February 11, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1,100 Students Signed Up to Participate in Math Relays at Wyandotte High School

Math can be a challenging subject. But hundreds of students in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools are stepping up to the challenge by participating in the fourth annual Math Relays. The event is set for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 at Wyandotte High School, 2501 Minnesota Ave.

The competition will bring together more than 1,100 middle and high school students for relays and individual number games that will help to enhance their math knowledge.

Algebraic concepts, geometric concepts, data and statistics, number sense and trigonometry are just some of the categories involved in the day-long event.

So what's the attraction to spending a Saturday at school working on math problems? Cecil Christwell, Math Relays coordinator, said one of the main attractions is the competitive nature of the event.

"We're seeing that students want to be involved in academic competitions. Sometimes I think the picture is painted that students aren't interested in those things," he said. "But once we created the situation, we found that students wanted it."

Christwell said another attraction is the competition's format. Students are grouped so that they are competing with students who are at their same academic level, based on MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test scores.

"This type of set up allows students of all abilities to compete," Christwell explained. "We have some students who are struggling in the classroom, but they are winning medals."

Medals will be awarded to students placing in the top four in each event. Traveling trophies will be awarded to the middle school and high school scoring the most points overall, and to the middle and high schools with the most participants. The most prestigious honor is being inducted into the Math Relays Hall of Fame. This program was instituted in 2006 to recognize students who have medaled in individual events four times over the course of the annual competition. Students inducted will have their names placed on a permanent plaque and will receive a $200 college scholarship. Four students are set to be inducted so far this year, but more could be added to this list based on their performance at the event. The Awards Competition begins at 2 p.m. in the Wyandotte auditorium.

As a math teacher, Christwell said he is always trying to come up with strategies to build momentum in the classroom, and Math Relays works. He said his students are already gearing up, and they are becoming better problem solvers.

"We have to think of math as a conditioning of the mind," Christwell said. "The more you challenge yourself on certain things, the stronger problem solver you will become. The stronger problem solver you become, the stronger thinker you will be and that's really the ultimate goal."