SMITHFIELD – Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS) held its annual MathCounts district competition on Friday, December 6, 2024, at Johnston Community College.
MathCounts is a national middle school mathematics competition that builds problem-solving skills and fosters achievement through four levels of fun, in-person “bee” style contests.
“Mathletes” from 13 JCPS middle schools, which included 121 students, participated in the competition, nearly doubling the number of students from last year. Teams were comprised of four students, representing 13 varsity teams and 12 junior varsity teams.
Innovation Academy student Sam McLeod was MathCounts overall individual winner. Coming in second place in the individual category was Aiden Ernst of North Johnston Middle, and Edgar Cordon Juarez of McGee’s Crossroads Middle rounded out the top three overall individual winners.
In the team event, the North Johnston Middle team, “The Brainy Bunch” won first place. Second place in the team category went to the Innovation Academy “πoneers”, and the Princeton Middle/High Bulldogs earned third place.
Additionally, Sophia Zenobi of North Johnston Middle earned first place in the Most Questions Answered Correctly in the Countdown Round Competition category.
“MathCounts is not only about finding the right answer, but it’s also about learning how to think critically, solve problems, and work together to tackles math’s challenges,” stated Amanda Byrd, JCPS Teaching & Learning Secondary Math Specialist.
The Competition Series has 4 levels of competition—school, chapter, state, and national. Individual and team winners will represent the district in the chapter competition in Raleigh later this year. From there, contest winners will proceed to the state competition, and from there, the top four state-level winners will compete at the national level.
“This is a district-wide event that requires planning and collaboration. We are grateful for the coaches, volunteers, agencies, and organizations, particularly Johnston Community College, for helping to provide this for our students,” concluded Byrd.
