La Salle-Peru High School students reach state in math competition

The La Salle-Peru math team performed at state April 6 after two of its members placed first in the oral portion of the ICTM Regional Math Contest on Feb. 24.

Alex Anderson and Will McLaughlin, both seniors, headed to Illinois State University, where they placed 24th in their event and were two of 3,178 students who participated in the contest.

Math team coach Kaitlin Monahan said she was hoping for a great outcome and wanted the boys to have fun while also having a chance to explore Illinois State University’s campus.

To prepare for state, Anderson and McLaughlin were given about a 100-page reference packet, this year themed logic and circuits.

“We looked over the packet and did a bunch of practice problems,” Anderson said.

Monhan said she acted as a reference for the students, but it was all their efforts that deserve accolade. The students made sure they were prepared to present to the judges.

“When we met for practice, we made sure they were understanding the concepts and ideas given,” Mohan said. “If they had any questions, they were to follow the examples laid out for them.”

For oral competition, students are given a set of questions for which they have 10 minutes to prepare, and then they “teach or explain” their answers back to the judges. The entire competition is about 20 minutes.

Anderson and McLaughlin had not worked together before this year but understood both were talented.

“We thought we would do pretty well,” Anderson said, “because we are both pretty good at math.”

Both students said their experience at state on the math team went well and prepared them for future goals.

“I feel like a part of college is being able to take notes and being able to teach yourself different stuff,” Anderson said.

Monahan said the team test truly requires a new level of communication, enabling them to learn problem-solving and communication skills.

“There are multiple ways to do these problems, and being able to quickly figure out an answer while persevering through these tests can be hard at times,” she said. “The students must be able to talk to each other and through problems to finish as much as they can correctly as quick as they can.”

Anderson and McLaughlin said they went to state with the goal of improving off their regional score and feel they did “pretty well” accomplishing that.