Journey Math Team aces field at Vestavia Hills tourney

MADISON – In one of 2025’s most formidable tests, Journey Middle School Math Teams claimed firstplace honors in Vestavia Hills High School Math Tournament on Dec. 6.

“My students competed in very difficult questions with (many) other students in Division 1, a largeschool category,” teacher and Journey Math Team Coach Mrinal Joshi said. Journey contended with Buckhorn, Bumpus, Discovery, Liberty, Oak Mountain and Pizitz middle schools; Alabama School of Fine Arts; Baldwin Arts and Academics; and Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School.

These students participate in Math Team:

• Sixth grade — Medha Akarapu, Andrea Barker, Wangyang Chen, Maximilian Cusack, Benjamin Dannelley, Rithvik Donthula, Julia Feng, Gabriel Garcia, Meenoo Ha, Revanth Katragadda, Jonathan Lam, Barrett Mayer, Quang An Ngo, Lucas Osipychev, Anna Pham, Myles Pohl, Ruxton Reynolds, Jack Silvia, Emma Templeton, James Tyrrell, Denny Vu and Steven Zhou.

• Seventh grade — Lilia Baker, Owen Boyette, Nuo Chen, Olivia Cochran, Victoria Dam, Eli Dannelley, Thomas Francis, Dylan Glanzer, John Kawamoto, Aaron Kim, Ireland Rose Lipusch, Channing Meyer, Dheeren Pammina, Garen Parker, Astha Pradhan, Zachary Shelley, Allison Tubbs, Evan Wright, Alice Wu and Zi Shi Zhao.

• Eighth grade — Maksim Avliyaeh, Ananya Bhovi, Neil Dube, Ike-Oluwanimi Farounbi, Rachel Harris, Antonio Hughes, Esteban Jerez, Joel Kim, Wylie Lansing, Mason Park, Marlon Ross, Rohan Sahoo, Wylie Savage, Ivy Zhang, Kylie Zou and Austin Zhu.

“We prepared for Vestavia by solving and practicing older Vestavia tests. We do LOTS of problem-solving and higher-level math in the classroom,” Joshi said.

Joshi teaches material for upcoming competitions so students develop those skills. Math team requires self-motivation and competitiveness, plus responsibility of their own learning.

“We just don’t have time for enough practice only in the classroom. Students need to have determination to give their personal time, too,” Joshi said.

After every session, students redo missed problems. They understand reasons for missing problems (algebra error, didn’t know the theorem, misreading). Students realize patterns repeat frequently in competition math.

“I’m so excited about the fabulous performance at Vestavia Hills by the Sixth- through Eighth-Grade Math Teams. I’m grateful for my teams’ hard work,” Joshi said. “We brought back lots of bling with three team trophies and eight individual trophies”:

• Team Awards (Division 1, Large Schools) — For team trophies, officials take the top four written-test scores and the four ciphering scores. Journey Eighth Grade, first place; Sixth Grade, second place; and Seventh Grade, fourth place.

• Individual Awards – Earned by Top 10 students overall per grade level. Eighth-graders competed against 96 students in their category. From Journey, Kylie Zou, first; Esteban Jerez, second; Austin Zhu, sixth; and Rachel Harris, twelfth (and fourth score contributing to team trophy).

• Sixth Grade – Competed against 70 students in their category. From Journey, Jonathan Lam, first; Medha Akarapu, third; Jack Syliva, fifth; and Myles Pohl, eleventh (and fourth score contributing to team trophy).

• Seventh Grade — 91 students vying in category. From Journey, Zachary Shelley, fifth; John Kawamoto, ninth; Dheeren Pammina, third score used for team trophy; and Evan Wright, fourth score used for team trophy.

All students take a one-hour written test with 25 multiple- choice questions and three or more tiebreakers. The more answers correct, the better chances of a higher score to win.

For ciphering by sixth-grade, pre-algebra and algebra I, students receive a packet of four sets of five problems. The top four ciphering scores count toward the team score.

“Individual awards are given based solely on written tests’ results,” Joshi said. The top five teams earn trophies in each level and division. Trophies go to the Top Ten individuals, each level and division.

For Vestavia, Joshi woke at 4 a.m. to arrive there for registration and student check-in. Students left early from Madison to arrive by 8 a.m.

In 2025, Journey will enter MathCounts levels, along with James Clemens High School’s competition on Feb. 7.

Top students in grades 6-8 commented on Vestavia Hills:

• Eighth-grader Kylie Zou – “I’m extremely thankful for Mrs. Joshi and my teammates who supported me and helped me win first place.”

• Eighth-grader Esteban Jerez — “The challenge of the math problems helps me learn from my mistakes. It’s a challenging tournament . . . and fun!”

• Seventh-grader Zachary Shelley — “Before the competition, we had to prepare by practicing previous years’ competitions. Overall, the competition went well. I hope our team continues to keep getting stronger.”

• Sixth-grade Jonathan Lam – “I’m very thankful to Mrs. Joshi for giving me past Vestavia written tests and ciphering. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have won (at) Vestavia Hills.”

• Sixth-grader Medha Akarapu – “It may take a lot of practice, but if you work hard, anything is possible.”

• Journey Principal Dr. Treva Stewart –“We are proud of the way Mrs. Joshi pours into our Math Team, not only sharpening their math skills but also cultivating their confidence and drive to excel. We’re equally proud of our students. Their achievements show the powerful combination of dedicated coaching and their own effort, focus and pride in representing Journey at the highest level.”