More than 50 students from Marion High School and Marion Junior High School competed in the 2022 Regional Math Contest in March, racking up a whopping 29 awards on the day. The event is held annually by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics, coordinated through the University of Central Arkansas.
“I am very pleased with our showing this year,” said MHS math teacher Farrah McFarland, who coordinates the event. “We always do well, but we had an even stronger showing this year.”
For the contest, students take tests in a variety of mathematic fields, including Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry, Statistics, and Calculus. For each field, students are recognized for first-place, second-place, third-place, and honorable mention.
On the day, Marion students finished with three firsts, two seconds, four thirds, and 20 honorable mentions. In numerous cases, the gap in scores between the honorable mention finishers and the place-winners was only one or two points.
“Our students work hard at math all year long, and I’m so glad they have opportunities like this to be recognized,” McFarland said. “I can’t express how proud I am of every one of them.”
Most years, the event is held at ASU-Mid-South. However, because of continuing pandemic safety efforts, this year’s contest was held on each school campus. Typically, place winners in each field have the opportunity to move on to state competition; however, the state event was also canceled because of the pandemic.
The full list of Marion winners is as follows:
- Mahir Zaman, first-place, Algebra I
- David Adaway first-place, Statistics
- Dawson Whittington, first-place, Calculus
- Chloe Griggs, second-place, Algebra I
- Kathryn Hood, second-place, Algebra II
- Gabriela Cara, third-place, Algebra I
- Ella Switzer, third-place, Geometry
- Coby Hayes, third-place, Algebra II
- Lauren Maness, third-place, Statistics
- Lily Holloway, honorable mention, Algebra I
- Kevin Gudino, honorable mention, Algebra I
- Ty Duncan, honorable mention, Geometry
- Peyton Lancaster, honorable mention, Geometry
- Ubay Esmail, honorable mention, Algebra II
- Addi Santos, honorable mention, Algebra II
- Elena Caballero, honorable mention, Algebra II
- Kelsey Eppes, honorable mention, Algebra II
- Yared Belete, honorable mention, Algebra II
- Brenna Barlow, honorable mention, Pre-Cal/Trig.
- Anh Nguyen, honorable mention, Pre-Cal/Trig.
- Sjoiyah Miller, honorable mention, Pre-Cal/Trig.
- Maria Arellano, honorable mention, Pre-Cal/Trig.
- Luke Kennedy, honorable mention, Statistics
- David Murray, honorable mention, Statistics
- Hannah Hallum, honorable mention, Calculus
- Steve Chen, honorable mention, Calculus
- Hudson Dull, honorable mention, Calculus
- Makenzi Chrestman, honorable mention, Calculus
- Elliot Allen, honorable mention, Calculus
The Marion School District is an innovative and growing district committed to helping every student find their unique path to success in school and in life. With more than 150 years of experience serving families in Crittenden County, the district offers a high school, a junior high, and three award-winning magnet schools. For enrollment information, including information on school choice (May 1 application deadline), visit https://www.msd3.org/ or call 870-739-5100.