SE Valley Times

Kyrene Altadeña Middle School's Mathcounts team achieved a fifth-place finish at the Papago Chapter Mathcounts competition on February 1. This marked a notable debut for the school's new math club.

Mathcounts is a national program aimed at engaging middle school students in mathematics. It was introduced to select Kyrene School District middle schools this academic year, offering students opportunities to enhance problem-solving skills and participate in math challenges.

At Altadeña, 27 students joined the Mathcounts club under the guidance of math teacher Megan Shafer, who has a background as a semiconductor process engineer. The students met after school 12 times from August to January to prepare for their school-wide Mathcounts competition. The top 14 finishers advanced to compete at the chapter level against other regional schools.

The Kyrene Altadeña team included Andrea Leong, Ethan Shell, Rhys Rebennack, Gavin Loomis, Liam Wright, Natalia Bakavelou, Laura Hoyt, David Langlois, Quinn McGuigan, Cassandra Rosenow, Sadie Minder, Erika Chuang, Sophie Wen, and Kateri Petersen.

During the Papago Chapter competition, Ethan Shell, Andrea Leong, David Langlois, and Sadie Minder earned fifth place medals in the team event. Individually, Ethan placed 12th and Andrea placed 18th among the top 20 competitors.

"It was incredible to see our mathletes compete with such determination and excitement. They were definitely in their element," Shafer said. “I was especially proud of our team’s dedication and the strong representation of girls in STEM. With nine of our 14 competitors being girls, our team had the highest female participation in the Papago Chapter."

The expansion of Kyrene’s Mathcounts program received support from industry partners like 3M and Honeywell. These companies covered entrance fees and provided additional resources such as lunch and volunteers.

Looking ahead with optimism due to having only two eighth graders on her young team this year Shafer stated: "We have a strong foundation; I can’t wait to see what these students accomplish next year."

The winning team members were Luiz Lopes (Mathcounts Chapter Coordinator), Andrea Leong (6th grade), Ethan Shell (7th grade), David Langlois (6th grade), Sadie Minder (7th grade), alongside Coach Megan Shafer.