By Mackenzie Helmick
Braxton County High School was buzzing with energy as the county’s brightest young mathematicians gathered for the annual Math Field Day on February 13. Students from grades 4 through 9 from each school competed in a series of challenging activities designed to test their skills in Mental Math, Estimation, and Combo.
The students competed in multiple rounds, where they tackled mental math problems and estimated measurements. After the exciting event, the combined scores from all the categories were tallied, and the top three students in each grade level were identified. These exceptional young minds earned the chance to represent their schools at the upcoming regional competition on March 21.
The winners for fourth grade were Oliver Young, Thaddeus Sartin, and Bane Digman. Fifth grade winners were Laney King, Zain Moore, and Brayden Foster. Sixth grade winners were Silas Young, Emily Short, and Sophia Kopfer. Seventh grade winners were Dane Hopen, Lyla Williams, and James Sligar. Eighth grade winners were Claire Duckworth, Zoey McQuain, and Ava Nettles. Ninth grade winners were Natalie Garrett, Alexander Dennison, and Chelsea Payne.
The competition would not have been possible without the dedication of several local individuals who volunteered their time to help organize and run the event. Special thanks are extended to Donna Coombs, Denver Drake, Colleen Mahon, Marty Wine, Pam White, Tim Via, Kim Dennison, Lisa Ratliff, and Paula Seal for their support.
Dr. Backus, a math and science teacher at the high school, holds a separate competition for grades 10-12 where they take a written exam to qualify for regionals. The top ten who will compete for Braxton County at the regional competition on March 8 are: Mason O’Dell, Cooper Belknap, Owen McCallister, Emily Garrett, Joel Sigman, Jamie Nettles, Brynne Davis, Brian Davis, Alisa Louk, and Audrey Duckworth. We would also like to thank Dr. Backus for making the county math field day awards for our students.
“Good luck to all the top performers as they head to Regional Math Field Day in March!” says a local organizer.
