MSMS hosted the school’s annual Mu Alpha Theta tournament on Feb. 29. This mathematics competition, the longest-standing outreach tradition at MSMS, invited students across Mississippi to compete in events ranging from Algebra I through Calculus. 

The opening event consisted of a written test portion in which students competed individually in a specific subject area. Later events — Ciphering, Interschool and Potpourri — incorporated a more collaborative approach by allowing students to work together to earn points for their school.

The tournament consistently attracts more than 400 students every year and has positively impacted many seeking to advance in mathematics.

MSMS math teacher and tournament coordinator Shae Koenigsberger said the event serves as an introduction for many to competitive math.

“It also allows them to sharpen their leadership skills, allowing them to serve as [future] MSMS leaders,” she said. “[The tournament] proves to students that we do big things at MSMS and the students here are amazing.”

MSMS Mu Alpha Theta Math Tournament Co-Chair Ean Choi said the tournament went smoothly overall. 

“I think we planned very well ahead of time,” Choi said. “A lot of preparation went into the questions, and any problems were corrected on the fly.”

Junior Andy Chen previously competed twice in the annual math tournament representing his home school. This year, he served as a math tournament committee member and wrote many of the problems seen by participants in the Geometry category.

As a former participant, he said the tournament exposed him to competition math for the first time.

“The math tournament was a really nice opportunity to be exposed to a different level of mathematics. It’s technically the same subjects [taught in schools], but the type of problems and the thinking required is really out-of-the-box,” Chen said. “Going to the tournament was a really nice way to meet a lot of interesting people who cared about math. It was often hard to share that passion with others at my home school.”

Chen said his involvement in the tournament as a current MSMS student allowed him to share concepts he enjoys while promoting students’ creative solutions and interpretations.