Junior High Students Count On Math in Competition

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NORMAL - Some kids might groan at the thought of solving math problems during their free time, but more than 60 area junior high school students maxed out the left sides of their brains Saturday morning in the MathCounts competition at Chiddix Junior High School."We had 17 kids interested and only eight slots available on the team. We had to hold a mini contest to choose from them," said Tonya Dieken, a Prairie Central Junior High School math teacher and coach. "It was a unique situation this year."Prairie Centrals team won first place in the team competition and will go to the state meet on March 4. Chiddix Junior High seventh-grader Grace Leighton won first place in the individual competition. She said it takes hard work to be good at math, but its easy to get a lot of practice because its something thats used every day. "Math has always been my favorite subject," she said. "I think its because unlike language arts or social studies, theres always a definite answer."The event was sponsored by the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, said coordinator Philip Matone, who has been helping with the competition for 15 years."We want to get kids involved in math and hopefully generate an interest in engineering and other technical areas," he said. "Its a great tool, and its critical in any technical profession." Chiddix and Bloomington junior high school teams took second and third place. Calvin Wetzel from Prairie Central Junior High, was the second-place winner in the individual competition. Jordan Pilgrim, also from Prairie Central, took third place.

CUTLINE: Grace Leighton of the Chiddix Junior High team looks at the ceiling while working on a math probjem during the countdown round Saturday at Chiddix Junior High School in Normal. Leighton won the round.Calvin Wetzel, of Prairie Central Junior High team, waits his turn to compete in the countdown round Saturday at Chiddix Junor High School in Normal.

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Junior High Students Count On Math in Competition

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