The halls of the Mississippi School for Math and Science will be empty on Feb. 23. Instead of having classes, all MSMS students will be a few blocks away at the Trotter Convention Center in downtown Columbus, hosting the annual MSMS Math Tournament.  This is a new experience for both juniors and seniors because the tournament was cancelled last year due to bad weather. Eighteen schools throughout the state will be in participating with an estimated 500 students in attendance.

All MSMS students are required to help and are given a role as either a runner or a grader. A runner is in charge of collecting the answer sheets from the participant as they finish and a grader is in charge of grading these answer sheets. Finally, a small, select portion of students are selected as committee heads for each of the test subjects: Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Trig/Pre Cal, Calculus, Interschool and Potpourri. Their job is to monitor the graders and answer any questions that come up over whether an answer is correct.

Junior Vivian Van, a committee head for Calculus, said, “My job is to be there to answer any questions the runners/graders may have, tally up the scores to see which schools/students made the top 10 for the ciphering and the written tests, and to be there to help the teachers with what they need. I’ve gone to the meetings that Mrs. Koenigsberger held and I will be working with Latonia on the calculus ciphering problems so that I will be able to answer questions as needed.”

Senior Nathan Barlow said, “My role, along with Om Patel and Daniel Cieslinski in the Math Tournament is to record all of the results from tests and ciphering in a spreadsheet throughout the day. The spreadsheet automatically tallies the points and lets us know who’s in the lead. We’ve prepared for it by testing to make sure the spreadsheet works.”

With the tournament date drawing nearer, students are rushing to get ready for their roles in making the MSMS Math Tournament this year a success.