Above:
Seventh Grade Winners:
Front: Austin Lam, first place, Long Beach Middle School; Nathan Lechner, second place, North Woolmarket Middle School; Ray Goodwin, third place, East Central Middle School
Second row: Stephanie Huynh, fourth place, Gautier Middle School; Parker Lyons, fifth place, Vancleave Middle School; Meredith Dudte, sixth place, Ocean Springs Middle School
Third Row: Skylar Nguyen, seventh place, Gautier Middle School; Jesse Tran, eighth place, D’Iberville Middle School; Anna Tran, ninth place, St. Patrick Catholic High School; Wyatt Dove, tenth place, Long Beach Middle School

Fifty seventh- and eighth-grade students from South Mississippi gathered at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Jackson County Campus on February 25 to compete in a math tournament sponsored by the Mississippi Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

The tournament, held at the Estuarine Education Center on campus, included 24 seventh graders and 26 eighth graders from schools in George, Harrison, Jackson and Stone counties. This is the 33rd year the math department at the Jackson County Campus has hosted the event.

The schools that participated gave a calculator-based math test to their seventh and eighth graders, and the top two winners from each grade advanced to the district level. This year, more than 2,000 seventh and eighth graders from thirteen local schools participated at the local level.

At the district level math tournament, students took another calculator-based test to determine the top two winners for each grade. Those winners will advance to the state competition at Hinds Community College on April 9.

Dr. Cedric Bradley, dean of Instruction at the Jackson County Campus, helped welcome the students, teachers, and parents to the tournament. He shared some of the exciting things happening at MGCCC involving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. He also extended an invitation to various camps that will be offered on campus this summer.

Deena Kuntz, with Mississippi State University, spoke to the students about the bachelor’s degree engineering programs offered at MGCCC Jackson County Campus in partnership with MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering.

Jamie Cowart and Cari Field, representatives of First Chemical (a subsidiary of Chemours Corporation), which is the corporate sponsor for the annual event, were present for the announcement of winners. They encouraged these mathematically talented students to continue their education in math. Cowart and Field presented the top-10 winners from each grade with certificates. Additionally, the top three winners from each grade received medallions.

Seventh graders who will represent the MGCCC district at the state tournament are Austin Lam, first place, from Long Beach Middle School, and Nathan Lechner, second place, from North Woolmarket Middle School. The eighth graders representing the district are Esmond Tsang, first place, from Biloxi Junior High School, and Mike Steil, second place, from North Woolmarket Middle School.

Eighth Grade Winners: Front Row: Esmond Tsang, first place, Biloxi Junior High; Mike Steil, second place, North Woolmarket Middle School; Alexia Manganti, third place, North Gulfport 8th; Second Row: Rylee Sharpton, fourth place, East Central Middle School; Jeremy Wright, fifth place, North Gulfport 8th; Mila Griffith, sixth place, Biloxi Junior High; Third Row: Nathan Picard, seventh place, D’Iberville Middle School; Kellan Haller eighth place, Bayou View Middle School; Katie Baker, ninth place, Long Beach Middle School; Meg McDougal, tenth place, Bayou View Middle School

First Chemical provided tournament t-shirts, doorprizes for all students and sponsors, and checks for the top ten winners from each grade.

Students representing their schools at the district tournament included:

  • Bayou View Middle School – Kellan Haller, Meg McDougal, Baylor Ormes, Connie Wade
  • Biloxi Junior High School –Esmond Tsang, Mila Griffith, Hanna Nguyen, Tucker Sala
  • Colmer Middle School – Kathryn Cousins, Ian DeJesus, Taylor Williamson, Sydney Hanson
  • D’Iberville Middle School – Nathan Picard, Gina Nguyen, Jesse Tran, Megan Parker
  • East Central Middle School – Brayden Rogers, Rylee Sharpton, Ray Goodwin, Kate Wright
  • Gautier Middle School – Kyle Gager, Mary Samblis, Skylar Nguyen, Stephanie Huynh
  • Long Beach Middle School – Katie Baker, Jessica Candland, Austin Lam, Wyatt Dove
  • North Gulfport 8th Grade School – Jeremy Wright, Alexia Manganti
  • North Woolmarket Middle School – Mike Steil, Weston Signs, Nathan Lechner, Jordan Thompson
  • Ocean Springs Middle School – Sareena Chao, Lea Duffy, Jeremy Koch, Meredith Dudte
  • Martin Middle School – Victor Thorne, Caroline Tran, Sebastian Bustamante, AnneMarie Goodman
  • Patrick Catholic School – Avery King, James Frazier, Anna Tran, Diego Riojas
  • Vancleave Middle School – Sarah Hults, Zackary Mitchell, Parker Lyons, Kade Carpenter

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