Journey Math Team wins top-level awards; Esteban Jerez earns individual perfect 100

MADISON – Muscle Shoals was their destination, along with the payoff for concentrated study and commitment to a goal as the Math Team from Journey Middle School claimed top-level awards . . . and one student, literally, delivered perfect performance.

In its 23rd year, Muscle Shoals Middle School Math Tournament was held on Nov. 1. Officials placed schools in one of three divisions, based on grade-level enrollment.

“Journey’s enrollment has increased significantly. As a result, we were placed in the large-school category and had to compete against well-established math teams from bigger schools,” Mrinal Joshi said. Joshi teaches grades 6-8 Math Team and accelerated math.

Journey sixth-graders competed against 107 students; seventh-graders, 89 competitors; and eight-graders, 69 competitors.

“People don’t realize how much work goes into a math team class,” Joshi said. “It’s not just teaching the class . . . paperwork (that’s board-approved) must be turned in for each competition.”

Next, the school sends letters and liability forms to parents to complete. “Money must be collected and receipted . . . and payments by competition deadline,” Joshi said.

Obviously, preparation and teaching are major components for a competition:

• Regular practice sessions for Journey students to resolve problems from past competitions.

• Learning advanced mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies.

• Timed mock competitions to simulate actual events.

• Problem-solving drills for individuals and team.

• Reviewing solutions; discussing different approaches to problems.

• Focusing on weak areas or specific categories.

“We work extremely hard on competition problems involving serious higher-order thinking skills. I always tell my students this is a team effort . . . that’s why it’s called Math ‘TEAM,’” Joshi said.

“As a teacher, I can’t do this alone. My efforts aren’t enough . . . in a team, my students need to be self-motivated with a healthy, competitive spirit to perform well,” she said. “I, as a teacher, and my students work hard together for good end results.”

“I’m blown away by how hard my students worked to win big,” Joshi said. “I’m SUPER proud of my team. We won seven individual awards. Each grade level won a team award. Great job, Math Team!”

Journey Math Team won many honors:

• Team awards — Eight grade earned first place. Seventh grade, fourth place. Sixth grade, second place (missing first by only seven points).

• Individuals, eighth grade — Esteban Jerez, first place with perfect score of 100; Kylie Zou, second place, score of 95; Ike Farounbi, fifth; Austin Zhu, seventh; Rachel Harris, eighth.

• Eighth-Grade Ciphering Team — Wylie Savage, Kylie Zou, Esteban Jerez, Ike Farounbi.

• Seventh-Grade Ciphering Team — Victoria Dam, John Kawamoto, Ally Tubbs, Aaron Kim.

• Individuals, sixth grade — Myles Pohl, fifth place; Jonathan Lam, seventh place.

• Sixth-Grade Ciphering Team — Medha Akarapu, Jonathan Lam, Myles Pohl, James Tyrrell.

The following example shows questions’ complexity in multiple choice testing: Simplify: (2000 x 1015) (0.0004 x 1021) (4000 x 10-23) (1000 x 1014) Answer choices: A. 2 x 1028, B. 2 x 1038, C. 2 x 1048, or D. 2 x 1024 “I teach the students that, in competitions, each correct answer earns 4 points, but each incorrect answer is minus 1 point. There’s no penalty for answers left blank. Therefore, they need to answer only when they’re confident. The top 10 scores overall of all schools earn individual trophies,” Joshi said.

Journey Math Team will compete in a virtual tournament during the week of Nov. 10 with host Liberty Park Middle School. Their next onsite tournament will be at Vestavia Hills High School on Dec. 6.

Journey students commented on the Muscle Shoals experience:

• Esteban Jerez — “I love the challenge of the hard math team problems. It makes me happy when I get an award and get a high place!”

• Jonathan Lam: “A ton of study time made me feel prepared for the tournament.”

• Myles Pohl: “Hours of study made me feel good to win.”

• Kylie Zou: “It makes me so proud of myself to see my hard work and dedication pay off.”