This fall, madness has taken over the Underwood Library and the Innovation Lab spaces. Math Madness that is. What we are talking about is an online, real-time, team-based competition that enables students to compete in leagues of weekly math competition followed by a nationwide, single-elimination bracket tournament. Math Madness consists of a practice round, four scrimmage rounds, and six bracket tournament rounds. Each week, mathletes have thirty minutes to solve seven to eight multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. The school score is based on the top 5 scores. The content covered is primarily aligned with AMC 10/12, i.e., high school curriculum.

This year, Episcopal High School registered 40 students across the grade levels to compete. About a thousand teams and 20,000 students from across the country compete. EHS students participated for seven weeks. While they could continue to play against other eliminated teams, the mathletes decided to now turn their energy to preparing for midterm exams.

Although EHS students were eliminated after seven weeks, they not only enjoyed the experience but also benefited from it.

Catherine MacConnell '22, Math Madness Coordinator, adds, "I don't know which I enjoyed more, struggling to piece together tricky math problems or working alongside my friends." Her twin brother, Shawn shared in the fun.

Sponsor of the Math Club and Mu Alpha Theta, Dr. Joanna Papakonstantinou, explains, "This opportunity for students to compete weekly against other schools was exciting for our students. You could feel the energy in the room while the students eagerly and intensely tackled these math problems!"

Speaking of Dr. Papakonstantinou, check out the recent article she wrote about her talented students celebrating Fibonacci Day on page 6 of the recent Southwest News and Village News. Fibonacci Day is an annual holiday that honors one of the most influential mathematicians of the Middle Ages - Leonardo Bonacci.