Andrew Bozner and Demir Gunduz focus during the sprint round.
T.T. Davis and Stevie Winer, both from Lincoln Middle School, go head-to-head during the countdown round.
The sound of pencils scratching against paper was the only noise to be heard in the Expedition Island Pavilion Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, it was replaced with the sounds of students calling out numbers and cheering one another on.
The Green River MathCounts Invitational on Friday saw roughly 100 students from middle schools across Southwest Wyoming come together to compete. The schools that participated included Lincoln Middle School, Rock Springs Junior High School, Evanston Middle School, Davis Middle School, Farson-Eden Middle School, Pinedale Middle School, Lander Middle School and Wind River Middle School.
The students started with a sprint round, answering 30 questions in 40 minutes. The second round was a target round, with more focused questions that take more time. Then the students competed together in groups of four during the team round. At the end of the day, the top 12 students went head-to-head in the countdown round, facing off in a single elimination bracket. Students were presented with a question on the projector screen, and the first student to buzz in had the chance to answer. While the countdown round doesn't count for points at this stage, it gives the students bragging rights and extra practice for those that make it all the way to Nationals, where the countdown style does count for points.
"From this region, we've had students go to Nationals several times," Dogan Gunduz explained.
Gunduz is a math teacher at Lincoln Middle School and the head coach for the MathCounts program.
He explained that Lincoln is part of the Southwest region of Wyoming for MathCounts, and each district in the region hosts an invitational. The invitationals take place about every other week from November through February and serve as practice for the chapter competition. This year's chapter competition will take place at Western Wyoming Community College next month. The top three teams from each district are sent to the chapter competition. The top team from the chapter then advances to the State competition, and the top team from State is able to compete at Nationals.
Different schools have different size teams and all practice different amounts, but participation is completely voluntary, with after-school practices for participants. Green River tends to have two practices a week that last from an hour to an hour and a half. The MathCounts program at Lincoln also tends to average about 20 students.
Gunduz explained that MathCounts was originally started in the early 1980s during the Cold War, when there was concern that schools were losing ground and America wouldn't have engineers to beat Russia.
"It was created to bolster our mathematical skills and problem solving skills," Gunduz said.
The focus on problem solving is a key aspect in MathCounts, according to Gunduz.
"These kids see problems that they haven't been taught," he said. "These are middle schoolers, but they may see a ninth grade question, and [they use] whatever skills they have to try to solve problems."
Learning the art of problem solving is just one of the benefits for students who participate in MathCounts, Gunduz said.
Another benefit is that students can "gain confidence, get out of comfort zones, try new things, be challenged academically and socially."
The program allows students to meet new people from other schools, but also helps students connect with their classmates - especially academic students that might not participate in many other activities.
"This is a way to build school spirit and unify kids," Gunduz said. "You're part of the school. There isn't a group of kids excluded because there's nothing for them."
Scores from Green River MATHCOUNTS Invitational:
Top Teams:
1st - Rock Springs Junior High, Team 1
Gregory Lauridsen
Hunter Alton
Kinley Busenbark
Noah George
2nd - Lincoln Middle School, Green River, Team 1
Taryn (TT) Davis
Andrew Bozner
Stevie Winer
Kaiden Olson
3rd - Rock Springs Junior High, Team 2
Blake Davis
Hazel Wheeler
Chris Hayes
Kenneth Knox-Zanetti
Top Individuals:
1st - Taryn (TT) Davis (Green River)
2nd - Gregory Lauridsen (Rock Springs)
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