Students use number skills in New York’s math championship

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)