Student's math skills add up to good year for Evans team

Andy Loper is certain of at least one thing: His interest in math didn't come from his mother.

"I don't think I got anything math from my mom at all," said Andy, the 14-year-old son of Tami Loper, of Martinez, and the late Rick Loper. "I think it all came from my father."

Andy used his mathematics skills to place second in the Georgia Council of Teachers of Math State Middle School Math Meet. The Evans Middle School math team, of which Andy is a member, also placed at the meet.

"I had a terrific math team this year, and Andy was one of them," said Clara McAlhany, a math teacher at Evans Middle and adviser of the math team.

"I had a very cohesive group this year, and they worked really well together."

Andy joined the team as a sixth-grader and plans this year to join the math team at Evans High School, where he will enroll as a freshman.

With the middle school, Andy competed in individual events and paired team contests.

"This year, all I did was algebra level," said Andy, who says Monopoly is his favorite board game.

Other interests include biking with friends. He also enjoys reading, citing The Lord of the Rings trilogy as his favorite novels.

Andy is enrolled in a gifted writing program at Evans High and will take mainly advanced placement classes.

He recently won honorable mention in a Phinizy Swamp Nature Park art contest; his entry used crumpled construction paper and paints to create a night scene of a goose on a lake.

"He's a nice young man, and I just appreciate his efforts," McAlhany said of Andy's work on the math team.

Andy plans to use his love of math long after high school.