Sabrina Chen from Bob Jones High School, in front, coached the Alabama team with American Regions Math League. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – This summer, Sabrina Chen served as head coach for the Alabama team with the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) on campus at the University of Georgia in Athens.

The 15-member ARML Alabama team placed fifth in the nation for Division B, which is the highest ranking in the past decade for Alabama. Traveling from seven schools and five cities, the team included many students from various schools in Madison County, as both competitors and coaches.

Several students in ARML attend Bob Jones High School. Most team members are enrolled in Eat Pie Institute of Mathematics (eat-pie.net), which Chen founded to assist math students and supply study material for MATHCOUNTS and other national math contests.

Eat Pie’s mission is to create “a self-sustaining learning network, in which the community teaches the community and anybody can affect change, regardless of age. It’s about connection and building friendships,” Chen said.

At Bob Jones, Chen was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar, an honor for 160 outstanding high school students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service and volunteerism.

Chen has collected numerous honors from Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2013, she served as a state co-coach for the National MATHCOUNTS team that competed in Washington D.C.

In February, Sabrina Chen released a video on HitRecord as part of a project called “Are You There Democracy? – It’s Me, The Internet”. In the video, she explains the positive and negative affects of technology on democracy and mass surveillance, according to “Patriot Pages.” (bjhspatriotpages.com)

American Regions Mathematics League’s annual competition assembles the brightest students in the United States. State teams compete, network, attend social functions and establish friendships, while honing their talents in mathematical.

Founded in 1976, ARML has seen massive growth with about 2,000 students and teachers from practically all states. ARML bills itself as “the World Series of mathematics competitions.” (arml2.com/arml_2016).