Simmons Middle School students advance in national algebra contestSimmons Middle School students advance in national algebra contest

During these challenging times, Simmons Middle School has something to celebrate.

Stephanie Prieto and Joanna Stade

Recently, 8th grade students in Ms. Karen Henderson’s Honors Algebra class participated in Scholastic’s “The Hardest Math Problem Contest.”

The contest is a national competition, sponsored by the Actuarial department of Scholastic.com.

The competition included only two problems, but only students with correct solutions to problem #1 were allowed to attempt problem # 2.

To advance, students were required to not only successfully give a correct answer to the problem, but also provide an explanation of how to solve problem #1.

Students are “graded” on two components: a correct solution and an explanation that is clear. The written arguments of all entries with mathematically correct answers were judged against the rubric.

At Simmons Middle School, three students correctly solved problem #1. Those students, Eric Ruacho, Stephanie Prieto, and Joanna Stade, were eligible to move on to the second challenge.

In the second challenge, Stephanie Prieto and Joanna Stade correctly solved problem #2 as well!

Prieto and Stade were two of just 29 students from the state of Illinois to solve both problems. Stephanie and Joanna will now join other national winners, for a chance to receive a new laptop and $5,000 for a college fund, or receive a runner-up prize of a tablet. Winners will be announced by Scholastic on April 16.

Congratulations to Eric, Stephanie, and Joanna—and good luck to Stephanie and Joanna! And congratulations also to Ms. Karen Henderson, for your guidance and encouragement to these Panthers!