Math marathon draws over 140 middle school participants

“The marathon was a lot of fun. There’s not much else to do on a Friday night… [I would have been] just playing video games,” said Anthony Cabuslay, an 8th grader from St. Timothy’s Lutheran School. Not only did Cabuslay have an activity other than video games to do on his Friday evening, but he also won multiple awards at the Aragon Math Marathon that took place on Friday, Feb. 25.

The Aragon Math Marathon ran from 4:00-8:00 p.m. An astounding 142 students from nine different schools participated in the competition. The competition, run by the Aragon Math Club students, was for middle school students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.

The following schools participated: Abbott Middle School, Bayside STEM Academy, Borel Middle School, Bowditch Middle School, Crocker Middle School, The Hamlin School, Odyssey Middle School, St. Timothy’s Lutheran School, and Zion Lutheran School.

The student-organized contest was the product of Senior Amrit Saxena and other dedicated Math Club members’ hard work over the past few years.

Math Teacher Andrea Gould said, “Discussion for the marathon started back when the seniors in the math club were freshman… It took until last year to host the first marathon.”

Many of the Aragon Math Club students participated in math competitions while they were middle school students, and so they know what the content of the problems should be. In addition to prior knowledge, Gould said, “They had a professional contest consultant to help with the level of difficulty.”

This year, in addition to a team round of the marathon, a relay round of the competition was held. Unlike the other components of the competition, in the relay round, students competing on the same team worked on the same problem, but were not allowed to communicate. Every member of the group completed one section of the problem without consulting the other team members.

The relay round at the Aragon Math Marathon 2011 was by far the favorite part of the competition for students. Students from all participating grades enjoyed the unique design of the round. Sidd Viswanathan, an 8th grader from Bowditch Middle School said, “The relay round was just different. I have never had each team member do a different part of the problem. We didn’t communicate to solve the problem.”

The relay round was a test of trust, almost as much as it was of math skills. Jenna Smith, a 7th grader from Abbott Middle school said, “I was working with others by relying on them. We just had to hope for the best.”

Smith said, “As a whole, [the marathon] helped me learn about math in a new way from others in my group.”

The awards ceremony closed the marathon. “The kids loved to be recognized,” Gould said. Trophies, medals, and certificates were given out, and parents cheered for their children’s schools as loudly as is heard at a champion sports game.

Although all of the schools demonstrated strong skills and ability during the marathon, Bowditch stood out at the award ceremony. Bowditch took home more awards than any other school. Bowditch also was noted to have swept the competition last year.

Although some students arrive holding onto the negative stereotype that math is boring, Saxena said, “It shows [the participants] that math is really fun and not boring like some students think. Apart from organizing it, my favorite part of the marathon is seeing the legitimate joy on the faces of the students by the end of the competition. It is very fulfilling.”