High school math students participate in Boston’s first Calculus competition

BOSTON – More than 80 students from ten Boston public high schools competed last week in the first Calculus Field Day, in which teams of three students solved complex math problems and learned about college and career opportunities. The first of its kind in the Boston Public Schools (BPS), the competition was held at Northeastern University in collaboration with Dr. Robert Case, who runs a Pre-Calculus Summer Bridge Program for BPS students.

Students competed in three divisions: Pre-Calculus, Calculus and Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus. (See sample questions below.)

The following teams earned first-place ribbons in an awards ceremony following the competition:

Pre-Calculus: Boston Community Leadership Academy, juniors – Jazmine Hudson Benson (South End), Takiya Jones (Dorchester), and Andrew Nguyen (Dorchester)

Calculus: Another Course to College, seniors – Lisa Mota (Brighton), Claron Sandy (Dorchester), and Erick Montenegro (Brighton)

AP Calculus: Boston Community Leadership Academy, seniors – Ahmad El Awad (Roslindale), Chhayna Hong (Brighton), and Arlene Sanchez (Hyde Park)

Also participating were teams from Brook Farm Business and Service Career Academy (West Roxbury), Community Academy of Science and Health (Hyde Park), East Boston High School, The Engineering School (West Roxbury), English High School (Jamaica Plain), Health Careers Academy (Fenway), New Mission High School (Mission Hill), and Noonan Business Academy (Dorchester).

Students also heard presentations from the following speakers about college and career opportunities in mathematics and the sciences:

· Christos Zahopoulos, Executive Director, The Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University;
· Claire Duggan, Associate Director, The Center for STEM Education at Northeastern University;
· Richard Harris, Director of Northeastern University Programs in Multicultural Engineering (NUPRIME); and
· Brian Newsom, Senior Program Director of Secondary Mathematics, Boston Public Schools.

Superintendent Carol R. Johnson’s “Acceleration Agenda” for the Boston Public Schools includes a broad range of strategies, goals and targets to expand rigorous course offerings to all students at all grade levels. Her academic priorities include expansion of Algebra to more 8th grade students, in part to put students on track to take Calculus during their senior year of high school. Dr. Johnson also has begun expansion of Advanced Placement courses, including Calculus, at all high schools. Last summer, more than 80 BPS teachers were trained to teach AP classes. For more information about the Superintendent’s Acceleration Agenda, visit http://bostonpublicschools.org/agenda.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

Seniors from East Boston High School work on an Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus problem: (left to right) Hector Granados, William Isaza and Donaidi Hernandez.

The winning Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus team from Boston Community Leadership Academy works on a problem: (left to right) Arlene Sanchez, Ahmad El Awad, and Chhayna Hong.