Mercer County Wins Math Field Day Competition at Concord

April 18, 2005

Athens, W.Va. – Mercer County was the overall winner in the Region I Math Field Day competition held at Concord University on Saturday, April 9, 2005, with a score of 98.6 in the combined 4-9 and 10-12 categories. Raleigh County came in second with a score of 91.3, followed by Wyoming County with a score of 87.1. McDowell County and Summers County also participated.

First-, second- and third-place winners from each grade category will advance to the state competition which will be held at West Virginia University April 29 and 30. The state-wide competition is sponsored in part by the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballroom on the campus of WVU in Morgantown.

First-, second- and third-place winners and the counties they represent are as follows:

FOURTH GRADE-Jonathan Wright, Mercer; Shamecca Perkins, McDowell; Stephen Ross, Wyoming

FIFTH GRADE-Nick Stinson, Mercer; Bassel Zein, Mercer; Allison Culicerto, Mercer

SIXTH GRADE-Jordan Carinelli, Mercer; Thomas Lusk, Mercer; Adam Mills, Mercer

SEVENTH GRADE-Rami Zein, Mercer; Christian Martine, Raleigh; Cameron Morgan, Mercer

EIGHTH GRADE-Jessica Geiger, Mercer; Mark Pullins, Mercer; Lanny Meadows, Raleigh

NINTH GRADE-Trey Hunt, Wyoming; Kelli Jarrell, Raleigh; Maher El-Harake, Raleigh

GRADES 10-12-Josh Hendrix, Mercer; Nathan Smith; Mercer; Rakesh Patel, Mercer

Others who participated included (listed by county):

MCDOWELL-Jessy Blankenship, Charles Blevins, Terry Chatman, Shawn Cheeks, Kayla Day, Jason Deskins, Briana Graham, Jessica Hare, Jeffery Johnson, Brittany Justice, Kevin Matney, Brooke Miller, Jarred Mitchell, Alexis Montgomery, Ryan Rhodes, Tyler Timpson and Antoinett Villanueva

MERCER-Matthew Enigk, Cody Goff, C.J. Jackson, Charlie Merritt, Greg Michelson, Tyler Richards, Diane Shahan and Lucas Stone

RALEIGH-Jimmy Barnett, Joshua Buckland, Mihir Dave, Kevin Hough, Cameron Killmer, Michel Lynch, Maya Madhaven, Joshua Meadows, Andrew Poszich, Jenia Sipilovic, Lindsey Smith, Austin Spurlock, Harish Tummala and Yiping Wang

SUMMERS-Nicholas Bennett, Kristen Bugg, Davonna Cales, Matt Ellison, Charlene Garrett, Monica Gilpin, Tyler Gore, Tyler Green, Samantha Harrah, Bradley Luckton, Tony Petrarca, Colleen Pettry, Kyle Reinholt, Kristen Richmond, Nick Vass, Andrew Weiss annd Todd Willey

WYOMING-Brandon Adams, Dylan Adams, Kelsey Bailey, Whitney Bailey, Maria Browning, Jodi Canada, Paige Cook, McKinsey Davis, Emily Fleshman, Candice Hall, Joselyn Lupardus, Brian Lusk, Kortni Lusk, Rebecca Mitchem, Lori Pettus, David Rice, Jobe Thornsbury, Andrew Toler and Zach Whitten

The Concord University Department of Mathematics wrote the test questions and administered the tests. The activities for grades 4-9 were held in Marsh Hall (administration building) and activities for grades 10-12 were held in the Science Building. The awards ceremony was held in the Alexander Fine Arts Center at 4 p.m. Approximately 105 students from McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties participated in the event.

The first Math Field Day was held in 1976. Activities for grades 4-9 included: exam, mental math, short answers, estimation and relays. Activities for grades 10-12 included: exam, power questions, team questions, short answers and relays.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assesses mathematics every two years in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. The last assessment was in 2003 and average scores were higher in 2003 than in all the previous assessment years at both grades four and eight. West Virginia had lower than average results than the nation.

Associate Professor of Mathematics and Department Chair Lawrence J. Griffith, said that, “This competition allows us to demonstrate that mathematics can be fun through games that are challenging and educational. We need to continue to focus on improving mathematics skills in our public schools and this competition is one way to do this.”

For information on attending Concord call 1-888-384-5249 or 1-304-384-5248 or e-mail admissions@concord.edu.

-CU-