Competition was fierce but friendly at the final Math Wizards meet for the season, which was held in Chatfield on Monday, February 12, 2018.
Students from 12 different schools were excited to be together and anxious to get started on their individual and team tests.
Math Wizards consists of students in grades five and six that possess competitive math solving skills.
There are two leagues in Math Wizards, with six schools represented in each league. These leagues are the north league and the south league.
The south league includes Fillmore Central, Houston, Kingsland, Lanesboro, Mabel-Canton and Spring Grove. Schools in the north league are Chatfield, Dover-Eyota, Lewiston-Altura, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Rushford-Peterson and Wabasha-Kellogg.
Each school is allowed up to two teams per grade for a total of four teams. There are five students to a team, although teams can participate with only four members.
The Math Wizards “season” is early January to mid-February, with a total of three meets.
The first meet is in early January each year, where the north league and south league meet separately.
The first meet for the 2018 season was held at PEM for the north league while the south league met at Kingsland.
The second meet took place at the end of January with the south league meet taking place in Spring Grove while the north league meet was held in Eyota. The leagues held separate meets for this competition as well.
The third and final Math Wizards meet is held annually in mid-February and it is an event all of the participants look forward to as all 12 Math Wizard teams compete against each other at this season finale.
As the students begin arriving to the final meet of the season, it can be a bit chaotic as they are all energized by the thought of competing, but once the participants find their seats and have their tests in front of them they quickly get focused on the task at hand.
Math Wizards meets are made up of four tests: fact drill, two individual tests and a team test.
The first test is the fact drill ,which is a speed drill. The participants are given five minutes to complete the fact drill without the use of calculators.
The second test is the first individual test consisting of 12 questions without the use of calculators.
Thirdly, the students take a second individual test, also with 12 questions, and have the option to use calculators.
The team test is the final test at Math Wizards meets. The teams of four or five students work together to answer 10 questions with the use of calculators.
The top 15 competitors in the five-minute fact drill received ribbons at the final meet in Chatfield. They were congratulated with a round of applause by the other participants and instructors.
Individual scores are compiled by adding together the first individual and second individual test scores. If there is a tie, the student with the highest amount of correct answers on the fact drill will receive top honors.
Team scores are tallied by combining each participant’s two individual test scores and the team test score.
Kate Lund, PEM Math Wizards instructor who helps coordinate the meets, says the competition “definitely gives your top math students a challenging curriculum that they might not normally get in the regular classroom,” and feels Math Wizards benefits the students because it’s really good for teamwork and teaching them how to work together and listen to each other’s ideas while they are solving problems.
Lanesboro’s Math Wizards instructor, Stacey Schultz, commented that the students “work their tails off” preparing for the meets and participating in the meets so they are able to do their best. “It’s fun to see the competition,” notes Schultz.
Lanesboro sixth grade student Indy Qualy, age 12, has been in Math Wizards for two years and enjoys the meets, saying, “It’s fun to be able to place” and go home with a ribbon, trophy or plaque.
Ellie Anderson, also in grade six in Lanesboro, has been involved with Math Wizards for two years and likes to attend Math Wizards meets partly because “you get to go to other schools and you meet other people,” she states.
Although Math Wizards tests can be challenging at times, the students involved have no difficulty enjoying themselves while learning at the same time.
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