More than half the Republic Middle School math students who competed at a recent MathCounts competition qualified for state. Of the eight students who attended the contest at Drury University, three qualified for individual state competition. Republic’s four-person team also qualified, finishing second overall. Eighth graders Trey Goddard and Nathan Agius advanced in both team and individual categories. Agius finished sixth and Goddard 11th. Landon Haynes also qualified for state as an individual. Daniel Fair and Allie Day were also part of the team that qualified for state.
Math teachers Brandon Riffe and Stacey Robinett helped prepare the competitors, along with student teacher Olivia Rowland.
“It’s hard to prepare for a math competition because you have no clue what the questions will be, so you just practice by doing a bunch of random problems,” Riffe said. “Some involve geometry, some deal with money, (and) some are just basic calculations.”
Robinett said the questions involve “high levels of critical and creative thinking,” and practice is a time for students to work together.
“Kids collaborate together during practice sessions and share their ideas about how to attack the problems. It is an incredible thing to experience the many ways kids enter into the problems and think about them in such different ways,” she said.
Republic’s team finished second to the Central Scholars gifted program team. “I think those results were a huge boost to their confidence, because they know they can compete with the best in southwest Missouri,” Riffe said.
Participants were Darren Perkins, Daniel Fair, Allie Day, Caleb Watson, Kaitlyn Willis, Landon Haynes, Trey Goddard, and Nathan Agius.