Budding WPS Student Mathematicians Compete in Interschool Math Competition

Third, fourth, and fifth graders from Westwood Public Schools showed off their problem solving skills and enthusiasm for numbers as they competed in a Math League interschool meet on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at Thurston Middle School, an event organized by dedicated parents in the community.

This year's meet represents a return to in-person competition that had been put on hold during the pandemic. Last year, students from a couple of Westwood elementary schools competed remotely over the Zoom platform, in breakout rooms.

On Wednesday, with a return to in-person competition, participating students arrived at Thurston Middle School wearing their team color. It was blue for Deerfield School, green for Martha Jones School, and red/orange for Sheehan School. Downey and Hanlon elementary schools did not send any competitors. Third graders competed first, followed by fourth graders. Fifth graders finished off the day's events.

Photo by Juliana Belding. Third grade Math League competitors in the Thurston Middle School cafeteria attempt to solve a problem that has been projected onto a large screen.

Competition took place in two rounds. In the first half, students gathered in team groupings in the Thurston cafeteria. They sat down to paper, pen and pencils, erasers, and a whiteboard to solve a number of questions. The second round presented a math relay of sorts. Students rotated through positions in their team's line to reach the head of the line, where they quickly decided to answer or take a pass on questions asked by a parent volunteer. The goal of both rounds was to answer as many questions correctly as possible in the time given.

Photo by Ishani Tewari. Fifth graders from Martha Jones School (green), Deerfield School (blue) and Sheehan School (orange/red) gather in Thurston Middle School's gym where the second round of their Math League competition was held.

Photo by Juliana Belding. Sheehan School third graders each take a turn at answering a parent-volunteer's math question.

At the end of the day, here's how the young competitors from the three elementary schools fared, with their scores:

Fifth Grade:

• 1st - Sheehan (44.50)
• 2nd - Martha Jones (44.00)
• 3rd - Deerfield (42.00)

Fourth Grade:

• 1st - Deerfield (51.00)
• 2nd - Sheehan (42.00)
• 3rd - Martha Jones (38.33)

Third Grade: 

• 1st - Deerfield (39.50)
• 2nd - Sheehan (33.00)
• 3rd - Martha Jones (32.00)

Photo by Westwood Minute/Darlene Wong Cancell. After completing the relay round, the members of Deerfield School's winning fourth grade team show off their blue ribbons.

"It was a wonderful afternoon and great to see so much excitement and engagement from the kids and parents," said Ishani Tewari, a parent and associate professor of economics who was one of the main organizers of the competition. 

Parent-volunteers came with varying levels of mathematics experience. Along with Dr. Tewari, Juliana Belding was another parent organizer with excellent math skills as an associate professor of math. However, no mathematics expertise was required. Some parent volunteers had backgrounds in physical fitness and law, for example.  

Similarly, student participation was inclusive. The math meet brought together students with an interest in math, regardless of skill level. For the past few months, interested students were invited to meet weekly on an extracurricular basis to do math problems with a parent coach and parent volunteers. The Math League students then formed grade level teams to participate in this year's math meet.

Photo by Ishani Tewari. Martha Jones School students prepare to solve math problems with paper and pen, while a parent volunteer keeps score.

Enjoy additional photos from the Math League meet, below.

Updated 4/10/2024.

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