Pupils hope efforts add up in Atlanta
If a+4b=33 and 6a+3b=51, what is the value of a+b?
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Riverside Middle School pupils Roger Zhong (from front) Dexter Chan and Andrew Byrd watch the MATHCOUNTS competition in Augusta as they wait for their turn to compete.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Many of the middle school pupils who competed at the MATHCOUNTS competition Friday knew the answer - 12.
Representing 11 schools, including Augusta Preparatory Day School, Evans Middle, Greenbrier Middle, Grovetown Middle, Harlem Middle, Lakeside Middle and Riverside Middle, 68 children vied for the title of the area's top math pupil.
Columbia County pupils walked away with the honors and will now compete in Atlanta on March 19 and could compete in a national contest.
Evans Middle eighth-grader Nick Reed won first place and home-schooled pupil Matthew Sheen took second. Evans Middle School won the team math contest.
All of those pupils will now compete in Atlanta for state titles.
Nick was happy to be going with his team.
"We practice together every week and I think that will help," the 13-year-old said. "We'll be able to help each other."
Matthew Wehman, an eighth-grader at Evans Middle School, participates in the MATHCOUNTS competition. Matthew placed second in the competition.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Matthew, 14, who competed with a team formed by the CSRA Home Education Association, will be competing in Atlanta for the third time.
"This competition is more nerve-wracking to me than the competition in Atlanta," the eighth-grader said. "Well, I don't know. It all makes me nervous."
Sponsored by the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers, the pupils were judged based on three rounds of math problems. At the state contest the pupils also will have to endure a countdown round, where they face off against each other one on one.
MATH COMPETITION WINNERS:
Top Four Teams:
1st: Evans Middle School
2nd: CSRA Home Education Association
3rd: Riverside Middle School
4th: Augusta Preparatory Day School
Top Four Individuals:
1st: Nick Reed, Evans Middle
2nd: Matthew Sheen, CSRA Home Education Association
3rd: Brandon Paschal, Evans Middle
4th: Joe Shepherd, CSRA Home Education Association