Local students rank 12th in national math competition

A group of students from Castle Dome Middle School were recently ranked 12th in the nation and second in the state during the American Math Challenge, a national online competition.

Led by their math teacher, Rosaline Williams, over 40 middle school Mathlete students participated in the contest, performing math problems for almost two full days.

The students began their Curriculum Mathletics challenge on Oct. 16 by solving problems made up of 50 different mathematical concepts. On Oct. 17, students also participated in 100 Live Mathematics challenges.

Students participated in the contest from their campus math lab computers and were also allowed to login and compete from their home computers as well.

“It's great to see students so excited about math,” said Williams.

Of the 484 schools that entered The American Math Challenge for 2012, Castle Dome ranked ahead of schools in California, Alabama, Florida, Ohio and many other states. Castle Dome was also the only Yuma-area school that participated and one of almost a dozen Arizona schools. They ranked fifth in the Top 20 Secondary Schools and 10th in the Top 20 Elementary Schools categories.

In regards to individual students, Alexander Bourque finished 46th out of the top 100 secondary school students in the country and Kaitlyn Cofske and Nicole Miller finished 88th and 90th respectively.

“Students have rallied around our Mathletes,” said Principal Lori Sheffield. “To finish in the top 100 students in the nation participating is a huge honor for these students, their families and our school.”

The top teams in the competition will participate in the World Education Games in March.

Visit www.mathletics.com/americanmathchallenge/ for more information about The American Math Challenge.

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.