The MSMS Mu Alpha Theta chapter finished second in Overall Sweepstakes at the Mu Alpha Theta State Convention hosted by Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood on April 6-7.

Junior Srujan Chinnapureddy, who was elected vice president for next year’s state convention, said he joined MAO to learn about the areas of math he would not encounter in class. 

“I joined MAO because it is a fun way of expressing math and gives us opportunities to discover interesting and unique theories,” he said.

Chinnapureddy said the club was able to complete the art portion of the competition with the help of senior Jennifer Bui, despite encountering challenges.

“[Bui] took over all of our arts for the competition,” Chinnapureddy said. “She did a great job on it in such a limited time because we only had one week.”

Junior Colin Chung competed in the Trigonometry/Precalculus written test, where he won third place.

“Before, I was pretty nervous, and after the test I felt like I screwed up, but after talking to other people who did the same test as me, I felt I did alright,” he said. 

For next year’s competition, Chung said he hopes to be more prepared so he can live up to his potential. 

“I’ll try to study way more because I think I can do way better,” Chung said.

MSMS math teacher and MAO sponsor Lauren Zarandona said that since MSMS will no longer offer Algebra II starting next school year, the team did not participate in those divisions this year. 

“This year, we took no students in the junior division, which means we couldn’t compete at all in Algebra II or Geometry,” she said. “We did that because one, we’re moving away from Algebra II, and two, the kids we had who qualified deserve their spots. We were not going to give up a spot for someone who hadn’t participated.”

Zarandona said within MSMS, MAO holds its position as one of the largest and most active clubs. 

“We meet regularly every other Thursday,” Zarandona said. “We also involve a lot of people from diverse backgrounds, so that makes it special, too.”