Mathematics as a Competitive Sport – Colegio Interamericano

posted February 26, 2014
Victoria Pira, Curriculum Coordinator

The MATHRELAY and MATHCOUNTS events are international activities designed to increase interest and involvement in mathematics among middle school students. It heightens alumni interest in academics by making mathematic achievements as challenging, exciting and prestigious as any school sport.

SONY DSC — Students are given time sensitive challenges, in which a quick mental calculation can make the difference between a first place medal and going home empty handed.

This year, The American School of San Salvador organized both the MATH RELAY, on February 14^th , and the MATHCOUNTS competition, on the 15^th. Eleven schools participated: American School of El Salvador, American School of Guatemala, American School of Tegucigalpa of Honduras, Antigua International School of Guatemala, British School of El Salvador, Colegio Internacional de San Salvador, Escuela Internacional Sampedrana of Honduras, Lincoln International Academy of Nicaragua, Maya School of El Salvador, Panamerican School of El Salvador and our school, Colegio Interamericano of Guatemala.

For the competitions, each school selected 16 students who participated in the MATH RELAY in teams of eight, and in the MATHCOUNTS as part of a 4 student team. The participating Middle Schoolers from Inter were: Team A: Hyun Joon Sung, Sabrina Tobar, Javier Arévalo, and Sebastián Montes. Team B: Eric Assa, Carlos Enrique Murillo, Stephan Billingslea and Laura González; Team C: Robbi Jaber, Katya Castellanos, Lucía Galindo, and Sergio Martínez, and team D:Ye Jin Kim, Gabriel Rámila, Martín Rivera Spross, and Carlos Ríos.

la foto 3_1 — The American School of San Salvador did a great job at hosting this prestigious competition, giving ample support to visiting parents, students and staff.

This year Interamericano had an official coach, Ms. Michelle Alvarado, and two assistant coaches, both high school students who participated in Math Counts three years ago, Dieter Erben and Gabriel Rivera. Alvarado also invited a 6^th grade and 7^th grade students, Javier Galindo and Rodrigo Velásquez, to come along with the official teams to participate in a mixed team competition and get them ready for next year.

la foto 2 — In-between competitions the Interamericano teams had a chance to get to know el Salvador and enjoy some delicious local cuisine.

At all levels MATH RELAY and MATHCOUNTS challenge students’ math’s skills, develops their confidence and rewards them for their achievements. Our students excelled in the competition and were awarded an outstanding 2^nd place in MATHCOUNTS for team A and the 5^th place for team B. The school also had 5 of top 20 mathletes in Central America: Javier Arévalo (6^th), Hyun Joon Sung (12^th). Eric Assa (14th), Sabrina Tobar and Sebastián Montes (18th, both).