Math Battle returns to PC!

Editor's Note: The PC Math Battle is a unique local math competition held at Porterville College and coordinated by the PC Math Division. The event brings High School students to campus each year to compete in an all day math tournament. It's not only a VERY fun event for all involved, it provides valuable lessons and a great experience for students who get to spend time on campus working with our amazing faculty and staff. Thank you to the Math Division and the Innovation Centers for continually bringing such a wonderful event to campus!

by Dr. Sherrie Burgess,

Mathematics Professor

This year, 5 high schools attended and each school brought 3 teams to compete. A few schools brought an alternate for the team round. Both this year and last year, we allowed the alternates to form their own team (each student was from a different high school). This year the alternate team came in 4th place, of the 16 teams that competed (an amazing feat given these students didn’t know each other). We are hoping to invite a few more teams next year if we can find a big enough space on campus to hold the event (🤞hoping the gym is available).

PC Math faculty (full-time and adjunct) participated in scoring the individual and team rounds. Students were given scores for the team round based on correct solutions and uniqueness. That is, if a team had a solution that was unique from all the other teams competing, there were given extra points.

It was an amazing day to have fun and interact with our high school partner faculty. Through the years, the CAPP grant has enabled us to work more cohesively together. We are grateful for the opportunity to host such a fun event for our local high school STEM students.

Individual school winners (top scoring students from each school):

SCCA

1st place – Lucas Carley

2nd place – Noah Fridlund

3rd place – Victorya Hunt

PHS

1st place – Ruhani Deswal

2nd place – Amaya Cortez

3rd place – Hernan Gutierrez

MHS

1st place – Idil Dag

2nd place – Schyler Collins

3rd place – Colton Isom

GHHS

1st place – Rebeca Ortiz

2nd place – Alexis Iarfain

3rd place – Emily Santoyo

Harmony

1st place – Ruben Alcazar

2nd place – Danny Rodriguez

3rd place – Trenton Byers

Overall Individual Winners (top scoring students out of all the high schools)

1st place – Idil Dag from MHS

2nd place – Schyler Collins from MHS

3rd place – Ruhani Deswal from PHS

Overall Team Winners (top scoring teams out of all the high schools)

1st place – “The Alphas” from Summit Charter (Fabian Almanza, Daniela Maciel, Mia Sanchez, Stephanie Acosta Quintero)

2nd place – “Don’t Drink and Derive” from MHS (Idil Dag, Emily Fought, Colton Isom, Schyler Collins)

3rd place – “Math Magicians” from Harmony (Judith Gomez, Danny Rodriguez, Brylie Silva, Adyson Hensley)

Overall Winning School/Team (highest score when combining the individual and team rounds)

“Don’t Drink and Derive” from MHS (Coach: Kristy Freed and Team Members: Idil Dag, Emily Fought, Colton Isom, Schyler Collins)