achievements.

For more information regarding the National MATHCOUNTS competition please visit the MATHCOUNTS website at www.mathcounts.org

For further information regarding your local Chapter and State competitions please contact Norm Arendt 2009 MATHCOUNTS state Coordinator at narendt@sehinc.com.

Here are some important MATHCOUNTS dates to remember:
By September 30, 2008 – School Kits Distributed To All Schools. Still need one? Contact Your State Or Chapter Coordinator.
October through December 2008 – School Competitions Mailed To Registered Schools
December 12, 2008 – Registration Deadline
February 1-28, 2009 – Chapter Competitions
March 7, 2009 – State Competition (Lowell Center in Madison, Wisconsin)
May 7-10, 2009 – The Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition will be held in Orlando, Florida

2008 Wisconsin State MATHCOUNTS Information

Velma Hamilton Middle School from Madison put on quite a show, qualifying five for the state competition and placing all five in the top ten at the state competition. After an exciting countdown round, the state team was decided; two from Velma Hamilton Middle School, one from Thomas Jefferson Middle School (also of Madison), and one from Odyssey Magellan Charter School. The team consisted of Abraham Shin and William Xiang from Velma Hamilton Middle School, Laura Xu from Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Killian Kvalvik from Odyssey Magellan Middle School. Amy Hua from Velma Hamilton Middle School started in ninth position in the countdown round and advanced all the way to fifth, just barely losing out to fellow teammate William Xiang.

The team competition was a one-team show by Velma Hamilton. By virtue of winning the team competition, Velma Hamilton's coach Loi Chi Nguyen will coach the state team. A distant second was awarded to Odyssey Magellan Charter School followed by Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Bay View Middle School. The team scores showed the power of Velma Hamilton this year: 44.00 to 37.50, 34.75 and 26.75 for the top four teams.

No team scored question ten correct and no individual scored question eight on the target round correct. However, in the scoring room, Kyle Stankowski, a three-time state team member and now a volunteer, showed the mathematics staff (with two colleges present) in the scoring room how to do both questions quickly and correctly. HUM.... Rumor has it that as soon as he graduates from college, he is assured of a college teaching job. Interesting that in the demonstration countdown round between Iris Xu, Pooja Shah and Kyle (all former Mathletes®), Iris defeated Kyle in the championship one question match. Afterwards, Kyle’s only comment was that he has never beaten Iris in the countdown round. For the record, Kyle was Wisconsin champion twice.

Many thanks go out to Chi Epsilon Engineering Society at UW-Madison, the UW engineering magazine, and on-campus staff for assisting with the competition by providing over 20 volunteers. Thanks to the UW-Engineering Extension for providing the location for the competition and assisting with every aspect of the event. Special thanks to the 12 WSPE members who assisted. And many thanks to those who just plain volunteered because they enjoy doing it and are not associated with the above organizations.

2008 National MATHCOUNTS Information

The Lockheed Martin 25th National MATHCOUNTS Competition was held at the Marriott Denver Tech Center on May 9, 2008. The Wisconsin team, consisting of Abraham Shin of Velma Hamilton Middle School, Laura Xu of Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Killian Kvalvik of Odyssey Magellan Middle School, and William Xiang of Velma Hamilton Middle School, placed 22nd among 56 teams. Loi Nguyen of Velma Hamilton Middle School coached the team. Kvalvik had the highest individual score for the team, as he placed 17th. Next was Shin, who placed 45th. To show the intensity of the competition, the difference of the 28 places was 4 points. Another award won by Kvalvik was the Repeat Award for competing at National for the second time. Only 38 Mathletes® received the Repeat Award.

The Texas team, consisting of Bobby Shen of Sugarland, Kevin Tian of Austin, Ding Zhou of Houston, Kevin Li of College Station, and coach Jeff Boyd of Sugarland, placed first. The Washington team took second place, and the Maryland team took third. Darryl Wu of Bellevue, Washington won the National Championship when Bobby Shen of Texas dropped to second place in the Countdown Round (CDR). Wu is the youngest Mathlete® to win the National Championship.

Since this was the 25th Awards Banquet, the MATHCOUNTS Foundation awarded eight engineers the “IN RECOGNITION OF 25 YEARS OF EXEMPLARY SERVICE” award. Darwin Behlke, P.E., of the Southeast Chapter, was one of the eight engineers recognized.

The 2009 National Competition will take place in Orlando on May 8, 2009.