Recently, the opening of the math team has sparked interest in those showing fascination in, well, math. An informational meeting took place on October 5 to examine the daily routines of the club, assess topics, and explain skills learned and advanced upon.

Math teacher Ms. Blundell, one of the coaches of the team, states, “Math team is a group where students can challenge themselves mathematically and encourage and teach their peers problem-solving skills at all levels of math.” Elaborating, Ms. Blundell says that math team provides the opportunity to increase and advance your skills to a different level of math and to motivate other people to as well.

The overall goal of the math team is to identify students with particular math abilities to give them recognition and enlighten them to study topics not commonly taught in school. Math team is open to all grades and mainly encourages underclassmen, as they can get an early start and join the season.

The math team meets every Monday from 2:30 to 3:30 in Room 256. There are five meets throughout the season, and information can be found under the Math Team webpage in Eagan High School’s website.

Ms. Blundell explains, “Each of the five math meets has its own topics.  Students prepare for the topics during the practice sessions.  The questions covering each topic are not easy, so persistence and practice help students to be successful.  Also, students tutor and help peers prepare for the math meets, so teamwork and cooperation are also important skills needed to be successful. ” Math team can teach skills such as determination and persistence through the hard work and practicing that members do.

During the meetings, there are consistent practice sessions and reviews of topics for upcoming meets. The topics are divided up into four categories; Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and Trigonometry, and Pre-calc.

Blundell states that, as a coach, she hopes students joining the math team will achieve a love of problem-solving skills, feel unity within the team, and gain confidence.

Students interested in joining the math team can contact Ms. Blundell in room 256 and look forward to learning valuable skills that will help them throughout their math career.