Aragon MTDC hosts annual math competition for middle schoolers

“What’s the smallest possible average of five distinct positive integers?” For middle schoolers participating in Aragon’s fifth annual Math Marathon, this was the first of many problems they encountered at the competition on Friday, Feb. 28.

The Math Marathon is a contest for middle school students to foster their interest in mathematics. It is run by Aragon’s Mathematical Talent Development Commission (MTDC), a branch of the Math Club.

One hundred twenty students from seven different middle schools participated, which is around the same number of participants as last year. Students from Bayside STEM Academy performed especially well this year.

Michael Wang, an eighth grader from Bayside STEM Academy, took first place as an individual. Regarding his victory, he comments, “I didn’t really do well last year. I just wanted to try my best this year and wasn’t really expecting to win anything. I thought that the test this year was even harder.”

He continues, “A lot of the problems required me to think and to find new solutions. Memorizing formulas didn’t work.”
Avichal Goel, an eighth grader also from Bayside STEM Academy, took second place as an individual.

“It’s great to have sixth graders here so they can get to understand the routine…”

Goel says, “I was actually kind of surprised. As I was taking the test, I noticed that the questions were a lot more difficult than last year. Either I was doing really badly or everyone else just thought the questions were harder. Having the challenge was really good, though.”

For many, including Wang, events like the Math Marathon are stepping stones towards career aspirations.

Wang says, “I know I’m going to continue doing math competitions in the future since I’m considering being a computer programmer.”

This marks Wang’s third year attending the Aragon Math Marathon.

Goel, who has also attended the marathon for the third year, explains that what motivates him to compete is his interest in math. He says, “I like participating in math contests and advanced math classes. Of course, winning is also fun.”

Marcus Leubke, a seventh grader from Bayside STEM Academy, took eighth place as an individual. During the contest, he took off his shoes as a means of concentration. Leubke comments, “Well, my shoes are uncomfortable. I take them off whenever I can … even at important meetings.”

“I love math. It makes sense compared to some other subjects. I like doing things that involve math,” Leubke says. “I was expecting to be challenged. I wanted a couple of hours completely devoted to math. I had trouble with trigonometry problems. I was hoping to bring home some problems to my dad and solve them together.”

The marathon has both individual and team scores. In the individual rounds, each student does a set of problems to earn points for themselves. In the team rounds, students compete for team points with a group of students from their school.

Crocker Middle School’s math coach, Perry Kittredge, says, “Every year we have a group of kids who love this stuff. They’re passionate about their pursuit in mathematics. These events create great opportunities for them and they get really excited about it. It’s easy to want to be here with them.”

Kittredge continues, saying, “We had four sixth graders, four eighth graders, and eight seventh graders. The older they get the more experience they have in mathematics and the more competitive they get. It’s great to have the sixth graders here so they get to understand the routine and are more successful as they proceed.”

Pertaining to the level of mathematics, MTDC logistics director senior Patrick Lin says, “It is at a level accessible to most middle school students—basic algebra and possibly geometry.”

The MTDC tech team, under senior Sean Gao, makes the questions. Gao explains, “We basically take inspiration from AMC (American Math Contest) problems and their style and also the CML (California Math League). We try to put a different twist on problems instead of using the same topics.”

Explaining what he hopes students will gain from the event, Lin says, “This will hopefully challenge middle school students, stimulate interest in mathematics and develop the next generation of students that might come to Aragon later.”

Goel concludes, “[The Aragon Math Marathon] actually makes me really look forward to high school and college math.”