Lauren O’Malley, Reporter
@LomalleyCourant
Nine minutes on the clock. If even one part of the question is wrong, the team loses the points. Though this is a tense situation, the adrenaline rush, the excitement, and the action is what it is about. This is what it is like to be on the math team. With club adviser Jennifer Lee and senior team captain, Anna Thérèse Mehra paving the way to victory month after month, the team has multiple awards over the past couple of years.
Typically, the math team is split into two groups. Ms. Lee explains that anyone can join. “During the last match on December 4, we took 11 students with us, the 6 A-team members, and 5 students who competed as part of a B-team,” she said, “There is no limit to the number of B-team students we can bring.”
Students never have to worry about being good enough for the team. “(The) Math Team is a great place for students who enjoy math and are competitive.” Said Ms. Lee, “Sometimes the competition topics cover content that is not taught in a traditional math curriculum; as a result, students acquire some math knowledge they might not learn otherwise, such as base notation and divisibility rules.”
The math team participates in the Fairfield County Math League (FCML), “In the past, the team has competed in the New England Math League (NEML).” They decided that this year they will just focus solely on FCML.
Anna remembers when she first started going to practices. “I can’t believe this, but I actually used to come over in 7th grade to join the high school Math Team during their practices, but I was too young to compete so I was not allowed to go on the bus!” She said, “I believe they used to hold their practices in Mr. Phillips’ room, and I used to really love being there with the high school students! It makes me smile to look back on that.” She said that becoming the team captain was always the goal.
When the mathletes join the team, it benefits their math skills inside and outside the math team. “Math Team is incredibly beneficial to keep your math skills sharp since every month for competitions you must be up to par on many different areas of mathematics such as conics, De Moivre’s Theorem, matrices, and probability,” Anna said, “Being on the Math Team also definitely improves abstract thinking in a timed manner – without a calculator. That’s similar to the PSAT, SAT, and ACT exams, so the math team is definitely a help for all of those exams… Math Team is also an important extracurricular for those of us who will be focusing on a STEM major in college.”
Similarly, Ms. Lee said, “Math team practices and competitions can improve your efficiency and accuracy. Also, since we know the topics for each match and round in advance, students can focus on specific content for their individual rounds during our practices,” she said, “after a few practices, they become well-acquainted with their topics and often understand them in a whole new way.”
An important piece of advice Anna would give to her team is, “Like directions to Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice…it’s the same advice I would give the Math Team members! Most importantly, while practicing, we must maximize each other’s strengths, so that as a team – just like in a symphony – we’ll have a trophy-winning performance!”
When Anna described Math Team she said, “My favorite thing about the Math Team is the high energy atmosphere at the academic competitions each month. It’s a unique experience since although it is a competition, it is a competition of minds, so the hundreds of “mathletes” – from approximately 30 competing high schools involved – are all sitting, pouring over very challenging questions, and concentrating very intensely. That’s what makes it exciting! Representing our school is also quite satisfying.”
But, Anna said, “There is only one other girl on the team, freshman, Ella Mihailoff! So girls, come join the Math Team!!”
