Wednesday, April 4, 2001
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Wednesday, April 4, 2001 |
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Local tournament provides additional venue for math students to compete The invitations are in the mail and preparations are being made as Fayette County High School gears up to host nearby school systems in a yearly tradition. For approximately 10 years, the Fayette County School System has sponsored the Fayette County Invitational High School Math Tournament. Math teams from school systems in surrounding counties are invited. Each year, one of Fayette's high schools takes its turn as host of the competition. This year it is FCHS. "This tournament is always a lot of fun," says Dennis Hembry, math teacher at the school and coordinator of the competition. "We always look forward to this local tournament because it gives us a chance to compete one-on-one with our neighboring school systems." Math teams can compete on two levels: varsity, which involves solving various types of math problems including trigonometry and calculus, and junior varsity, which is limited to algebra I and II and geometry. The test format is multiple choice and ciphering, where students work together to calculate an answer. Contestants compete individually as well as on teams. Fayette County math coordinator Kay Seabolt writes the test so that all high schools within the county can be allowed to take part in the tournament. The first, second and third place winners are eligible to compete in the state math tournament in May. Approximately seven to eight school systems attend each year. "We always have good participation for this event. A lot of the smaller school systems don't attend other tournaments because they are competing against bigger schools. Since this competition is local, there is a lot less pressure on the students," Hembry comments. Seabolt says it is unusual for a school system to host a localized tournament. "More of the larger private schools have similar events but it is unique to see a public school system hosting a tournament. We chose to do so because we felt we had a professional obligation to give service back to the math community," she explains. The tournament will be at Fayette County High School April 26 at 4 p.m.
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