Local high schools compete in regional math competition

Over three hundred high school students from Blount, Loudon, and Sevier Counties competed Tuesday, April 21, in the 53rd annual high school mathematics contest hosted jointly by Maryville College and Pellissippi State Technical Community College and sponsored by Tennessee Mathematics Teachers Association. This year’s contest for Center E-6 (Blount, Loudon, and Sevier Counties) was held at the Pellissippi State main campus on Hardin Valley Road. First, second, and third place trophies were awarded in six areas.

The major purposes of the contest are to stimulate interest in mathematics in students’ programs of study, and thereby to raise the level of mathematics competence in Tennessee; and to honor those students who are outstanding in their knowledge of mathematics through appropriate public recognition in their schools and their communities.

The contest is conducted as an academic festival where students represent their school in competition with others at a nearby testing center. These specially-selected school representatives compete with each other for pre-eminence in their region and in the state. Coordinators for Section E-6 this year are Dr. Margie Ribble of the Maryville College mathematics faculty and Jonathan Lamb of the Pellissippi State mathematics faculty. Center E-6 is the only one in the state in which local businesses sponsor trophies in each division of the contest.

Trophy winners and the schools they represent are as follows:

Algebra I:

First place - Ting-Chun Lin, Maryville Middle School

Second place - Yuka Harada, Maryville Middle School

Third place - Anna Barry, Heritage Middle School

Geometry:

First place - Samuel McCachren, Maryville High School

Second place - Bryan Calloway, Maryville High School

Third place - Susanna G. Sneed, Maryville High School

Algebra II:

First place - Austin Blodgett, William Blount High School

Second place - Hyeesun Chun, The King’s Academy