ALBANY — Around 150 elementary school students traveled from across the state for a first-of-its-kind competition Saturday at the University at Albany. The skill set needed for these 1st through 5th graders? Mathematics.
The ballroom at UAlbany’s campus center was crowded with tables, each occupied by three students and a proctor. Students competed earlier this year in a virtual regional tournament, with winning teams of 15 — three students per grade — coming from 10 regions across the state. Regional winners won $1,000 for their school district. First-place winners in the statewide championship took home a $5,000 prize; second and third-place winners took home silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The championship was about a year in the making, said Andrea Faoro, program manager and mathematics associate with the Department of Education. It was open to any private, public or charter school. The competition itself was staffed by state-certified teachers trained as proctors, Deputy Education Commissioner Jason Harmon said.
“I think they’re very excited,” Harmon said of the students.
The campus center ballroom was about as noisy as any school cafeteria or playground, with students shouting “Oh no!” when it was announced five minutes remained in a round or it was time to bring it in for a celebratory huddle.
The competition was based on building “wheels” using four different numbered cards on a board. Grades 1 and 2 built wheels with a sum of 10, with points given for how many wheels were made as well as whether or not duplicate numbers were used. Grades 3, 4 and 5 had to find numbers with a common factor to build a wheel, with the number of points corresponding to that common factor.
Ian Jin, a first-grader from Long Island, said his strategy was building wheels in the corners of the board, then the center, and then working outward. Carlos “CJ” Jones, a third-grader from Buffalo, was excited his team had won 92 points by the time the lunch break rolled around.
“If you’re stuck, you can always count on your fingers,” he noted.
Marianne Strayton, president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State and a teacher at Clarkstown School District in Rockland County, said it’s beneficial for students to come together and realize they have shared interests in mathematics. Lynda Brennan, an AMTNYS executive board member and teacher at Suffern Central School District in Rockland County, agreed.
“It’s remarkable. It really is bringing them together,” she said.
Championship winners
First-, second- and third-place winners in each grade were announced Saturday afternoon. The winners are:
1st grade:
- 1st place — Bolivar Road Elementary, Chittenango Central School District (Wilson Cary, Brayden Calabro, John Enders)
- 2nd place — W.S. Mount Elementary, Three Village Central School District (Aurna Chakraborty, Isaac Wang, Michael Gerber)
- 3rd place — P.S. 144 Col. Jeromus Remsen, New York City Community School District 28 (Mark Wofsey, Kara Chen, Owen Forman- Maltz)
2nd grade:
- 1st place — Pine Brook Elementary, Greece Central School District (Gemma Pisciotti, Rediet Yilma, Santino Markle)
- 2nd place — New Explorations Science Technology Math, New York City Community School District 1 (Rinka Akayama, Raima Das, Isabella Lu)
- 3rd place — Deasy Elementary, Glen Cove City School District (Dru Wilson, Tommy Scagliola, Jacob Palazzo)
3rd grade:
- 1st place — Nassakeag Elementary, Three Village Central School District (Talinn Kim, Catherine Hu, Easton Tang)
- 2nd place — George A. Jackson Elementary, Jericho Union Free School District (Eugene Wong, Andrew Li, Matthew Huang)
- 3rd place — Chancellor Livingston Elementary, Rhinebeck Central School District (Alexander Kim, Somi Rothenhaus, Brayden Traudt)
4th grade:
- 1st place — Thornell Road Elementary, Pittsford Central School District (Herene Shim, Naveen Madhavan, Kazmir Povelaites)
- 2nd place — Hinsdale Central Elementary, Hinsdale Central School District (Mya Goodling, Mia Souder, Avery Vosler)
- 3rd place — Hampton Bays Elementary, Hampton Bays Union Free School District (William Loudenslager, Jack Huebner, Annabel Ramsay)
5th grade:
- 1st place — Main Street School, Irvington Union Free School District (Nicholas Bugaj, Ella Soleimani, Cassidy Reichgott)
- 2nd place — George F. Johnson Elementary, Union-Endicott Central School District (Caleb Peck, Sophia Shi, Aidan Lewin)
- 3rd place — P.S. 94 David D. Porter School, New York City School District 26 (Kyle Wang, Nathan Chen Liu, Gabriel Valladares)