Math Team Bound for State :::

It’s enough for most people to balance their checkbooks every month and figure their federal tax returns, but the Lyons Township High School Mathletes tackle some more difficult problems. Try these slightly more complicated Math Club problems, typical of questions found at annual math contests.

Given a priority list of tasks to do which take 2, 5, 4, 4, 2, 3, 3, 4, and 2 minutes of machine time, and three machines to do these tasks, how would you schedule them to complete all tasks in the shortest time?
OR
If 72.6% of some number is 384, what is 36.3% of that number?

LT Mathletes answered these questions and more and dominated their regional competition. In fact, according to LT Math Team sponsor Howard Amerlan, “The LT Math Team has gone to the State Math Contest more than ALL other schools of the West Suburban Conference (both divisions) COMBINED. If you include when only individuals or individual small groups have attended, the differential is the same.” LTHS is ranked ninth of all 71 Division IV schools as they enter the statewide contests. Earlier in the season, LT took first place in every category, except one, at the West Suburban Math Contest.

The Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) sponsors two contests per year. The first contest is the Regional Mathematics Contest, with approximately 260 schools in Illinois participating. Winners from those Regional contests are then invited to the State Mathematics Contest, held in late April at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana.

At the Regional contest, each school is allowed to enter up to six students in grade level competitions, where students can earn a maximum of 50 points if all questions are answered correctly. They may also enter a Calculator team, Freshman/Sophomore 2-person team, Junior/Senior 2-person team, Freshman/Sophomore 8-person team, Junior/Senior 8-person team, and two students who will answer questions orally before two judges. Schools participate with other schools of similar size in one of four divisions, with Division IV where the largest schools participate. LTHS is in Division IV, along with 71 other such schools competing at different locations across the State. At the Division IV Regional site, LT competed against three other schools.

Regional Finishes
1st -Lyons Township: 704 points
2nd -Hinsdale Central: 668 points
3rd -Oak Park-River Forest: 638 points
4th -J. Sterling Morton East: 341 points
LT Mathletes answered these questions and more and dominated their regional competition. In fact, according to LT Math Team sponsor Howard Amerlan, “The LT Math Team has gone to the State Math Contest more than ALL other schools of the West Suburban Conference (both divisions) COMBINED. If you include when only individuals or individual small groups have attended, the differential is the same.” LTHS is ranked ninth of all 71 Division IV schools as they enter the statewide contests. Earlier in the season, LT took first place in every category, except one, at the West Suburban Math Contest.

Team Results
Orals: 2nd place ● Junior/Senior 2-person: 1st place ● Calculator: 1st place ● Frosh/Soph 8-person: 1st place ● Junior/Senior 8-person: 2nd place ● Frosh/Soph 2-person: 3rd place ● PreCalculus: 1st place ● Algebra 2: 3rd place ● Geometry: 3rd place ● Algebra 1: 1st place

Grade-level contest top 10 winners at this year’s Regional are listed below.
NAME                           PLACE    YEAR IN SCHOOL
PRECALCULUS
A. Hadley 2 Senior
A. Powers 2 Senior
J. Beckman 4 Senior
K. Tausk 4 Senior
K. Dinnon 8 Senior

ALGEBRA 2
A. McGrath 3 Junior
D. Holt 7 Junior
P.Saramadis 7 Junior

GEOMETRY
N. Demes 2 Sophomore
M. Bandyk 5 Sophomore
R. Adducci 8 Sophomore

ALGEBRA 1
M.Grabis 1 Freshman
J. Slezak 1 Freshman
A. Busse 4 Freshman
M. Kostich 4 Freshman
R. Sheth 9 Freshman

The coaches for LT Mathletes are:
  Precalculus and Junior/Senior 8 person: Linda Gilmore
  Algebra 2 and Junior/Senior 2-person: Jennifer Szczesniak
  Geometry and Frosh/Soph 2-person: Anna Lee
  Algebra 1and Frosh/Soph 8-person: Kelly Nelson
  Orals and Calculator Team: Howard Amerlan