Kathern Harris had special words for the four students waiting at their computers.
“You are all winners, you’re champions...You’re four out of hundreds of students,” she said, adding their schools, classes and parents were already proud of them.
These students represented the top 1% of math students in the Poplar Bluff School District, and a two-minute test would determine which was the 2023 4th Grade Math Counts champion. Students, teachers and families all gathered at the Ridgel Branch of the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library on Wednesday for the short yet intense test.
This year’s finalists — Harper Olivas-Zuniga, Bowen Crook, Chance Goins and Landri Slayton — had practiced since October, when the first Math Counts worksheets were passed out, Harris explained. All their work culminated in a flurry of typing during the test, and each was judged on their speed and percentage of correct answers.
After 120 seconds of furious typing, PB R-I staff gave the order to close their laptops. Then the results were in: Goins was the 2023 Math Counts champion. He leaped out of his seat to claim the trophy.
“It’s very exciting,” he said, adding his nervousness was the hardest thing about the test.
Math Counts is hosted by the Children and Youth Succeeding in School Committee through the Community Resource Council. Harris is a chairperson of the committee and said its in its 12 years, Math Counts has enhanced children’s academics and confidence in math.
“Some kids that were never good in class, even in word problems...if they can memorize, it gives them an opportunity to be a winner,” she said. “That’s what you find out, some of the students may not have good grades in math, but they may be a top winner here.”