An organization like the Math Team is often not a primary focus of the Old Rochester Regional High School student body, and therefore their success goes mostly unnoticed. This season, however, the team has been garnering notoriety for their strong showings in the Southeastern Massachusetts Conference of Mathematics League (SMCML).
Math Team advisor Melanie Kellum, along with a couple of the club’s standout performers, explained a bit about the competitive math landscape and how this club is unlike any other at ORRHS.
Kellum provided some context for those unfamiliar with the structure of a math meet.
“Math topics covered include topics covered in the curriculum and extracurricular topics that students may have not interacted with,” said Kellum. “We have four meets between October and March. There are teams of five for the first rounds, and each student also participates in three 10-minute individual rounds. The top seven to eight teams in the league go to playoffs each year, and we are one of those teams going to the playoffs this year.” She finished by saying, “We practice every Wednesday, and anyone who likes Math can come.”
Thanks to the high level of participation in ORR’s Math Team this year, ORR has been able to bring roughly three teams to a math meet. Kellum noted the increased participation as one of the best things about this year’s Math Team experience, and also as one of the trends she would like to see continue. “I’m very happy with the results,” she added.
Some of the best things about Math Team, according to Kellum, are the team’s flexibility and potential aid to a member’s schoolwork.
“Kids can be involved in all kinds of activities and still do a great job on the team. The added benefit is that they get better at their math,” said Kellum.
Sophomore Colin Flynn didn’t join the team until November, but he has excelled ever since to become a top scorer and a building block for the future. Flynn described the meets as “enjoyable events with a good environment.”
Flynn is excited by the upcoming playoff meet and noted the significance of the last meet, where he earned the top score for ORR. Encouraged by his success, Flynn said he is “definitely continuing next year.”
Andrea Harris is one of the team’s seniors, and as Kellum puts it, “a top scorer.” Harris said that the strong point of this year’s team was the depth.
“We had a lot of good meets where we had our top two or three teams scoring,” said Harris.
Harris started competing as a sophomore and said one of the best things about being on the Math Team is, “We had a lot of fun outside of the actual math competition.” Harris said that one thing Math Team taught her is that “it’s better to think simple.”
Junior Drew Robert also began Math Team as a sophomore, which seems to be a trend. Robert enjoyed a few perfect rounds this season and said his best memory was beating Dartmouth, who he labeled “our biggest competitor.”
Robert said he enjoys the “unique environment” of Math Team and cited the food served at practices and meets as a cool thing that sets the Math Team apart from any other club or organization. He is planning on returning to the team for his senior year.
The Math Team, without a doubt, is one of the fastest-growing and most interesting clubs at ORR. As the club gains notoriety and continues to perform at a high level, there is nowhere to go but up.
By Patrick Briand