School Math Team Takes Off

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Chardon Brooks

Now in its second-year, the Brimmer and May Math League is attracting growing interest. With ten students—and growing—the School now fields two teams. So far, the roster includes Oscar Portabales ‘15, Iris Jiang ‘15, Stephani Zhang ‘16, JiHee Lee ‘16, Jeff Wu ‘18, Charlie Li ‘17, Harry Tan ‘18, Elaine Ren ‘17, Michelle Li ’18, and Erin Kong ’15.

Each math question is weighted with a certain number of points. “The first question receives one point, the second question two points, and the third question three points, unless otherwise specified,” reads the rules of the Greater Boston Mathematics League, of which Brimmer and May belongs.

The “Mathletes,” as they are affectionally known, are lead by coach and Math Department Chair Nancy Bradley. Bradley says her team faces-off against stiff competition, with schools that have dedicated varsity math teams. “Our team members are also athletes and artists, who have after school commitments,” Bradley says, explaining that it’s difficult to prepare for math meets.

“All the same, the math meets provide great exposure for our students, and it’s great for them to see various types of math problems,” Bradley says. “It’s also helpful for our students to square-off against other high school students to test their knowledge. It’s rare to have freshman and seniors together on the same team, and it’s awesome to see them work together.”

The Mathletes first competed last week at Brookline High School against much larger schools, including Newton North, Newton South, and Boston Latin.

“I think it is a lot of fun and really interesting to get to do math competitively with my friends,” Portabales says. “It’s what we all love to do. It really gives us a chance to put what we study and learn in school to the test.”

Photo: Four Brimmer and May students competed at the 27th Annual Mathematics Meet at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (L-R) Sean Lee ’16, Kino Shen ’15, Hector Morales ’15, and Erin Kong ’15.