The MUS Lower School Blog

Mathpacks info

Mathpacks are all the rage, so we wanted to jump on the bandwagon last spring. Given the fact that some requirements between Upper and Lower School summer math work differ, be advised that all mathpack work is enrichment, not required. It's great that the concept of doing extra math work during the summer has caught on because the boys will benefit directly. 

For some context, students who were required to attend math summer school were not issued mathpacks. Other students received them, and they should have completed them. Many parents requested them for their sons anyway. Good for those of you who did so. Thus, all the different denominations of folks have in common the shared reality that, for this summer at least, there is no official requirement to submit a completed mathpack.

Accelerated Algebra exam review

Mr. Murphy offers two exam review sessions: Tuesday morning from 7:30 a.m. - 8:10 a.m. in LS 102 and

Wednesday morning from 7:30 a.m. - 8:10 a.m. also in LS 102.

Math placement test info

MUS offers a math placement test annually to incoming Lower School students. Current students have already taken this test.

There are three individual testing dates: 2:30 p.m.today, Saturday at 8:30 a.m., and next Friday, May 22 at 12 noon. All tests are in the Hull Lower School, room 101. Mrs. Maria Burke will proctor.

The test is 90 minutes. No calculator is needed. Clothing is required.

Pre-Algebra Exam Review worksheet; Get it while it's hot!

Download EXAM REVIEW PLAN MAY 09 Pre-Algebra

Thanks to Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Sullivan for supplying this information to our boys.

Math-a-palooza

Every MUS Lower School math student participates in two National contests, the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) and the Math League Press . Last Friday, Maria Burke, our fearless leader, acknowledged all these fellas (below) in assembly.

Our boys took the AMC 8 Nov 18, 2008. Nathan Vogt recorded the top score in the school, and as a result, his name is engraved on a special plaque where past MUS math scholars reside in posterity.

Seventh-grader Garrett Sullivan achieved second place in a tie with eighth-grader Andrew Renshaw.

First place finishers in his individual math class section are as follows:

Andrew Plunckett

Chip Womack

Josh Patterson

Noah Thomas

Michael Turley

Michael Fitzsimmons

Zach Olsen

Garrett Sullivan

Nathan Vogt

Stephen Pacheco

Shaan Jiles

Nicholas Beals

Chris Galvin

Davis Howe

David Blankenship

Renn Eason

Cameron McDonald

Michael Birnbaum

The last math test taken for these competitions was the Math League Press, taken February 17. Our team score is based upon the top five guys in each grade:

Seventh-grade:

1)       Garrett Sullivan  (36)

2)       Matthew Gayoso (35)

3)       Aditya Shah (32)

4)       Samuel Ostrow (32)

5)       Salman Haque (30)

6)       Alex Carter (30)

Eighth-grade:

1)       Walker Bussey-Spencer (34)

2)       Farhan Kathawala (34)

3)       Nathan Vogt (32)

4)       William Hoehn (31)

5)       Andrew Renshaw (31)

6)       Srujan Jampana (31)

First-Place from his individual math class:

Connor Goodwin

Elliott Slovis

Cameron McDonald

John Valentine

Zach Spisak

Alex Carter

Garrett Sullivan

Walker Bussey-Spencer

Farhan Katawala

Bennett Mercer

Michael Jalfon

Noah Thomas

Eric Mabry

Pete Abston

Ford Howell

Kris Lucas

These are some strong performances, and we all should be quite proud of the students and faculty who work so hard to make these these results.

It really was a “SUPER MATH” Saturday

Maria Burke here: Last Saturday, January 24, the members of the MUS math department hosted the fifth annual Mathcounts school competition for our area’s “mathletes.” By 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, about 100 mathletes and coaches had gathered in the Wunderlich Auditorium to launch the process which determines “who’s going to make it to Regionals next weekend at CBU?”

Coach Loyal Murphy had delivered his last words of wisdom and encouragement to our MUS mathletes as they were facing down the challenge of the Target Round, Sprint Round and the demanding Team Round. Of course our own Darin Clifft had an official superman cape to wear as he acted as emcee for the days events. The rest of the mathletes and coaches settled for “supermath” t-shirts. The final day’s competition ends with the ever-popular Countdown Round. William Hoehn got the nod to represent MUS, and with buzzer in hand, he blitzed through to all opponents until the final round. We all cheered as he captured second place and received a medal to remember the day that his nerves stood the test.

