Students test their skills at Math Olympiad

SANDPOINT — Fifth- and sixth-graders tested their mental agility at Wednesday's annual Math Olympiad at Sandpoint High School.

"It was great," said one sixth-grade mathematician. "I came last year and took third place."

Another student had a different take on the event.

"They should have taken our calculators away. Otherwise, it's not real math," he said.

Members of the SHS math club hosted the after-school competition, which took place at the high school. Club members wrote the tests, proctored the testing sessions and awarded the prizes. About 25 members helped in planning and running the Olympiad.

“We’ve been doing this since 2009,” said SHS math club advisor Nachele Search.

For the first time this year, teams from every elementary school in the Lake Pend Oreille School District attended, she said.

Groups of two to four students from each school formed teams for the competition. Each team took five different types of math-related tests, and earned points accordingly.

Once the elementary students completed their brain games, they adjourned to the high school commons where they refueled with pizza and soft drinks. Excited chatter flooded the big room as participants discussed their chances of winning, energized with the buzz of post-testing relief.

As the day came to a close, students young and old gathered for competition results and prizes.

A team from Farmin Stidwell Elementary took first place for the fifth-grade math contest. A Sagle Elementary team took first place for the sixth-grade division. The top three teams in each group received bronze, silver or gold medals.

No one went home empty-handed, however. Each of the 127 young attendees received a personalized certificate, and each budding mathematician left the building with a goodie bag in hand.