Congratulations to fifth graders Madilyn Liska and Gwen Wunderlich and sixth graders Maelys Beachy and Ava Miller for qualifying for and participating in the Elementary Mathleague.org State Competition!
The competition was held virtually on Saturday, May 8 from 2:00-5:30. The four Mid-Prairie Middle Schoolers gathered at the middle school with their coach, Mrs. Rensema, and parent volunteers to take part in the event. Over 280 participants from midwestern states, eight from Iowa, zoomed in for the competition. The event started with the sprint round where individuals had 40 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions without calculators. Then individuals moved into the number sense round with only 10 minutes to attempt 80 problems without a calculator or scratch paper. The target round included 4 pairs of word problems with six minutes per word problem. Finally, the four girls put their heads together for the team round, working on 10 problems within 20 minutes.
Mathleague questions are much harder than typical math problems because the contests are designed to be difficult enough to separate the very best students in the country. Even a score of 50% on a qualifying test is enough to qualify a participant for the next championship round. At Mid-Prairie the contests are seen as a fantastic opportunity to challenge oneself while learning a lot before, during, and after the competitions. It is also an opportunity to instill a love for math.
Fifth graders Madilyn Liska and Gwen Wunderlich qualified for the National Competition, which will be held virtually on June 19.
Left to right: Coach Rensema, Ava Miller, Maelys Beachy, Madilyn Liska and Gwen Wunderlich
