Math and science competition team place fourth overall in the Metro League
May 1, 2018
Since the 1980s, the brightest students from Fenton have formed a math and science team to compete against other schools in the Flint Metro League. This year was no exception, as a team of 14 students came together to compete on April 26 at Holly High School.
“We didn’t practice together before the competition,” sophomore Megan Beemer said. “Most of us are asked to join by our math or science teachers who think we may be good candidates for testing in their subject. We are a team by default just because we represent our school, but some of the kids who went to the competition were kids that I haven’t met before, and the group changes every year.”
In the first part of the math and science competition, each student is individually tested on one course such as biology, physics or calculus. The mix of upper and lowerclassmen on the team is due to the variety of subjects tested.
“I took the individual test on calculus,” junior Michael Visniski said. “I thought I performed decently, but not to the best of my ability because that was actually the the third test I took that week on calculus and my brain felt fried. I placed fifth overall amongst the other schools, which feels about right.”
There were five students who placed in the top three of their individual subjects, and nine who placed in the top five. The next part of the competition was a team challenge, in which all the students from a school combine to work on a test in 20 minutes. Fenton High was just short of the top three, tying with Swartz Creek for fourth overall in the team competition.
“In the team competition, we were a bit scattered and didn’t really have a good strategy,” sophomore Logan Canada said. “It wasn’t because of the particular people on our team, we just needed to strategize better.”
The only form of preparation the students had was a written sheet of notes from people who previously took the tests. However, many members of the team were not discouraged by their results, but rather enjoyed being at a different school competing in subjects they’re strong in.
“Some of these schools take the competition a lot more seriously than we do,” Visniski said. “Some start practicing six months beforehand. Our school used to be that serious, but I think we receive more enjoyment from the entire experience when we don’t stress about these tests and try to push ourselves to outperform the other schools, although some practice might not hurt.”
As simply put by Beemer, “It’s always a fun day; donuts, pizza, math, and meeting new people.”
