Earlier this month, students from OCSA’s Math Club placed second in the team-based round of the District Math Competition at Valencia College Osceola Campus! All of Wednesday, April 3, they were tested in concepts such as geometry, algebra and pre-calculus.
In the team-based round the competitors answered four questions, including a tiebreaker, and showed their work to earn more points. They also competed in an individual round, the 9-10 and 11-12 grade division scores were then combined in the overall round.
When asked how he prepared for the competition, Senior Band major, Arturo Williams, said, “Last year I went to the same competition, and I was the only one from my group that had gone so I knew some of the types of questions.” Thanks to his experience, he already knew that the questions would be word-based and provide excess information in attempt to trick the competitors. He also used problems from last year to familiarize his teammates with the questions, “Those practice problems are basically what helped us get ready for the competition and get to know each other so we can collaborate.”
The four teammates practiced improving their math skills and teamwork during their preparation. Growing comfortable with each other was imperative to their success and allowed them to rely on each other’s strengths! Williams elaborates, “I didn’t really know them much, two of them are from the same major but I haven’t really talked to them a lot.” Geometry is not his strong suit so he mostly left those problems to his team, offering information where he could.
Regarding the competition, Williams says, “I felt pretty good, just seeing everybody from different schools, seeing what shirts they were wearing… I think we just did really well and getting second place, going in with no expectations, was good.” Congratulations to Math Club for their impressive accomplishment at the District Math Competition!
