(Athens) - A team from Athens District High School (ADHS) has placed second in their zone in the prestigious Euclid math contest.

The team of D.J. Herbison, Mark Michel, and Tom Zhao recently secured the position by posting an average score of 58 per cent on the test, run in April by the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo. The test was written by 1,500 students within Zone 6, which encompasses all of eastern Ontario except Ottawa. The average team score in the test was in the low 40 per cent range.

“It feels pretty good considering how many schools are in our zone,” said Michel on Monday.

He said the tight-knit nature of the school culture at ADHS helped the team succeed.

“Because we’re a small school we really get to know each other and get to know the teachers and it provides for a more comfortable learning environment,” Michel said.

ADHS math teacher Doug Dillon said that preparation was also a key factor in the team’s success. The three boys participated in the school’s weekly math club, and were challenged with problems outside of the standard curriculum. The test offered a range of problem types including: quadratics, trigonometry, coordinated geometry, and number theory.

This is the third time in four years that teams from Athens have scored in the top three in CEMC competitions. Three years ago, the team from Athens took top spot in their zone in the Pascal grade 9 contest, while two years ago an ADHS team placed first in the zone in the Cayley grade 10 contest.

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For more information, please call:

Doug Dillon

Math Teacher

Athens District High School

613-924-2618