Good luck to our team who will be chosen from our middle school mathletes: Jared Ashkenaz, Walker Bussey-Spencer, William Hoehn, Srujan Jampana, Farhan Kathawala, Andrew Renshaw, Scott Sanders, Sam Shankman, Nathan Vogt, Matthew Gayoso, William Lamb, Garret Sullivan, and Tejvir Vaghela. This day is clearly one for the mathletes, including those guests who came to MUS as students from area schools. This event offers a unique opportunity for the mathletes, but, moreover, it is a rare chance for their coaches to interact in the unique environment. Each visiting team coach was treated by the math department in a spirit of professional encouragement as they dined on Mrs. Moore’s famous pear cake. The teamwork among colleagues was also worthy of note.

At the end of the day, everyone knew that the individual mathlete was challenged and honored. All math faculty should be commended for giving unselfishly of their time, and we look forward to hosting the event in the future.

Mathcounts participants announced

Coach Murphy announces the 2009 Mathcounts participants for the MUS Lower School. From the list below, four boys will represent the school in defense of our third straight regional championship. Our boys excel in mathematics, and the annual competition exposes both our historical expectations and quality results with our best and brightest math students. The participants this year are:

Eighth-grade

Jared Ashkenaz

Walker Bussey-Spencer

William Hoehn

Srujan Jampana

Farhan Kathawala

Andrew Renshaw

Scott Sander

Ekim Sarinoglu

Sam Shankman

Nathan Vogt

Seventh-grade

Matthew Gayoso

William Lamb 

Garret Sullivan

Tejvir Vaghela

Can we count on math?

Math skills are declining. Here is an interesting quote from the New York Times article: "There is something about the culture in American society today which doesn’t really seem to encourage men or women in mathematics," said Michael Sipser, the head of M.I.T.’s math department. “Sports achievement gets lots of coverage in the media. Academic achievement gets almost none."

While I hope that the varsity football team wins their game this weekend as well as continuing on to win a state title, I know that the faculty and administration of the school want to see MUS repeat as regional Mathcounts champions for the Middle School division as well. While the school aims to produce well-rounded graduates of strong character, we know that our efforts and results in the classroom are unique among our regional peers. In order to maintain our academic product, we will continue needing to attract able students from families willing to make the necessary priorities for schoolwork to come before everything else we do. It is getting to be quite a challenge, but we have historically been able to achieve strong results both in school and on the fields.

Mathletes Bring Home Silver at State

The MUS Lower School MathCounts team placed second in the State Middle School division competition held Saturday, March 15, 2008, in Nashville.

Eli Goldstein earned placement in the countdown head-to-head portion and held his own for fifth place. Realizing that some of the greatest math minds in the state were all in the same room in actual competition, our four young men, Eli Goldstein, Carson House, Farhan Kathawala, and Mark Sorensen, can hold their heads high for such an amazing achievement. 

MUS can be very proud of their team effort displayed by Eli, Carson, Farhan, and Mark. They represented us and their families with a high degree of studiousness and gentlemanliness. Thank you to the parents for your loyal support throughout the year, and congratulations go out to Coaches Elizabeth Hopper, Alberta Sullivan, and Maria Burke for their continued support of our boys.

 

Mathcounts Champions...again!

Saturday’s performance at the University of  Memphis confirms it; the MUS Mathcounts dynasty continues. For the third consecutive year we are Regional Champions!

Our Regional team, comprised of eighth graders Carson House, Mark Sorensen, Eli Goldstein, and seventh grader Farhan Kathawala, now advances to the State competition in Nashville in early March as what we would like to think of as the better half of the West Tennessee Regional Team. Our boys will be joined by four four White Station students as the collective Regional squad. MUS math instructor, Elizabeth Hopper, will be coaching.

Our money players Saturday were House, Sorensen, Goldstein, and Kathawala. Wil Hergenrader, John David Christman, Nathan Vogt, and Ashish Nathani were the four other students competing as individuals Saturday.  

Other Lower Schoolers, all seventh graders, participating Saturday as alternates:  Ekim Sarinoglu,  Sylvester Tate, Srujan Jampana,  Jared Ashkenaz,  Scott Sanders, and Amit Shah.