MADISON – Madison students swept top categories in the MATHCOUNTS contest recently and now are setting aim at the annual Math-A-Palooza event.

Discovery and Liberty Middle School Math Teams claimed first and second place, respectively, in the regional MATHCOUNTS contest. In addition, both Madison schools dominated individual competitions.

A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the MATHCOUNTS Foundation targets U.S. students in grades 6-8 with three extracurricular math programs. More than 250,000 students participate in these programs.

MATHCOUNTS reaches students of all ability levels to build confidence and improve attitudes about math and problem solving. The foundation takes a simple approach to make learning math fun and sees middle school as a critical juncture when mentors must encourage a love of math.

Discovery’s first-place team included Justin Pan, Samantha Chan, Ashwin Parbhakar and Constance Wang. Liberty’s team earned second place.

Liberty’s award-winning team members are Joshua Wang, Yuti Das, Pranav Somu and Jeremiah Yang.

Both teams, along with Jerry Zheng and Grace Hur from Liberty, will advance to the state competition.

In individual rankings, Liberty students with top honors were Joshua Wang, second place; Jerry Zheng, third; Yuti Das, fifth; Grace Hur, seventh; Jeremiah Yang, eighth; and Pranaav Somu, ninth.

Discovery winners in the top 12 slots were Justin Pan, first place; Samantha Chan, fourth; Ashwin Prabhakar, sixth; Neha Chopade, tenth; Elaine Bao, eleventh; and Puja Chopade, twelfth.

Madison winners in MATHCOUNTS will advance to state competition on March 23. Discovery and Liberty students competed against math powerhouses including some private schools to earn top-place honors.

Another extracurricular event for math in Madison City Schools will occur with Math-A-Palooza on March 30 at Bob Jones High School.

“Superheroes” is the 2019 theme. An organizational team of math students has been busy in planning an outstanding competition and celebration of mathematics. The competition is open to all students in grades 3-6, regardless of math team experience.

Officials will separate math team members from those students without team experience.

Participating in Math-A-Palooza is an excellent way to encourage exploration and enjoyment of mathematics. Registration fee is $5.

On March 30, check-in will begin at 8:15 a.m. at Bob Jones. Officials will present awards at 12:15 p.m.

For more information, https://tinyurl.com/mathapalooza19.