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 progress. 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 individual ribbon and medal for their teamwork.

Once the fifth-grade teams finished several rounds, the schools gathered in the bleachers eager to learn the results and cheered loudly while the judges took a few minutes to calculate final scores against the rubric.

After a few minutes of scoring, it was time to announce the winners of the 2020 Math Cup event.

Ms. Lagomarsino announced, “The grand winner of the event is… August Knodt!”

The August Knodt students victoriously rushed to retrieve the Math Cup trophy and chanted in excitement, proud to bring their win back to their school site.

“The kids were actually really fun,” laughed Sumreet Sandhu, a precalculus student from Mr. Allred’s class.

Alondra Castillo, another precalculus student from Mr. Allred’s class, shared, “I enjoy helping people, so I liked helping the kids a lot.”

The Math Cup helped teach fifth-grade students the value of teamwork and a critical thinking approach. But it also provided a platform for the high schoolers to teach younger students, especially helpful for those interested in pursuing a career as an educator.

“Yes, I would do it again next year. It was a fun and exciting event!” shared Mr. Allred when asked about his thoughts on the school’s first-ever math competition. “Participants had such a good time working together and getting excited about answering correctly and as a math teacher, it was really nice to see.”

Stacia Lagomarsino hopes to continue the Math Cup in future years. The trophy awarded to August Knodt will become a traveling trophy amongst Weston Ranch feeder schools, awarded to the next school who sweeps the annual Math Cup.

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)