Two hundred middle school students from 22 Lehigh Valley schools and three counties participated in the 42nd annual MATHCOUNTS® regional competition held at Eyer MS Feb. 8.

The Lehigh Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers sponsored the event. MATHCOUNTS® is a national math coaching and competition program for students in grades 6-8. This collaboration of educational, business and technological communities has impacted millions of students throughout its history, promoting interest and ability in math by making math excellence as challenging, exciting, and prestigious as achievement in sports.

Coaches and their students began preparation for this “Olympics of Math” event last fall. Students have to be prepared to answer questions involving basic arithmetic, logic, probability, statistics, linear algebra, polynomials and number series. In January, coaches administer in-school competitions to identify their teams.

The regional competition determines the winning team, as well as the four highest ranking individuals from the Countdown Round, and the top two highest-scoring individuals who were not part of the winning team. Six to eight students will compete at the state level competition held March 22 in Harrisburg. The top students from Pennsylvania will compete in Washington, D.C. on May 11-12 for national honors. Raytheon Corporation is the title sponsor of the national event ,that will draw 30,000 students representing more than 5,500 schools!

MATHCOUNTS® Coordinator Kevin T. Campbell addressed the audience, telling them the engineering profession “needs more engineers” and that if they choose to become an engineer, “they will always have a job.” Campbell is president and CEO of the Barry Isett & Associates, which is a multidisciplinary engineering company located in Allentown, but has numerous offices in other locations.

A part of MATHCOUNTS® since its inception, Campbell continues to encourage the nation’s youth to help them realize the significance of mathematics in all aspects of life. Campbell took the time to thank the coaches, parents, society members, volunteers, contributors and especially the participants, for continuing to demonstrate how important math is to our futures.

Moravian Academy earned the top small/private school award. The top scoring schools that day were:

1. Springhouse MS, Parkland SD Coach Kevin Hallman

2. Eyer MS, East Penn SD Coach Julie Hummell

3. Southern Lehigh MS, Southern Lehigh SD coaches Charu Chaturvedi, Ella Scheinler

4. Easton Area MS, Easton Area SD coaches Eric Adams, Zoe Boekelheide

5. Lehigh Valley Academy Regional School, Allentown SD

Coaches Kerry Go, Charles Raeford

6. Saucon Valley MS, Saucon Valley SD Coach Amanda Holveck.

Prizes awarded included scholarships for math and/or science courses at Cedar Crest College, Moravian University, Lafayette College, Lehigh Carbon Community College and Northampton College.

MATHCOUNTS® was established in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and CNA Insurance. One of its main objectives is to provide students with a foundation for success in science, technology, engineering or mathematics careers.

Watching these young minds solve complex math problems under timed pressure in front of an audience of several hundred people was impressive. The coaches, volunteers, parents and supporters of this program deserve much credit in supporting the successes of all these young students.