Homewood High School’s math department held its second annual in-school math tournament “Math Madness” last week. Mark Hellmers, AP Calculus teacher and math team coach, collaborated with Alex Rogers, Algebra II and Honors Algebra II teacher, to create the competition in preparation for future team tournaments.

Math Madness is a three-division, week-long tournament taking place during competitors’ fifth-period study. The three divisions are geometry for freshmen, Algebra II for sophomores, and comprehensive math for juniors and seniors.

Each division has a written test, multiple-choice questions and a ciphering day. While answering questions, participants are timed, gaining point values for speed and accuracy.

Last year, HHS changed the math curriculum to no longer require students in advanced math to also compete on the math team. There was a notable decrease in math team participation, especially with this year’s 9th and 10th-grade classes. 

HHS senior and math team member speculated when they made the change that “participation [in math team] decreased by around 80%.”

As a solution, the math department introduced Math Madness to encourage participation with the math team giving advanced math students a chance to experience how math tournaments work. 

Hellmers said that Math Madness gives students a taste of what to expect at real math tournaments by offering practice for them. 

To motivate participation, the highest scorers can win gift cards to places such as Chick-fil-A. 

Hellmers commented, “They’re doing it so they’re not as intimidated by [future math tournaments].” 

Math Madness not only offers students educational opportunities but is a fun and exciting way to learn.

“Mr. Hellmers makes it a very low-pressure environment,” Chewning said. “It’s a nice thing to do. You don’t want to go to something that’s extra and academic, especially when trying out for the first time. So he makes it fun”.

The math team’s next tournament will be in December.