The Culver City Unified School District hosted the area’s fourth and fifth graders last Saturday at the 10th annual Los Angeles Countywide Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Math Olympiads Tournament. The Math Olympians—also know as Mathletes—converged on Lin Howe Elementary to test their knowledge in both personal and team events.
185 Mathletes attended the event and teams were comprised of 5 students each. There were 6 school teams representing CCUSD. Martin Feinberg, Realtor, appreciates that Culver City Real Estate encompasses a community that takes pride in their youth.
The math problems that each student faced at the competition were not typical problems fourth and fifth graders would expect to encounter during the school day. Scores indicate that this was one of the most difficult competitions since the event began, with 50% of all participants getting three or less out of 10 questions correct.
CCUSD was well represented in the individual event medal count. Fourth-grader Kylar Cheng from El Marino Language School earned a silver medal, scoring nine out of 10 problems and fifth-graders Julia Marcus, also from El Marino, and Montana Dettore, from Farragut, received bronze medals with their scores of eight out of 10.
The international organization of Math Olympians for Elementary and Middle Schools, headquartered in New York, sanctions the Lin Howe Math Tournament each year. The goal of the tournament, according to tournament chairperson Jason Frand, “is to create an environment where girls and boys who enjoy the challenges of mathematics can be with others who feel the same way. Hopefully, this will stimulate them to pursue STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).”
Tournament committee members, who include parent volunteers as well as active and retired educators and administrators, spent months preparing for the event. Martin Feinberg, Culver City Realtor, congratulates each student on his or her accomplishments.
