Journey’s three math teams rank first place in Pizizt Math Tourney
MADISON – After an outstanding school year, Math Teams at Journey Middle School surpassed all contenders with first-place team trophies for grades 6, 7 and 8 in the Pizitz Middle School Math Tournament. And to that sum, add 19 individual medals.
Journey competed on April 15-16 with Bumpus, Discovery, Liberty, Homewood, Berry and Trussville teams. Journey opposed numerous students in Division 1, a large-school category.
“Pizitz is one of the last competitions, so stamina is almost out . . . since summer break is close,” Journey Math Team Teacher Mrinal Joshi said. “Therefore, I always have the extra challenge of keeping my students motivated, but they did it!”
To prepare, Joshi instructed students to solve and practice older Pizitz tests in the classroom. This classroom environment entails plenty of problem-solving work and higher- level math.
Joshi teaches material from competition testing so students know what to practice and skills to develop. “A math team requires students to be self-motivated and competitive plus furthering their own learning away from the classroom setting, too,” she said.
The Pizitz tournament is now virtual, saving transportation costs, travel time and a weekend. Pizitz sends Google forms for both written and ciphering parts. Joshi gives the written test one day and ciphering the second day.
Journey practiced with real contest problems — the most important part:
• Complete old competition problems.
• Time the competitions in class.
• Redo missed problems and understand reason for error (such as algebra mistake, didn’t know theorem, misread) after every session.
• Understand that patterns repeat often in competition math.
Journey’s math students realized phenomenal success:
• Team Awards – Uses top four scores for written tests and ciphering. Eighth grade, first place; seventh grade, first place; and sixth grade, first place.
Individual Awards – To top 15 students overall per grade:
• Eighth-grade winners — Competing against 100 students. Kylie Zou, first place; Esteban Jerez, second; Rachel Harris, fifth; Ivy Zhang, sixth; Austin Zhu, seventh; Mason Park, fourteenth; Joel Kim, fifteenth.
• Seventh-grade winners – Competing against 108 students. Dheeren Pammina, first; Zachary Shelley, second; Owen Boyette, fourth; Evan Wright, twelfth; Zishi Zhao, thirteenth; Ally Tubbs, fifteenth.
• Sixth-grade winners – Competing against 128 competitors. Jonathan Lam, first; Max Cusack, fourth; Myles Pohl, sixth; James Tyrrell, eighth; Medha Akarapu, thirteenth; Revanth Katragadda, fourteenth. All students take a one-hour written test with 25 multiple-choice questions and three or more tie-breakers. Each correct answer earns the number of correct answers multiplied by four. Each incorrect answer docks one point. Blank answers aren’t penalized; however, more answers correct, better chances of higher score to win.
Sixth-graders answer pre-algebra, along with ciphering for algebra I. Students must complete 25 questions in 25 minutes. The top four ciphering scores count toward the team score.
Pizitz competition falls immediately after state assessments and is Journey’s last tournament. “Therefore, burn-out is pretty high since everyone is ready for summer break,” Joshi said. “However, I’m so proud of all three of my teams for persevering till the very last competition. The results were phenomenal; all three grade levels placed first.”
Journey’s next competition will be on Nov. 7 at Muscle Shoals Middle School. “The student-teacher bond is very strong since I teach them for three years in a math-team class. It’s very emotional when my kids I’ve taught for three years leave for high school. However, I love that they develop a very strong mathematical foundation. My students’ success is always my success,” Joshi said.
Students who won individual trophies commented about entering Pizitz:
• Dheeren Pammina – First, seventh grade. “It feels amazing to bring home first place. We have a really strong math program. Mrs. Joshi has been a fantastic mentor throughout the whole process. This win is as much for the team as it is for me.”
• Zachary Shelley – Second, seventh grade. “I’m so proud to see how we as a team progressed this year and ended up having a fantastic end to our last competition.”
• Owen Boyette – Fourth, seventh grade. “The team has improved so much. I’m so thankful for our outstanding teacher Mrs. Joshi — without her, we never would have gone this far. I’m excited I finished the year strong by placing in the top five with Pizitz. I look forward to seeing how far we can go next year.”
• Kylie Zou – First, eighth grade. “I’m very proud of me and my team for getting first in the Pizitz competition. Since I’m preparing for MATHCOUNTS Nationals, this competition was great practice for me.”
• Ivy Zhang – Sixth, eighth grade. “I’m so grateful for all my experiences in Math Team. I’m so lucky to have such an amazing team and coach.”
• Jonathan Lam – First, sixth grade. “It was a nice way to end the competition season. I prepared for this with a little bit of practice and a little studying.”
• Max Cusack – Fourth, sixth grade. “The competition was fun. I’m very happy that I got fourth place. I enjoyed not having to wake up early (to travel) on a Saturday. Being in Mrs. Joshi’s classroom helped me feel less nervous during the competition.”
“What a fabulous competition year we’ve had. Great job, math team!” Joshi said.
