A = 1/2 x B x H y = mx + b
V=LxWxH
V = S^3
Staying Positive+ About Math Weston Ranch Math Cup Story by Khaina Alupay
Weston Ranch High School Junior Community Outreach Intern
On February 21st, fifth graders from George Y. Komure Elementary School, August Knodt Elementary School, and Great Valley Elementary School took a field trip to Weston Ranch High School for a first-ever math competition. The Math Cup challenged fifth graders to work in small teams to solve complex problems as accurately as possible within a limited time frame. The fifth graders were divided by school
and class, then put up into teams of five or six to rotate from table to table, each presenting a different problem. For assistance, students were given guidance at each table from a Weston Ranch High precalculus student. Practice makes perfect. The Math Cup is all about helping students’ practice, refine, and grow at their mathematics skills while most importantly, creating a positive attitude toward math. Studies show that the effects of math anxiety have long-term impacts and can be a direct implication on overall math achievement in a students’ educational career. Stacia Lagomarsino, educator and future teacher program coordinator at MUSD, introduced the event after participating in the University of the Pacific’s Math Steeplechase event. “You’ll notice that no student is singled out. They are working together in teams. It is a friendly competition and these students are having fun,” Ms. Lagomarsino commented during the event.
She, alongside her future teacher students, facilitated the event with the support of Weston Ranch High Principal Mr. Fast. In the large gym, multiple tables were set up each containing math problems of varied difficulty. Precalculus students from Ms. Vang’s and Mr. Allred’s classes guided student teams in the competition and were responsible to score and record each team’s progress for the judges. The problems varied from solving for the number of triangles in a pentagon to finding the area and perimeter of a square. Each team had only six minutes at each table and when the six minutes were over, the teams rotated to a different table with a new math problem to solve. The judges of the competition, Ms. Vang, Mr. Zamarripa, and Mr. Allred, gathered totaled scores and rubrics from the pre-calculus students to evaluate which teams, classes, and overall school won by achieving the highest overall score. The teacher of each winning class was given a small trophy for display, and each winning team of fifth graders earned an
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
A=LxW
FV = P(1 + R x T)
individual ribbon and medal for their teamwork.
excitement, proud to bring their win back to their school site.
“Yes, I would do it again next year. It was a fun and exciting event!” shared Mr. Allred when asked Once the fifth-grade teams “The kids were actually really fun,” about his thoughts on the school’s finished several rounds, the laughed Sumreet Sandhu, a pre- first-ever math competition. schools gathered in the bleachers calculus student from Mr. Allred’s “Participants had such a good eager to learn the results and class. time working together and getting cheered loudly while the judges excited about answering correctly took a few minutes to calculate Alondra Castillo, another pre- and as a math teacher, it was really calculus student from Mr. Allred’s final scores against the rubric. class, shared, “I enjoy helping nice to see.” After a few minutes of scoring, it people, so I liked helping the kids Stacia Lagomarsino hopes to was time to announce the winners a lot.” continue the Math Cup in future of the 2020 Math Cup event. The Math Cup helped teach years. The trophy awarded to Ms. Lagomarsino announced, fifth-grade students the value of August Knodt will become a “The grand winner of the event is… teamwork and a critical thinking traveling trophy amongst Weston August Knodt!” approach. But it also provided a Ranch feeder schools, awarded to platform for the high schoolers to the next school who sweeps the The August Knodt students teach younger students, especially annual Math Cup. victoriously rushed to retrieve the helpful for those interested in Math Cup trophy and chanted in pursuing a career as an educator.
Math Cup Results
Winning School
August Knodt Elementary School Winning Classes Denise Alexander’s 5th Grade Class (August Knodt) Amy McGrew’s 5th Grade Class (Great Valley) Alaine Catanio’s 5th Grade Class (George Komure) Winning Teams August Knodt * Team Equivalent (Mrs Alexander’s Class) * Team Solution (Mrs. Alexander’s Class) * Team Multiples (Mrs. Thompson’s Class) * Team Math Pros (Mrs. Horton’s Class) * Team Falcon’s Math In-N-Out (Mrs. Agdeppals Class) * Team Blue Puppies (Mrs. Huarte’s Class) * Team Red Hawks (Mrs. Huarte’s Class) Great Valley * Team Gloomy Dogs (Mrs. McGrew’s Class) * Team MindCon Kids (Mr. Viera’s Class) * Team 1 (Mr. Brown’s Class) George Komure * Team Denominators (Mrs. Xiong’s Class) * Team Digit Dynamites (Mrs. Catanio’s Class) * Team Schutte 1 (Mrs. Schutte’s Class) * Team Brainics (Mrs. Scott’s Class)
