On Mar. 1, math teacher and club advisor Carl Edgren took five Math Club students from the school to compete at the University of Michigan Flint. This competition was a harder one to compete in, as they had moved up a division, but they did get some good results and one of their individuals, senior Eva Lawson, won an award.
“[The Math Club] moved up a division this year because of our strong performances in the previous few years and got to compete against the top schools in the state like Troy, Detroit Country Day and Cranbrook. Eva Lawson took first in her individual chalk talk presentation but we have our work cut out for us to be competitive in this division,” the Math Club advisor Carl Edgren said.
Although it is a hard competition, they put forth their best efforts and made the most of the competition. Math Club is not always understood by most people, but it is broken down to both individual and group events.
“The Math Field Day at UofM Flint is action packed. The morning is when the team members compete in their individual events, then they convene to do some team events, then at the end is the relay, which is an intense 16-minute event where students sit in a column of desks next to other teams and feverishly work through four problems where their answer depends on the answer from the teammate in front of them,” Edgren said.
In order to get ready for the competition, the Math Club prepares every week by practicing problems and setting themselves up for success at their events.
“To prepare for a competition you usually do a couple of practice problems, you do some Swiss games which is like a puzzle where you have to find the rule and then you work with your team to solve some equations and such,” sophomore and Math Club student Trey Stewart said.
Math Club is a way for students to improve their math skills, practice problems and work on their techniques. The club members vary in the amount of experience each learner has and how long a member has been in the club.
“I have been in the Math Club since I was in [my] junior year,” senior and Math Club member Nic Church said.
While there have been those who have just recently joined the club, there have also been some students who have been in math clubs for quite some time.
“I was in Math Club in middle school, and then I just got involved with the high school team,” Stewart said.
No matter how often someone has competed in a math competition, it is often a new experience for the participants. The Math Club has been going on for quite a while, and they continue to join math competitions each year.
“West Senior High has been competing in math competitions since its inception. Some have come and gone but this one at UofM Flint has been happening for 55 years. I have been taking students to this competition since 2019 I believe,” Edgren said.
After keeping the Math Club a part of the school for a while, new students come in each year to join, bringing a new perspective with each new participant.
“[Being a part of the Math Club is] a lot of fun because it’s amazing the talents that students have. It’s also interesting to see who shows up for Math and Chess Club because you never know if that quiet student is actually a math genius waiting to be unleashed,” Edgren said.
