A team of students from Howard Bishop Middle School turned in the best performance ever for a North Central Florida team in the recent statewide MathCounts competition, and one team member did so well that he’ll be going on to the national contest.

The Bishop team, including 8^th-graders Michael Banascek, Jonathan Berry, Kyle Carlisle and Ivan Minnow and 7^th-grader Sam Lim, took second place overall in the prestigious competition. The team won first place in the ciphering portion of the competition, which requires team members to respond quickly and accurately to math questions.  Banascek took second place overall as an individual, which means he is now a member of the Florida MathCounts team and will compete against more than 200 of the country’s top middle school mathematicians during the national MathCounts competition in May.

“I love math, and I really wanted to win,” said Banascek. “I wanted to go to the nationals and compete there.”

The Bishop team is coached by math teacher Ray Rummel. He and his team members spent weeks getting ready for the competition, coming into school early on Mondays and giving up three hours on Saturdays to prepare.

“Without that preparation, I don’t think we would have done as well as we did,” said Rummel. “It’s a team effort, and we all have to be willing to pull together.”

So why would a group of middle-school students give up so much of their free time to work on math?

“I’ve always enjoyed doing math, and this was a fun way to see how well I could do,” said Berry.

“I like math, and I really like competition,” said Minnow. “It was a good experience.”

MathCounts has been in existence for more than 20 years, and has become so popular that for the last two years the final rounds of the national competition have been broadcast on ESPN. It’s sponsored by several corporations and professional organizations, including the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and has been recognized and praised by the White House. Locally the program is sponsored and supported by the North Central Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society.

The competitions are not for the faint of heart. All participants spend several hours taking written tests. During the ciphering portion of the competition, team members must correctly answer math problems as quickly as possible—speed means more points. Finally the ten students with the highest scores compete against each other in the ‘Countdown Round’ for individual honors. “There’s a lot of pressure to see how well you can answer the questions and how much you know,” said Carlisle.

“I’ve seen engineers watch this competition and have their jaws drop because it’s truly amazing what these kids can do,” said Rummel.

Rummel says he’s proud of the performance of the students and their commitment to the team. He also says participation in the competitions is a very valuable experience.

“The whole purpose of this is to encourage their love of mathematics,” he said. “They’ve gained so much confidence from knowing that they are among the best in the state.”