Ryan W., an eighth-grader at Henry James and a First Class scout in Troop 175, competed on March 13 in the State MATHCOUNTS Competition in Hartford, Connecticut. Ryan's team of four 8th-grade boys from Henry James came away with a first-place trophy, with Ryan leading the way by placing 11th individually out of the 170 competitors from around Connecticut.
The MATHCOUNTS Competition is a national middle school competitive mathematics program that promotes mathematics achievement through a series of fun and challenging math contests. Participating schools hold a series of tests to determine team and individual "mathletes" to compete at a Regional level.
Four students, including Ryan Weathers, were chosen to represent the Henry James team, and four additional students were to compete as individuals. Team members competed in three rounds: Sprint, Target, and Team.
* The Sprint Round (40 minutes) consists of 30 problems. This round tests accuracy under time pressure, without use of a calculator.
* The Target Round (30 minutes) consists of 8 problems. This round features multi-step problems that engage mathletes in mathematical reasoning and problem-solving processes.
* The Team Round (20 minutes) consists of 10 problems that team members work together to solve. Team member interaction is permitted and encouraged during this round.
For team members, both individual and team scores are tallied, and trophies awarded to the top scoring teams. In the Regional competition against Greater Hartford schools, the Henry James team took home the second place trophy and earned the opportunity to compete in the State competition one month later.
At the State competition, there were 170 mathletes from all around Connecticut, generally the highest-scoring 25% of all competitors from the Regionals. With Henry James' team scoring first place, their math teacher will represent the Connecticut team at the National competition in Orlando, Florida, in May. The top four individual scorers from Connecticut will compete at Nationals.
Troop 175 Congratulates Ryan and his teammates for this outstanding achievement.
