Been there, done that, now let’s do better. On February 9th, four math wizards from Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) methodically moved through the first round of Vermont’s MathCounts competition. And just like the year before, 2023, they captured first place trophy at the South West Vermont Regional Championship. But their work in 2024 is not done.
The Fab Four — Thira Roberts, Sam Nicholson, Perry Sexter, and Miles Vernon — now move on to the statewide Vermont MathCounts competition at the University of Vermont. This year the finals will be held on Saturday, March 23rd.
“Last year going to state’s was a little scary,” says Thira. “We were just excited to be there. This time our goal is to do much better, hopefully be one of the best.”
A number of factors account for their added confidence in 2024. “We’re older and we’ve had a year of Algebra with Mr D. (Scott Diedrich, MEMS math teacher and MathCounts Coach),” says Sam. “Our inexperience with Algebra hurt us last year as 7th graders.”
Another asset this year is a new strategy. For the team category, the contestants are given 10 problems to solve in 30 minutes. “A year ago we each worked separately on the questions and picked one for our response,” says Perry. “With all the pressure it was too chaotic.”
For this year’s MathCounts competition, Diedrich encouraged the kids to learn a lesson from 2023 and come up with a smarter approach. “We decided it would be better to match up in pairs for the team competition,” says Miles. “Thira and Perry take the odd number questions and then Sam and I work on the even numbers. It gives us more time for each problem and we can double-check our work.”
The team tournament will not be the only contest for MEMS students on March 23rd. Percy and Miles finished first and second in the individual competition and earned the right to match their math skills with the best in the state.
And there are already early indicators that the MEMS MathCounts tradition will continue in 2025. Three MEMS seventh graders (Marga Camarinta, Aiden Cassan, and George DeSario) delivered individual scores in the regional championships that qualified them for a trip to the state tournament at UVM. The beat goes on.
“I’m really proud of what all our middle school students have accomplished,” says Diedrich. “They come in for added practice during lunch two days every week and work so well together.. They will always be winners, no matter what the outcome.”
MEMS MathCount Regional Champions (L-R) Teacher and coach Scott Diedrich, Perry Sexter, Miles Vernon, Sam Nicholson, Thira Roberts.