Math Counts!

Math Counts HL Story1  Mikaela Salzetti, Drake Thomas, Ean Atchley, David Beck and Coach David Thomas.

Math Counts HL Story2  Drake Thomas, winner; will compete in MathCounts National competition in Florida, on May 11, 2012.

A Kenai Middle School (KMS) team of four students—Ean Atchley, David Beck, Mikaela Salzetti, and Drake Thomas—accompanied by Coach David Thomas competed in Anchorage in the Statewide MathCounts Finals on Saturday, March 31, 2012, and scored! The top nine teams from throughout the state competed in three rounds of very difficult math problems.

This is the first year of competition for KMS; they competed against traditional powerhouse schools Romig Middle School and Goldenview Middle School from the Anchorage School District, along with teams from throughout the state. The KMS Team placed first! KMS students each put forth extra effort during the last six weeks in preparation, and significantly improved their performance. It added up, as Mikaela Salzetti placed eighth as an individual out of the entire state, and Drake Thomas finished first in individual competitions!

In addition, close to twenty students from Homer Middle School (HMS) have been working with Coach Sara Reinert on Friday mornings in addition to their regular math work. Eight students from Homer traveled to Anchorage as the official competitors, four of which were the official team and four were official individuals: Official Team: Aurora Waclawski, Molly Mitchell, Kyle Carroll, and Zane Boyer and Official Individuals: Jared Gee, Hunter Harris, Logan Harris, and August Kilcher. The HMS official team placed fourth in the Anchorage meet! A student from Connections Homeschool in Homer also competed.

Math Counts HL Story3  Homer Middle School team and individual competitors.

What’s the KPBSD sum of the competition?
• The KMS team placed first in the state!
• Drake Thomas (KMS) finished first in the individual competition, and Mikaela Salzetti (KMS) placed eighth as an individual out of the entire state.
• The HMS official team placed fourth in the Anchorage regional meet!

The top four individuals from throughout the state will represent Alaska at National MathCounts on May 11, 2012, in Florida … so Drake Thomas from Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Kenai Middle School, will be part of the Alaska team going to National MathCounts!

Assistant Superintendent Sean Dusek said, “It is exciting to see our students compete with the best in the state in the world of Math! I am very proud of our Kenai Middle and Homer Middle students and staff for their outstanding performance and effort in this arena. This type of opportunity allows our students to show their knowledge and problem solving skills in an area not normally recognized. As a math teacher, I understand the hard work and background knowledge necessary to successfully compete in this type of competition, and really look forward to the national competition along with more of our schools participating next year!”

In addition, KMS principal Vaughn Dosko said, “The results of the competition did not surprise me. These students have put in countless hours studying and preparing. The staff at Kenai Middle is proud of these competitors. Good Luck at NATIONALS Drake!”

On April 13, schools from around the KPBSD will compete at Homer Middle School in an unofficial MathCounts meet.

Sample MathCounts warm up questions:
• What is the positive difference between the value of 2 × (3 + 4) and the value of 2 × 3 + 4?

• Each day a man floating on a raft paddles 3 mi north, but each night while he rests, the current of the river carries the raft 2 miles south. How many days will it take him to first reach a location 50 mi north of his starting location?

• Safir can choose how he gets paid for a job. He can be paid $1000 all at once, or he can earn $1 for the first day, $2 for the second, $4 for the third, and so on, so that each day’s pay is double that of the previous day. What is the positive difference of the total amounts Samir can be paid for completing a ten-day job, based on these two compensation plans?

• The president of the student body estimated that 2 out of every 3 students at Creighton Middle School would attend the Spring Festival. If there are 1140 students at this school, according to the estimate, how many students will not attend the Spring Festival?

• Some radio stations have call letters that contain 4 letters. Two examples are KTOO and WFXM. The first letter must be a K or W, and the last 3 letters can be any letter except K or W. How many different 4-letter arrangements of station call letters are possible?

• What is the smallest positive integer that is greater than 100 and leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 3, a remainder of 2 when divided by 5 and a remainder of 3 when divided by 7?

www.MathCounts.org

Math Counts National Competition