ORAU sponsors Tennessee Middle School Math Competition held at Pellissippi State Community College

Students competed for numerous prizes at math competition sponsored by ORAU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2013
FY13-16

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—More than 600 students from 40 area schools competed for the honor of being named the top middle school math students in East Tennessee. The 2013 Tennessee Middle School Math Competition, now in its 13th year, was held recently at Pellissippi State Community College and was sponsored by ORAU.

During the past 13 years, more than 7,500 middle school students have participated in the program’s activities, which seek to keep young students inspired about mathematics. The Pellissippi State Foundation received a $17,000 grant from ORAU to support the competition, and trophies and gifts were presented to the top 20 students in each grade and to the school with the highest overall score for each grade.

“Hosting a middle school math competition of this scale would be impossible without the continuing support of ORAU,” said Jonathon Lamb, Pellissippi State math professor. “As many budgets appear to be shrinking in this tough economy, we are fortunate once again to have the opportunity to host the largest middle school math competition in the Southeast.”

The 60-minute, multiple choice and short answer tests that the student competitors took were unique for the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade levels. Lamb designed the tests in collaboration with site coordinators from colleges across the state of Tennessee.

Farragut Middle School in Knoxville walked away with the No. 1 team ranking for the best overall score in both the sixth- and seventh-grade team categories. Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge took the No. 1 team ranking for the eighth-grade team category.

The first-place individual winners for top overall scores included Jeemin Kim, Farragut Middle School in Knoxville, sixth grade; Joseph Andress, Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, seventh grade; and Quinn Bader, Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, eighth grade.

“More and more schools around the region are providing extracurricular programs for mathematically gifted middle school students,” said Dean Evasius, ORAU vice president and director of Science Education Programs. “Events like this one help keep students motivated and excited about learning math; Pellissippi State has done an excellent job in growing and expanding this competition into the regional success that it is today.”

In addition to the competition, students also were treated to lunch and participated in several recreational activities, such as music, games and a laser tag area. At the end of the event, an awards ceremony was held to recognize the contest’s winning individuals and teams.

Results from the 2013 Middle School Math Competition
Individual students won prizes ranging from $500 for first place to $10 for 20th place.

Sixth-grade individual winners:

1. Jeemin Kim - Farragut
2. Bill Andress - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
3. Henry Shen - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
4. David Joy - Robertsville (Oak Ridge)
5. Will Hong - Farragut
6. Kevin Chen - Farragut
7. Elliot Fang - Farragut
8. Steven Qu - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
9. Ben Joo - Farragut
10. Daniel Zetterberg - Farragut
11. Andrew Brady - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
12. Nick Brison - Farragut
13. Jessie Li - Farragut
14. Melody Guo - Jefferson (Jefferson City)
15. Erika Yang - Farragut
16. Kenny Moon - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
17. Elizabeth Babb - Bearden
18. Will Thorley - Farragut
19. Eli Snyder - West Valley
20. Ethan Brady - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)

Seventh-grade individual winners:

1. Joseph Andress - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
2. Ryan Hart - Farragut
3. Eric Wang - Farragut
4. Justin Smiks - Farragut
5. Caleb Bradley - Farragut
6. Adithyan Sujithkumar - Robertsville (Oak Ridge)
7. William Yates - Christian Academy of Knoxville
8. Lawrence Zhang - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
9. Austin Gardner - West Valley
10. Ethan Duckworth - Karns
11. Katy Jackson - Coulter Grove (Maryville)
12. Brian Byerly - Cleveland (Cleveland)
13. Subaru Ishikawa - Coulter Grove (Maryville)
14. Morgan Scott - Bearden
15. John Klett - Cedar Bluff
16. Mason Seitz - Coulter Grove (Maryville)
17. Kevin Chen - West Valley
18. Naama Friedman - Bearden
19. Amy VanderMerwe - Cedar Springs
20. Kaitlyn Knight - Maury (Dandridge)

Eighth-grade individual winners:

1. Quinn Bader - Robertsville (Oak Ridge)
2. David Garber - Jefferson (Jefferson City)
3. Samuel Barber - Christian Academy of Knoxville
4. Alex Levi - Episcopal School of Knoxville
5. Jessica Hyun - West Valley
6. Lily Turaski - home school
7. Lily Gao - Farragut
8. Jackson Smith - Cedar Bluff
9. Will Westwick - Midway (Ten Mile)
10. William Lewis - West Valley
11. Dakota Jackson - Maryville Jr. High (Maryville)
12. Gabe Kim - Farragut
13. Logan Rumbaugh - Robertsville (Oak Ridge)
14. Carter White - Farragut
15. Jake Bunch - Maury (Dandridge)
16. Robert Arcario - Farragut
17. Justin France - Maury (Dandridge)
18. Carlos Arias - Jefferson (Oak Ridge)
19. Zane Shepherd - Cedar Springs
20. Mary Emily Lawyer - Episcopal School of Knoxville

Note: if the location of the school is not noted above, it is located in Knox County.

Trophies also were presented to three schools with the best overall scores for each grade level for the competition, including the following:

• Sixth grade: Farragut Middle School
• Seventh grade: Farragut Middle School
• Eighth grade: Robertsville Middle School