WOOLWICH TWP. — Team Dragons, comprised of four Kingsway Middle School 8th Grade students under the advisement of Mr. Edward Heil, walked away national winners with their submission to the MATHCOUNTS Video Challenge on Monday, May 9.
Haley Blair, Madelyn Benjaminson, Mason Corey, and Luca Lentini created a video, “Pary Moppins”, which was designed to solve a real-life problem in a unique and creative way. The video was submitted in March, then reached quarter-finalist, semi-finalist then finalist status.
The top four finalists in the nation were then invited to a four-day event in Washington D.C. to participate in events and celebrate the top mathletes across the nation competing for scholarships and prizes. The Dragon students each received a $1,000 scholarship and multiple prizes from MATHCOUNTS supporters such as 3M, Texas Instruments, AoPS, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and more.
The Department of Defense DoD STEM and Raytheon Technologies sponsor the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series. Various college representatives also attended the event. A representative from Carnegie Mellon University met with the Dragons after the event to express how important it is to combine the Arts with the Math, stating he likes to see students well-rounded. A MATHCOUNTS board member who helped start the video challenge hopes to bring the love of math into other fields such as English and Arts as well.
Team Dragons were additionally recognized for being Two-Time Finalists as their video “Hot Tub Trouble” had made it to the virtual National Event in 2021. This year, “Pary Moppins” also received the award of Judges’ Choice: Best Screenplay. Congratulations to these 8th Graders. To watch the video visit https://www.mathcounts.org/programs/math-video-challenge.
