A team of Wellwood students is celebrating a big win after securing second place in the First in Math State Competition.
The 8th grade students started their journey in March for the regional competition. Ali Yaman, Aaron Olech, and Xzavier Shumway competed in three rounds of timed, five-minute online math games. The team secured first place in the region, earning Wellwood a $1,000 prize and an invitation to the New York State Math Tournament Championship Finals, held at the New York State Museum in Albany.
Xzavier was unable to attend the finals, so Noah Kopiasz stepped in and traveled with the team to compete in Albany on May 31. The top schools from each region, at each grade level were invited to the state tournament, where they competed in three rounds of 24. To play 24, students used the fraction cards to make circles that totaled an integer, with the goal of ending with the highest possible integer total. Wellwood’s team moved onto the semifinal round due to having one of the top three scores.
“It was a fantastic experience and a proud moment for Wellwood and the Fayetteville-Manlius community,” said Wellwood Principal Trisha Fogarty.
In the semifinal round, students had to work as a team to explain to a panel of judges how each student participated in the completion of their game board, the strategies they used, and the mathematics behind calculating their total score. Led by math teacher Mrs. Aldrich, the team performed exceptionally well, placing 2nd overall in the state!