April 4, 2018

Mathematics takes center stage at High School Math Meet

A pin drop could be heard while students took individual exams at the High School Math Meet.

More than 200 students from 16 high schools participated in the 44th annual High School Math Meet

Mathematics took center stage at the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Wednesday, April 4, as more than 200 students from 16 high schools participated in its 44^th annual High School Math Meet at Yellowjacket Union.

High school students throughout the state in grades six through 12 competed individually and as teams, solving problems in the areas of geometry, calculus, algebra, trigonometry, probability and statistics.

“I’ve been bringing students to this event for nine years,” said Tanya Amys, math teacher at Northwestern High School in Maple, Wis. “I’m an alum of UW-Superior and I had some of the professors who help organize this event. It’s a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves and test their knowledge and compete with other top math students. It gets them excited and energized about math.”

The UW-Superior Mathematics and Computer Science Department hosts the annual event, designing the competition format and writing the exams.

“Faculty and staff commit their time throughout the event and students serve as proctors for the team event, aid in grading, and vet answers during the candy bar quiz,” said Heather Kahler, UW-Superior Senior Lecturer. “It’s an important event for our department and we’re grateful for the participation and support of the high school teachers.”

“It’s brutal, but fun,” said a student from the Cloquet High School team. “We had super hard problems to solve like, “’How many numbers between one and one million have the number two in them?’”

This year’s winning teams in the Small School Division were Shell Lake, Wis., first place, and Northwestern, second place. In the Large School Division, Hayward High School took first place and Superior High School took second place.