Crunching numbers: Math team has success in competition

by Jenny Raymond
Staff Writer

On the first Wednesday of every month, a math competition is held at Wilton High School where over 20 schools from Fairfield County compete.

On February 2, Westhill’s Math Team was one of the teams that took part in this academic clash. As the competition is composed of students from all grades and ability levels, Westhill faced some difficult opponents.

“There are six rounds of competition for individuals in which there are three questions [per contestant] and a team round in which there are six questions [for the entire team], and the team with the highest total score wins,” said senior Adam Siegel.

“Generally, our strategy for the team round is to pick out the problems that seem easy, and have two people check each other’s work so that we don’t make careless mistakes,” said junior David Katz. “I enjoy the team round, as it challenges us to work together. In the team round when I forget a vital formula, instead of getting a question wrong like in a regular round, I can get help from my teammates,” he said.

With teamwork being an essential component for success in this round of competition, it helps that the members of the Math Team get along. Sophomore Meredith Outlaw said, “I’m pretty new to the math team, but so far I really like it. We get along very well. We talk and laugh and we help each other with the problems during practice.”

In this competition, Westhill placed 12th. With the guidance of its advisor, Mr. Capriotti, the team hopes to place higher in their next competition. “Mr. Capriotti is probably one of the nicest and smartest teachers I’ve ever met. It’s amazing how much he knows about math. He makes it look so easy,” said sophomore Ayesha Hafeez.

The Math Team’s members say that they have made new friendships and memories that will last for years to come. “I’d say that Math Team is not very well known within [the] Westhill [community], but it has a small and dedicated team nonetheless,” said Siegel.

The Math Team meets every Thursday after school and according to Katz, is always looking for new members.