RS&H Coordinates the Largest MATHCOUNTS Competition in the Nation

RS&H was once again very involved in another outstanding Northeast Florida Chapter MATHCOUNTS competition on February 26, 2016, at the UNF University Center. Our competition grew again this year, hosting 57 local middle schools from Duval, St. Johns, Clay, and Nassau counties, with 430 students competing in the largest MATHCOUNTS competition in the country.

MATHCOUNTS is the only live middle school (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) math competition of its kind. The Florida program is run by the Florida Engineering Society. Each chapter advances teams and individuals to the state competition based on participation. The top four competitors at state become that state’s team for national competition. The winners at the national MATHCOUNTS competition get an invitation to the White House to meet the President.

RS&H is a sponsor of the Northeast Florida program. As the co-chair of the event, I helped lead a very active committee with more than 25 members. Due to the competition’s size, we coordinate over 150 volunteers over the course of the day.

Following the morning testing, students, teachers, and volunteers enjoyed a pizza lunch with speaker Paula Shepherd, plant manager for sponsor Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. The fun Ciphering Round was won by the team from James Weldon Johnson College Preparatory Middle.

After giving away great raffle prizes to teachers and students, the Countdown Round began. As we have come to expect, the top ten students answered questions faster than our emcee could read them, and it was another very exciting finale to the competition, with last year’s champion winning again through a swift three correct answers in the final round. Dr. Murat Tiryakioglu and Dr. Alexandra Schonning of UNF’s College of Computing, Engineering & Construction helped hand out the awards to the top students and schools.

Thanks to this year’s growth, the top six teams will advance to state competition. In addition, the top two individuals not on an advancing team also qualified for state.