Math Is Cool

Nine Mile Falls Elementary's Math Is Cool Team.

Students who enjoy and excel in math are invited to join the after school Math Is Cool Club at both elementary schools. Recently, fourth graders competed in the Spokane Area Regional Math Is Cool Contest. Spokane area private and public schools participated in this math competition in which team and individual events are offered. Teams competed in open-ended problem sets, relays, pressure rounds, and college bowl rounds. Students who competed in the individual rounds faced multiple choice and open-ended problem sets. In addition to Spokane, Regional Math Is Cool competitions are held in Moses Lake and Seattle.

Nine Mile Falls Elementary sent one team of fourth graders to the Regional Meet on Friday, March 28th, with approximately 500 competitors. This team, led by Ms. Dawn Toelken, practiced once a week from November through February, then twice a week in March.

Lake Spokane Elementary earned fifth place honors at the fourth grade competition, Division Two. Mrs. Melissa Fuller, the teams’ coach stated, “This is particularly amazing because we only took along 13 students instead of the 16 we planned for, so some of our teams were short some members. We also have a young team—only five of the participants were actually fourth graders.” Competing for Lake Spokane were seven third graders and one first grader! “All the students worked so hard and competed very well. They should be very proud of their efforts. They also had a lot of fun!” she added .

With the fourth place finish, Lake Spokane Elementary has been invited to take one team of four students to the Math is Cool Masters Competition in May. The students are practicing hard and looking forward to a great experience at the Masters.
Mrs. Fuller and Mrs. Alisa Torgerson, the other Math Club Coach, would like to thank the PTN for their support. The PTN funded snack bags and a pizza dinner complete with table decorations and balloons. “The students felt so honored and encouraged. It no doubt helped them on their path to greatness!!” commented Mrs. Fuller. The PTN will be doing the same thing for the fifth grade teams from both schools.

Watch for the results from the Masters Competition and the fifth grade Math Is Cool competition in the June issue.