Math Counts @ STEM Academy
by Don Shewchuk, Math/Special Education Teacher – SHS and Kate Carl, Math Department Chair
Vincent Tanguilig, SHS Class of 2017, leading the team at a before-school meeting
On February 11, the STEM Academy Math Counts Team competed in the regional competition at the Normandin Middle School in New Bedford. The team is led by student-coach Vincent Tanguilig, a sophomore from Sandwich HIgh School, and coach/advisor Donald Shewchuk, a math/special education teacher at SHS.
Fourteen school systems participated in the Southeastern Chapter with approximately 120 students competing. At the “bee- style” competition, each participating school was allowed one four person team with an additional six spaces for individual participants. The top four teams and top four individuals advance to the Massachusetts State Competition in March. After two snow postponements, the STEM Academy sent Liam Rypka, Steve Tanguilig, Luke Urribarri, and Michael Vaudo to compete as a team in the competition. They were challenged to a 40 minute sprint round, 35 minute target round, and a 20 minute TEAM round. The team earned an impressive 6th place finish. This offers them a chance to be a wild card team which may earn them an invitation to the state competition. Steve earned the 7th highest score among all the individuals at the Southeast competition, which offers him the chance to be a wild card individual, which also may lead to an invitation to the state competition.
The Mathcounts Competition Series is designed for students who have a talent for math and are not afraid of a challenge. At the local, state and national level, students win hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes every year.
The Sandwich STEM Academy team consists of Evan Abramson, Alec Abramson, Zac Babchia, Kevin Carrera, Chris Fagnant, Jacob Lapp, Cameron Ottaviano, Zach Raye, Liam Rypka, Steve Tanguilig, Luke Urribarri and Michael Vaudo. Led by Vincent and Mr. Shewchuk, these students came to school early every Monday and Thursday for 10 weeks to work on strategic problem solving in mathematics.
Congratulations to the team. Thanks go out to Mr. Tanguilig for driving the students to the competition, Mr. Rypka for driving home from the competition, Mrs. Urribarri for supplying snacks, and Mrs. Perry in the STEM office for her assistance.
Learn more about MathCounts here.