Mathcourt prelim draws biggest number of participants

 The first of a series of Mathcourt events for the year attracted its biggest crowd yet on Saturday, pulling in over 500 students in 23 public and private schools on three islands.

Dora Miura, Mathcourt coordinator for the senior division, expressed satisfaction with the 580 sixth to 12th graders that took part in the preliminary competition held at Hopwood Junior High School. She said the number is so far the biggest ever among the higher grade levels.

The CNMI Mathcourt competition is a series of meets that occur throughout the school year. At each meet, several tests are offered to measure the mathematical achievement of students at every grade level and award those students showing the highest levels of mastery at each level. For the senior division, three competitions are scheduled throughout the year, which include the first two preliminaries-on Saturday and in November-before the regional contest in January. To qualify for the regional, participants must be ribbon-winners in these first two events. PSS has been sending team to the national Mathcourt event for the past two years. This year’s national contest will be in Kansas, Missouri in May.

Miura said the CNMI Team will be selected from the top competitors of which one will come from middle school and four from high school. They will undergo extensive preparation, mimicking the competition’s national format.

“This is our third time to the national competition. We did pretty decently last year in Kansas City and have seen improvements from the year before [at the Las Vegas competition]. We hope to see more improvement again with our team this year,” she told Saipan Tribune.

Saturday’s competition was based on the Public School System’s “benchmark mapping.” For high school competitors, the categories were algebra, advanced algebra, and geometry. For middle schools, the category is grade level mathematics.

After the 6-12th grade division, the competition for kindergarten to fifth grade will begin in February, headed by its coordinator, Reo Arriola. Although there are also three events in the elementary division, there is no national competition yet for the regional winners.

The objective of the competition is to increase awareness for mathematics, raise the interest and love for the subject, and to improve math abilities.

Eighth grader Peter Santos, who has been joining Mathcourt competitions since elementary, said that his participation has only increased his love and interest for mathematics. “It’s my favorite subject and I really enjoy doing it,” he said.

For Chacha Oceanview 8th grader Kelsey Lizama, Mathcourt not only enhances her ability for the subject but also makes her more competitive. Like other participants, Lizama is a constant Mathcourt contender since her elementary days.

Arianne Narvaez, an 8th grader from Chacha Oceanview Junior High School, sees the competition as a great help for all student. “Math is everywhere and anywhere. We can always use whatever we learn from here-at home, in school, and in our future. Through these competitions, we are able to enjoy and appreciate more the beauty of mathematics,” she said.