By Andrew S.
Ten people, two teams, one math problem. For the first time ever, The Family Foundation School competed in Moody’s Mega Math Challenge on March 8 in the FFS library.
Andrew A., Sam B., Andrew E., Luke V., and Andrew S. made up Jim Kavarnos’ team. Sean M., Julianna C., Sheree B., Tyler W., and Laura W. assembled as Mindy McAndrew’s team.
Needless to say, both teams were pretty surprised when they heard they would be spending 14 hours working on one math problem. But, with up to $80 thousand in scholarship money involved, both teams were ready for the challenge.
They were baffled by the same dilemma the United States government faces today, the Federal Stimulus Package and how to bail the economy out efficiently.
They had to produce reports consisting of an introduction, an in-depth analysis of the problem, a conclusion, and a summary in Microsoft word which could be no more than 20 pages altogether. Kavarnos’ team produced a 15-page report and McAndrew’s team did the same.
Andrew A. said, “After wasting half the day doing wrong calculations, our team had a breakthrough and we put aside our disagreements and frustrations to work together to solve our nation’s economy crisis. I don’t think we won, but parts of our answer were well calculated and seemed realistic.”
Sean said, “Communication was the biggest struggle of the day on our team. We first worked as individuals, but then we came together as a team. I think we beat Andrew A’s team, but I don’t think we won.”
Laura said, “The hardest part was having to do the work in one place for such a long amount of time.” She said that she had a hard time sitting in one place staring at a computer for 14 hours, but she thinks it was worth it.
Jim Kavarnos believed that the problem helped students to work in an environment similar to what they would see in real life. He was proud of those who participated in the tournament.
By the end of the day, everyone in the competition was exhausted being that they worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. that night. Both teams will know in April where they placed and if they won any scholarship money.
