“Math is like a sport. When you try a new sport you’re not necessarily good at right away, it can be easy to quit. But if you keep working, you just get better,” states Tessa Dailer, 7th grade Math Field Day place winner from Triadelphia Middle School.
We recently sat down with TMS’s Math Field Day crew to discuss the subject, common math misconceptions, and future plans. Read on to learn more about a few of our awesome Raider Mathletes.
Kamron Pettit, Jayden Johnson, Hudson Bradshaw, Tessa Dailer, Julia Zuk, Peilin Yu, and William Lu recently crushed their Regional Math Field Day experience, taking home a variety of 1st-4th place and estimation room wins. The students credit their coach, Mrs. Reka Lowther, for helping to guide them. “Mrs. Lowther is a really great teacher. She does notes, she’s happy to see us, she’s always prepared, and she makes things fun,” states Pettit.
“As a coach, there’s definitely an element of preparation work involved, especially with the estimation room. The students really commit their time to practicing, often before school hours. The students are very dedicated,” Lowther states.
All students we talked with agreed math was their favorite subject but they’ve made it clear that while they like the contact, it’s not all natural ability: “We’ve all worked hard at math to be better,” states Bradshaw.
Math can evoke a lot of strong emotions, and this crew did a phenomenal job clearing up some common math misconceptions. Some of our favorites?
-Math is not hereditary. If someone you know at home didn’t like math, it doesn’t mean you won’t.
-There is no such thing as a “math person". We’re just students that like math.
-Just because it doesn’t come easily right away doesn’t mean you should stop trying.
Each student we talked to stays involved in a variety of extracurricular activities outside of being mathletes including track, tennis, soccer, football baseball, video gaming, and even mowing lawns and babysitting. They’re competitive, but have grown into a tight knit team. And when they grow up? Career aspirations range from the medical field to engineering with some culinary arts thrown in.
We look forward to seeing many of our region winners move onward to the state level. Thank you to all coaches that make Math Field Day a memorable experience for the students that put in the extra work.
#OCSAcademics #InstructioninOCS
Pictured L-R: Mrs. Lowther, Julia Zuk, Tessa Dailer, Kamron Pettit, Jayden Johnson, and Hudson Bradshaw. Not pictured: Peilin Yu and William Liu