The Florida Engineering Society held its 31th annual State Competition in Orlando at the DoubleTree by Hilton at the Entrance to Universal Studios on March 20, 2014. Over 225 Mathletes® competed as individuals or as part of a team, 47 teams competed for first place, and over 65 coaches trained the Mathletes® for the big day.
Florida’s MATHCOUNTS® mission is to actively encourage and stimulate interest in mathematics for Floridas 6th, 7th and 8th grade students in both public and private schools.The ultimate goal being to spark students interest in mathematical, engineering and technical fields that will, in effect, increase the likelihood that the students will pursue careers in these all important areas of todays technologically-advanced society.
After three rounds of morning testing (Sprint, Target and Team) and two afternoon testing rounds (Ciphering and Countdown), the winners were determined. Sanford Middle School from the Central Florida Chapter took home the 2nd place team award. They fell just behind Fairview Middle School who took home the 1st place team award, representing the Big Bend Chapter. Fairviews Coach, Terry King, advanced to coach our Florida team at the national competition. All eight students on the top two teams were awarded a trophy and $50.
The Florida national consists of the top four individuals from the overall competition. They each received a trophy and a $400 award. After two weekend retreats, the following four Mathletes® will represent Florida at the national competition through an all-expense-paid trip. They are: 1st Place: Graham ODonnell – Fairview Middle School, Tallahassee; 2nd Place: Brian Reinhart – The Weiss School, Palm Beach Garden; 3rd Place: Samuel Li – Sanford Middle School, Sanford; and 4th Place: Richard Liu Pioneer Middle School, Weston.
FBPE staff attended the kickoff of the event and set up a display table with information on licensure and displays of student related engineering videos and the Board’s activities with colleges and events that support STEM. FBPE also provided 500 goodie bags for attendees that was very much appreciate by all the Mathcounts volunteers and FES staff involved with the competition. FBPE staff also attended the county chapter business meeting and discussed how we can collaborate and support future events.
For more information about Florida Mathcounts go to FES’s website at http://www.fleng.org/mathcounts.cfm.To view more pictures from this year’s event go to Florida Mathcounts Pictures.