Southwest Mathletes compete

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 21, 2008

Southwest Middle School Mathletes competed in local contests of the national Mathcounts program on Feb. 8 in St. Peter. The competition was organized by the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers Traverse Des Sioux Chapter.

A total of 23 schools and 163 students competed in the event. Schools represented were: Cleveland Public School, Fairmont Junior High School, Gibbon- Fairfax-Winthrop Middle School, Hutchinson Middle School, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, Le Center, Le Sueur-Henderson Middle School, Lincoln Junior High School, Loyola Catholic School, Madelia Public School, Mankato East Junior High School, New Century Charter School, New Ulm Area Catholic Schools, New Ulm Middle School, Prairie Lutheran School, Sibley East Junior High School, Sleepy Eye Public School, Southwest Middle School, St. Mary&8217;s School, St. Paul&8217;s Lutheran, St. Peter Lutheran School, St. Peter Middle School and Trinity Lutheran School.

Teachers and students prepared for the competition since the fall. Students competed individually and as teams in written and fast-paced oral matches. Subjects included algebra, probability, statistics and geometry. Winners for the top 10 individuals and top 10 teams received trophies and the top four in both categories will advance to the state Mathcounts finals to be held in Plymouth on March 15.

Email newsletter signup

The Southwest Middle School team placed seventh in the team competition. Matt Buhr placed 10th in the individual competition.

Participating Mathletes from Southwest Middle School included Matt Buhr, Kayln Stensrud, Stuart Behling and Tyler Le. Marcie Maier trained and prepared the Mathletes for competition.

Mathcounts is a national program designed to improve math skills among U.S. students. The program focuses on middle school students, who are at a crucial stage in developing and sustaining math interest and ability.