The King Philip Middle School Math League competed in two math league competitions in February. The group participated in the New England Math League (NEML) competition on Feb. 15 and the Mathcounts Competition on Feb. 17. At each competition, numerous KP students received high scores.

The NEML competition is part of an international math contest given every year. The competition, which includes separate middle school contests for sixth through eighth-grade students, consists of 35 multiple-choice questions for students to complete in 30 minutes. As part of the NEML competition, individual schools award Certificates of Merit to the three highest-scoring students in each grade.

At King Philip Middle School, multiple students tied for the top two scores this year. In eighth grade, Thomas Nerney was named as the top scorer with Alex Ciuica and Rivya Shrivastava tying as the second-highest scorers. In seventh grade, Tanmayee Kolluri was named as the top scorer with Rihanna Alexandropoulos, Cole Soifer and Swathi Sreenath all tying as the second-highest scorers.

Shortly after the NEML competition, King Philip Middle School Math League students also participated in the Mathcounts Competition. The Mathcounts Competition, a nationwide math contest, has four levels (school, chapter, state and national) and consists of four rounds (Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown Rounds).

In the Sprint Round, students have 40 minutes to complete 30 math problems without a calculator. Then, students receive four pairs of problems and have six minutes to complete each pair (calculators are permitted) in the Target Round. For the Team Round, four students work together to solve 10 math problems in 20 minutes (calculators are permitted). The Countdown Round, which is an optional round at every level but national, focuses on speed and accuracy where students have a maximum of 45 seconds to solve a problem without using a calculator.

During this year’s chapter level competition on Feb. 17, King Philip Middle School Math League students Alexandropoulos, Ciuica, Bobby Ford, Kolluri, Molly Milici, Nerney, Sangeetha Senthil Kumar, Aarit Shrivastava, Rivya Shrivastava, Sreenath, Chase Troutman and Ella Wehmeyer competed in three rounds.

 KP Math League seventh-grade student Tanmayee Kolluri was named as the top scorer in the NEML competition.

Of those who competed, Alexandropoulos and Kolluri scored greater than 23. According to the Mathcounts website, “Coaches and students should view an Individual Score of 23 (out of a possible 46) as highly commendable.”

 From left, KP Math League eighth-grade students Rivya Shrivastava, Thomas Nerney, and Alex Ciuica. (Photos courtesy King Philip Regional Public Schools)

“I’m extremely proud of all the hard work and effort that our Math League students put into both competitions this past February,” Meryl Kriegsman, seventh-grade math teacher and KP Math League coach said. “I ask that everyone joins me in congratulating them on their success.”

Added Principal Michelle Kreuzer, “Competitions such as these give our students practical, hands-on experience that allows them to compete with and expand on the skills they are being taught inside our classrooms.”