Students compete at MATHCOUNTS

Five Mathletes from Carrington competed at the MATHCOUNTS state competition held on March 28 in Bismarck.

Qualifying for the second year in a row were eighth graders, Jacob Boeshans (son of Brian and Angela) and Molly Hansen (daughter of Jory and Missy). Last year's state competition was held virtually, so this was the first year that these two students were able to participate in-person.

First time qualifiers were seventh grader Charles Jorgensen (son of Cory and Katie) and sixth graders Samuel Garr (son of Benjamin and Sonali) and Cally Hansen (daughter of Jory and Missy).

At the state competition, the students competed individually and as teams in three rounds, solving problems in the subject areas of algebra, probability, statistics, and geometry. A total of 149 students from across the state participated.

The team made up of Jacob, Molly, Samuel, and Cally took sixth place overall (behind Discovery Middle School – Fargo, South Middle School – Grand Forks, Horizon Middle School – Bismarck, Simle Middle School – Bismarck, and Sacred Heart – Fargo).

Charles participated on a team made up of three other students from our region. That team took 12th place overall. Individually, Molly came in 13th place and Jacob took 24th.

"I am incredibly proud of all of these kids! They worked so hard and put a lot of time in outside of school hours. It's an amazing accomplishment to qualify for state in the first place, so for them to place as high as they did both as individuals and as a team is absolutely awesome! They are great kids to work with and are totally deserving of their accomplishments," says MATHCOUNTS adviser, Kamae Anderson.

Preparation for this competition began in November. Fifteen students, grades six through eight, met before school once a week to practice solving very challenging math problems.

In January, these students participated in a school competition. From there, eight students qualified for the regional competition that was held in February. Other students competing at the regional level from Carrington were seventh grader Briley Carr and sixth graders Jameson Kalliokoski and Kenedy Trostad.