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TMS teams definitely can do the math

By Shawn Linenberger - | May 30, 2007

Tonganoxie Middle School has some top-notch mathematicians.

TMS seventh- and eighth-graders competed earlier this month in the Kaw Valley League math competition at Lexington Trails in De Soto.

The eighth-grade team, coached by Mary Newell, placed first as a team, while the seventh-place squad, coached by Stacy Willis, finished second.

Newell said she was proud of the Tonganoxie teams, which have had a long tradition of excelling at the math championships. In the 15 years she’s coached the math team, the eighth grade has finished first or second every year except for two.

“I feel really good about it,” Newell said. “I feel my students really work hard. They’re ambitious and they just do a good job.”

Eighth-grade team members are: Lacie Falk, Erika Flores, Madison Hunter, Tiffany Jacobs, Ashley Kotowske, Danielle Miller, Hank Somers and Megan Woods.

The seventh-grade team consisted of Ben Williams, Amos White, Jonas Myers, Rachel Bieniecki, Patrick Rachford, Mallory Smith, Torrey Brown, Dane Erickson, Colton Young and Wes Williams.

Individually, the TMS eighth-grade team had five students place in the top 10. Megan Woods was ninth, Danielle Miller eighth, Madison Hunter sixth, Lacie Falk fifth and Ashley Kotowske third.

In the seventh grade, Dane Erickson and Colton Young each finished third, while Ben Williams placed seventh.

There were roughly 70 students at each level competing from seven schools in each division.

Newell said she was most impressed with the teams’ preparation for the league contest.

Practice started just after state assessment tests were finished, which meant the teams had only two weeks to prepare. That meant practicing each day before school for 45 minutes.

Eighth-graders competed in four categories at league: algebra, geometry, computation and problem solving. Seventh-graders participated in the same categories, except that they competed in pre-algebra rather than regular algebra.