Hononegah math team earns second place honors at invitational

By Marianne Mueller

Reporter

ROCKTON – Hononegah High school hosted a math invitational and were one of 13 schools who tested in various mathematics styles on  Saturday, Jan. 30.

Mathematicians hailed from Belvidere, Belvidere North, Boylan Catholic, Byron, Grant, Harlem, Hononegah, Huntley, Lutheran, Stillman Valley, Wauconda, Woodstock and Woodstock North.

Both individual and team tests showed that these young people were ready to take on the challenges brought before them.

Eight person teams were comprised of freshman and sophomores from each school. Juniors and seniors worked on these teams. Each school entered a third team made up of five, which combined one student from each grade level plus and extra student for the calculator competition. The final events of the day involved two divisions; one made up of freshman, sophomore duos and a second with a division of juniors and seniors in a two person team.

Students  put their heads together figuring out and solving Algebra 1 and 2  equations and abstractions, answering  geometry questions addressing size, shapes and relative positions of figures  and properties and  pre-calculus where principals of college level algebra and trigonometry help students prepare for the study of calculus.

In a friendly competition each participating school sent five representatives to the stage. A freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and a parent or coach formed a team ready to answer “Totally useless Number Trivia.” A large screen displayed a Jeopardy board complete with various categories. Hononegah High School math teacher, Chad Smith set the rules as fun commenced. Unlike Jeopardy answers were not required to be given in the form of a question; only given in numbers. No penalty was issued if a guess was made.  Representatives for each team kept score. A double Jeopardy round was played where teams had an opportunity to wager any amount or nothing.

Categories included sports, IL. History, movies, television and music, animals, and miscellaneous.  One of the questions that stood out was “What is the district that Hononegah High School is in?  The answer- is 207. The trivia portion was just for fun and no points were totaled into final daily scores.

After all scores were totaled Andy Gannon announced those emerging as winners. “I would like to thank all of the teams, coaches and teachers who participated today,” said Gannon. “I am encouraged to see the growth and all aspects of these math competitions. It is equally important to be part of a team.”

Individual, eight person team and trivia contest winners were announced. Hononegah student Jack Eggers received second place in Algebra 2.

Woodstock placed second in the totally useless trivia with a total of 4200 points.  Belvidere emerged victorious with 4700 points.

Just for fun Hononegah High School has an annual candy bar competition. The Boylan Titans were named top of the class in this fun competition.

Behind the day’s fun competition and action were Matt Simpson and Janet Kagen who received a well-deserved round of applause.

Emerging in the day’s top two spots were Hononegah who earned a second place Grand prize trophy, and Huntley who took home first place honors in the AA classification.

Hononegah High school student and invitational participant Bella Weymer talked about the overall experience of the day. “While we didn’t win the competition I believe we still had a good competition. I was especially pleased with my results. I placed first in the Junior- Senior two person team along with Junior, Zach Eggers. I was also part of the fourth place Junior Senior eight person team. As I am a senior it was a bittersweet day. I am looking forward to the future and am optimistic the team will be successful at regionals at the end of February, and will progress to state as well,” said Weymer. 

Marianne Mueller photo

Hononegah High School’s math team placed second overall earning a Grand Prize Trophy at on Saturday, Jan. 30.