Parkers Prairie Math Masters Place First and Sixth at Regional Competitions
Megan Benzinger, Hunter Haggenmiller, Austin Koep, Maddie Schroeder, and Jonathon Schwartz, students at Parkers Prairie Elementary School, participated in the regional Math Masters of Minnesota Challenge at Osakis Public School in Osakis, Minnesota on April 29, 2011. Jayme Aune and Cody Springer also participated as alternates.  Thirty-nine teams, consisting of 195 individual students, competed on eight sets of mathematical problems in the competition.
The Parkers Prairie fifth grade team received first place in the team competition.  Jonathon Schwartz also received a medal for first place in the individual competition.  In the fact drill (75 fact sentences in 5 minutes) Jonathon Schwartz received a medal for placing in the top 10 and Hunter Haggenmiller received a ribbon for placing in the top 20.  Cody Springer received a certificate for the top score by an alternate.
On March 11, a team of sixth grade students participated in the regional Math Masters Challenge in Alexandria.  Team members were Matt Arens, Sammie Kastner, Sarah Koep, Grace Roers, and Harry Samuelson, along with alternates Kathryn Burquest and Brittany Mickelson.
Thirty-one teams, consisting of 155 students competed individually and as teams on eight sets of mathematical problems.   The team received sixth place in the team competition.  Sarah Koep received a medal and Grace Roers received a ribbon and for performance in the fact drill.  Grace and Sarah also received ribbons for placing 9th and 16th in individual problem solving.
Math Masters of Minnesota began as a fifth grade math competition program in 1989 with teams from 44 schools taking part. In 1995 the competition was expanded to include sixth graders and this year.  Math Masters is designed to promote excellence in critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities as well as provide recognition to students for academic effort and achievement.
The team coaches, Karen McBrady and Phyllis Christopherson, would like to thank the students and their families for their support and commitment to this program.