Alexandra Harte, Editor
@aharte_courant
There are an infinite amount of numbers from zero to one. There are an infinite amount of numbers from zero to infinity. These unlimited numbers prove everything about what makes our world turn. One simple equation unravels to reveal layers of concepts that require a certain set of skills to solve. These blending of ideas allow for true mathematicians to see the beauty of math. Among these people are Daniel Lu, Adi Ogale and Sachi Krishna, senior captains who contribute to the creative atmosphere of the high school and make it more than simply athletics.
For the past seven to eight years straight, the NCHS math team has qualified for states. With the amount of preparation and teamwork that goes into every competition, it comes as no surprise that this feat has been successfully accomplished this year as well. Wednesday, November 7 at Wilton High School, the math team participated in their second competition of the year for the Fairfield County Math League. This event placed them third in the league out of 26 other teams.
Every year, the math team attends six competitions on the first Wednesday of every month, starting in October. If the team remains in third place by the end of the last competition in March, they not only qualify for states by being in the top 13 teams of the league but also for regionals, which only invites the top three of every league.
To prepare for the competition, the team utilizes the FCML website by using previous year’s questions to guide their studying. “It’s basically taking the problems from the past two years and doing them to see what types of problems and what concepts that these rounds require. By doing them you can get a really good understanding of the content” said Daniel.
To determine who competes in each competition, the team is split up into an A-team and a B-team. “From our A-team, we have five kids who have done it the last two or three years so they know what’s coming. Experience is a really big factor,” said Adi. “As captains, we try to encourage people who’ve done it already to try to compete.”
On the A-team, there is a maximum of six people, and out of those six two have to be underclassmen. To fill the remaining spots, team members take a practice test based on the upcoming topic and whoever scores the highest receives the position. “Usually it works out well,” said math team advisor Anthony Bloss. “It gives every kid an opportunity to be on the A-team.”
Regardless of which team they are placed on, Mr. Bloss encourages all members to attend the competition. “The league itself helps kids learn in that every kid who shows up at a match can participate even if they’re not on the A-team. On the B-team they sit and they take the three rounds like they would if they were on the A-team. Their scores don’t count but at least they get experience in what it’s like to take part in a match,” he said.
Daniel and Adi first became interested in math team as underclassmen when their friends encouraged them to join. “It’s a way to become friends with more people who aren’t in your grade or in your classes,” Adi said. “It’s like an outside sort of friend group.”
This year, the captains are stressing working as a collaborative team and spreading the message that to join the team, students don’t have to be experts at math. “Being part of the team doesn’t mean you have to be good and you have to know everything, it’s also a place where you can learn more and just improve,” Daniel said. “Everyone takes math in school but, beyond that, it’s really what you want to do and to push yourself to learn more and to do more.”
The math team meets Mondays after school in the co-lab in the library from 2:15 to about 3.
“We try to make it very laid-back so it fits the team members’ schedules,” Adi said. If an interested student cannot attend the meetings, then practicing during free time is encouraged.
Mr. Bloss is optimistic about the future of the math team. “This has been a year where I am really excited about where this program can go,” he said. “We have a lot of young, bright kids who are very interested in this, and I just hope that that continues.”
The math team isn’t the only academic team with big goals for the upcoming year. Every Wednesday the newly-created science team is also preparing for the National Science Bowl on April 26 and 27 in Washington, DC. To prepare, they are also using practice questions that Sachi Krishna, co-founder and captain of the science team, has created.
The team also plans on having guest speakers with PhDs and degrees in various sciences attend their club meetings. “We’re having a group called the Yale Scholar Diplomats coming around May. They’re doing this really cool presentation on muscles and bones and how structures work,” said Sachi.
Throughout the year, the club plans on working with middle school students to encourage interest in science at a younger age. According to the science team website, “The middle school branch of the Science Team will focus on increasing the interest of girls in the club while also allowing boys to join, as there seems to be a big disconnect between the number of girls interested in science at the middle school levels and the number of boys interested in science.”
Sachi is excited to watch the science team grow throughout the upcoming year. “I thought it would be cool if we had something for science because we don’t really have any supporting extracurricular science clubs,” Sachi said. “All of my friends wanted to learn about different parts of science but there was no outlet to put it in.”
