Math: Recent event largest turnout since pre-pandemic

Continued from A1 e event may have an even higher turnout next year when Lummi Nation School rejoins the event after a brief hiatus due to the pandemic. ere are six tests to evaluate each students’ math expertise: an individual test, mental math, algebra, geometry, probability, and potpourri. Besides the individual test, all of these tests are taken as a team e ort.

“We’re excited to have them included again,” Steele said. e event is for Ferndale students in grades 4-8, with the exception of some talented third graders who participate as fourth graders.

Events take place from 4-8 p.m. ere is an opening ceremony lled with cheers and cheesy math jokes, then tests begin and continue through most of the evening. Once testing is done, participants enjoy dinner and an award ceremony.

Another aspect of the program the pandemic took away were the county and state-wide Math Olympiad competitions. Steele hopes to see these events come back in the near future. e program came up at the Ferndale School Board’s meeting on Feb. 28, rst when board Vice President Melinda Cool gave an overview of her experience grading papers at the event.

“If you ever want to see students excited about math as if they are going to the Superbowl, this is the place to go,” Cool said. “It’s fantastic.”

Kevin Erickson, president of the school board, agreed with Cool and added that he “wanted to put a bug in people’s ears” and publicly acknowledge that “Sarah

Steele who heads up [the Math Olympiad] indicated she would be willing to head that up if Ferndale wants to host the county-wide competition.” “Melinda and I have already talked about it a little bit, but we’re for it,” Erickson said. Math Olympiad teams begin preparing around November to be competition ready by February. Students are rst selected to join the program based on test scores with about the top 20% of students being invited to join, but all students who want to join are welcome to.

Each school has their own coach or set of coaches and have the ability to structure their practices however they choose as the program is an enrichment club, so it takes place outside of school, Steele said.

Wesley Gilchrist, a fth grade teacher at Central Elementary and a coach for the Math Olympiad program, said he became a coach because he participated in the Math Olympiad program when he was a student and “was excited to see the other side of the Math Olympiad in instructing it.”

“I love math and truly believe that it can be a lot more fun at the elementary level than it was for me as a kid,” Gilchrist said. Practices focus on teamwork, collaboration, and problem solving for the rst few weeks before moving on to building up more targeted skills.

“After the initial weeks and once the team is in a place I am happy with regarding teamwork and problem solving strategies, including skipping a problem, we move on to targeted practice week by week where I teach a new skill then they get time to practice and ask questions,” Gilchrist said.

Eighth grader Solomon Kinser competed at the Feb. 23 event for his fourth year with the program. He said his love of math stems from his fourth grade teacher who believed in him and encouraged him to try the program.

“I really owe it all to my fourth grade teacher to be here, because he really put all of this trust in me that I was good at school. And like, I didn’t really think that before, but he kind of pushed me to be here,” Kinser said. “He opened up the whole world with math.”

-- Contact Sarah McCauley at sarah@lyndentribune. com

Multicultural: FHS junior organizes celebration

Continued from A1 fun facts and traditional food. Bautista partnered with the Ferndale Community Coalition to ensure resources would be available for parents and students who need them. e coalition “engages the community to promote healthy youth development by addressing equity, safety and substance abuse issues,” according to its website.

Also, attendees can look forward to performances by the Native, Latinx, Ukrainian and East Indian culture groups. And there will be plenty of activities to keep kids en- tertained, such as arts and crafts, a bean bag toss, face painting, and henna.

“I hope for students and the community to learn more about the cultures in the community and how amazing they are,” Bautista said. “As well as acknowledging the cultures that go unnoticed.”

Anyone from the Ferndale community is welcome, and the event is free. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the rst performance will be at 5:50 p.m.

-- Contact Sarah McCauley at sarah@lyndentribune.com