Few events honor kids who excel at math with the same fanfare reserved for young athletes.
The Monroe County Math League (MCML) All-Star Meet aimed to change that.
After a five-year break due to the pandemic and a bus driver shortage, the math competition returned to Nazareth University in late March to showcase students and schools across Monroe County.
This year, the meet followed a new format to increase interest among students and schools throughout the county.
“We made this one work,” said Jamie Fagan, a teacher at Webster High School. “It’s not the full length that we’ve had in the past, but we figured as long as we get it up and running—then next year, we can make it even better and bring back what it used to be.”
In one competition, students had 20 minutes to solve 10 questions as a team. Everyone on the team went to one room to work together on those questions.
Another competition gave students 10 minutes to answer four sets of two questions individually.
“We want to celebrate the teams that do well but also give an opportunity for individuals to shine,” Fagan said.
Before the pandemic, five meets during the MCML season were hosted at different schools across Monroe County. Since then, the in-season meets have been hosted at each individual school for their participating students, limiting student interaction.
During the regular Math League season, 930 students participated across the county. However, just over 230 students took part in the All-Star Meet.
Many of the students who participate in MCML go on to major in STEM fields after high school, including aerospace engineering, computer science, physics, theoretical math and more.
“The history is that there are a lot of students who are already interested in STEM fields,” Fagan said. “They know that this is the type of problem-solving that will better prepare them for the challenging courses they might take in an engineering-based field.”
—As a Rochester native, Justice Marbury entered the world of journalism to create work where voices like hers were heard—the voices of minority communities. Marbury covers small businesses, neighborhood concerns, and the interesting people who live in Rochester’s 19th Ward. As the 19th Ward reporter, she has helped implement community outreach ideas by asking what people in various communities want to read about themselves in addition to regular news. Contact her on Instagram @justice_marbury and by email at jmarbury@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Monroe County Math League honored top students like star athletes
Reporting by Justice Marbury, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
