Area students get down to numbers at math competition

MESA Students participate in a math competition

Approximately 200 elementary, junior high and high school students visited Sacramento State to participate in a math competition sponsored by the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) Program on Friday, Jan. 25.

The students, in grades one through 12, competed for top honors in math levels from first-grade math to calculus. They represented 21 schools in the Sacramento region. 

The students are part of the Sacramento State/UC Davis MESA program. The program provides academic support to educationally disadvantaged students in elementary, middle and high schools and helps prepare them for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and admission to four-year colleges and universities.

Individual award winners were:

• James Nocon, first grade, Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary School, (first grade math)
• Phillip Kim, second grade, Isador Cohen Elementary School, (second grade math)
• Munim Mir, third grade, Isador Cohen Elementary School, (third grade math)
• Dimple Prasad, fourth grade, Prairie Elementary School, (fourth grade math)
• Emmanuel Sanchez, fifth grade, Isador Cohen Elementary School, (fifth grade math)
• Karen Tsay, sixth grade, Washington Elementary School, (sixth grade math)
• Che Vang, seventh grade, Kit Carson Middle School, (pre-algebra)
• Snowmy Won, eighth grade, Edward Harris Jr. Middle School, (algebra 1)
• Aaron Gray, eighth grade, Edward Harris Jr. Middle School, (geometry)
• Liang-Yu Ma, tenth grade, Natomas High School (algebra 2)
• Kristine Phung, eleventh grade, Franklin High School, (pre-calculus)
• Cindy Gao, twelfth grade, John F. Kennedy High School (calculus)
• Chris Pham, eleventh grade, Natomas High School (calculus)
• Gao and Pham tied for first place. Each had a perfect score in calculus.

Team winners were:

• Elementary level – Sophia Cano, Tahiera Summerfield and Juliana Wang, Matsuyama Elementary School
• Middle/junior high school – Aaron Gray, Rajgeil Pal and Sofia Bumatay, Edward Harris Jr. Middle Schoo
• High school – Ashleen Lal, Cindy Gao and Ruben Dominguez