Feb 16, 2018 By For The Greene County Messenger 2 min read

Approximately 80 students from six school districts in Greene and Fayette counties participated in the 2018 MATHCOUNTS competition on Feb. 1 in the Community Center at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.

MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, club, and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. The annual event challenges students with various mathematical problems and equations.

Students from the following schools participated in this year’s competition: Jefferson-Morgan Middle School, Mapletown Junior/Senior High School, Margaret Bell Miller Middle School, A.J. McMullen Middle School, Benjamin Franklin School, Connellsville Junior High School, Albert Gallatin North and South Middle Schools, Lafayette School and Laurel Highlands Middle School.

The winning team was Margaret Bell Middle School from Waynesburg. Team members Alex Shultz, Ethan Maxwell, Nathan Kirby, and Ashton Pollack will advance to the state competition in Harrisburg this March.

The top-performing students in first, second, third, and fourth places, respectively, were Luke Flecker (Albert Gallatin North), Taylor Duensberry (Mapletown Junior/Senior), Malcolm Patton (Ben Franklin), and Nathan Kirby (Margaret Bell Miller). They will also compete in Harrisburg.

Penn State Fayette has hosted the competition for nearly three decades, and Kevin Maxwell, mathematics instructor at the campus, has coordinated the annual event for nineteen years.

More information can be found at mathcounts.org.