Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia Math Team wins Class AA division of state tournament
Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Rome, GA
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Math Team wins Class AA division of state tournament

April 26, 2015 | 521 views

Math Team members (left to right): Chelsea Ye, Sirius Liu, Alexander Roberts and Gong Ditthapron

Darlington's Upper School Math Team won first place last weekend in the Class AA championship of the 39th annual State Mathematics Tournament. The competition is sponsored by the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (GCTM) and took place on Saturday, April 25, at the Middle Georgia State College Conference Center in Macon, Ga. 

Members representing Darlington and competing in the state tournament were senior Gong Ditthapron, freshman Sirius Liu, junior Alexander Roberts and freshman Chelsea Ye

"This math competition is more about speed than skill, and nerves really play a factor, but everyone's points matter in the final score," said Alexander Roberts. "Not everyone is good at every part of math, so by working together everyone can do what they are best at and we can all make it to the finish."

In total, Darlington's Math Team is comprised of 15 members and is led by senior Dingding Wang. Throughout the school year, various members of the team will attend and compete in different tournaments around Georgia that qualify the group for the state tournament. 

The last time that Darlington won the Class AA division was in 2005, preceded by 2004 and 2002. 

"I was more excited than normal because we won with two freshmen," said Al Shorey, Darlington math teacher and Math Team coach. "They are very intelligent but don't have the experience that some of the more senior members have." 

On the state level, competitors individually complete a 50-question multiple-choice test and a speed round followed by teams working together to complete a set of a dozen challenging problems. The questions come from topics included in the standard high school curriculum up to and including calculus, as well as topics not traditionally found in the curriculum, such as number theory and combinatorics. 

Schools from all Georgia High School Association and Georgia Independent School Association classifications compete together. 

“We make every effort to invite the schools with the best math teams in Georgia so that this is truly a battle of champions,” said Tournament Director and GCTM Vice President of Competitions Dr. Chuck Garner. 

At the conclusion of the state tournament, 40 students were selected to compete for a spot on the All-State Math Team, including Darlington's Sirius Liu. Ultimately two teams of 15 will represent the state of Georgia at the nationwide American Regions Math League (ARML) tournament on May 30. 

"We have a good core group of Math Team competitors that will be around for the next few years," said Shorey. "It bodes well for our future, and our goal next year is to break into the state's top 5 overall."

For more information about the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the State Mathematics Tournament, contact Dr. Chuck Garner at cgarner@gctm.org.