Chapter MATHCOUNTS

Congratulations to our homeschool team who took first place in the team rankings out of 18 teams competing at the regional MATHCOUNTS competition.

Our scoring team was co-captained by Matthew Babbitt and Wyatt Smith, and included Preston Law, and Amanda Kettell. Their hard work and diligent problem solving has really paid off resulting in their first place ranking. Our team has now qualified to move on to the state competition.

Matthew, Preston, and Wyatt finished first, second, and third place out of 113 students competing, with 2nd and 3rd place being determined by tie-breaker. Matthew, Preston, and Wyatt participated in the very exciting top-12 countdown round, where Matthew won first place, Wyatt second place, and Preston advanced to the quarter finals.


Erin placed in the top third of competing students yesterday, and as such is our top alternate team student. Erin will be our 5th student who will move on to the state competition.

Our 2nd year veterans Maryanna Krewson and Caleb Trouwborst, along with Amanda and Jien Ogawa, All distinguished themselves by placing at or very near the top half of the participants. It should be pointed out that competing students represent the top 4 to 8 math students in area schools. Further, last year there were 26 teams competing, and this year that number fell to 18. One could easily suggest that our students competed against the top 4 - 8 students, in the top 18 schools in our area for which placing in the middle is no small achievement.


I am very proud of everyone's achievement, and especially everyone's positive attitude. I have noticed that our students have not only acquired new mathematical skill over the past few months, but they have also acquired new friends. The camaraderie between our students is self evident and is delightful to see. Our group of 24 to 30 students who regularly attend our weekly meetings all deserve a special award for their positive attitudes and enthusiasm for the challenging problems that they work on each week.

I would certainly be lost without my student coaches who have all risen to the challenge of helping other students. These fine young men and women all deserve recognition for their selfless efforts on behalf of their students. Lindsay White, Ben Kaiser, Leah Trouwborst, Neil Curwen, Will Spear and Catherine Miller have all worked tirelessly each week with our students not competing at chapter. Luke Trouwborst and Jay White worked to build the abilities of our alternate team. Schuyler Smith, and Zagreb Mukerjee worked to oversee our teams efforts during the run-up to the chapter competition. The scoring and alternate teams received online support through our Art of Problem Solving forum by both Andrew Ardito, David Rolnick, and Schuyler Smith.

I will remember my first chapter competition (as a coach) for the camaraderie of our students, the love of mathematics that they all share, and the enjoyment that was self-evident among our students. I will also remember the number of supportive students and families that came to countdown in the afternoon to cheer on heeg participants.

Our Weekly Meetings

The collaborative efforts of students working challenging mathematical problems each week is always an inspiration to see. Sometimes the student becomes teacher, sharing insights that may be new or unfamiliar to his/her student coach and fellow students.

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to all 19 homeschoolers who took on the challenges of spelling in today's 13th annual homeschool spelling bee, demonstrating bravery, poise, and grace.

There were many challenging words in today's bee. Just a sampling of some of the words includes: liverwurst, aristocracy, mantilla, geranium, pumpernickel, sayonara, harpsichord, eureka, caribou, cryptic, simile, filibuster, incognito, enchilada, and thesaurus.

Our spelling bee first place winner was Mandy Kettell and our second place winner was Jien Ogawa. Mandy and Jien are also among the eight students who will represent homeschoolers on the heegMATHCOUNTS team at the MathCounts competition in two weeks.

Mandy and Jien's friendly camaraderie and mutual support during the high-pressure final rounds of the bee was delightful to observe. Many members of the audience told me afterwards how impressed they were with them, and with all our spellers today.

As a group, the entire collection of spellers provided excellent competition and demonstrated an impressive familiarity with the remarkable idiosyncrasies of the English language. The experience of having competed with such a talented group of spellers will be helpful to Mandy as she represents homeschoolers at the next level of the competition.

Mandy will now spell in the Times Union newspaper bee to be held at Proctor's Theater in Schenectady on Monday March 10 at 5 p.m. in Schenectady. The Proctor's bee on March 10 is free and open to the public, so we encourage all homeschool families to come and cheer for Mandy. (It's also fun and educational for audience members, including the adults(!), to try to spell the words with a pencil and pad in their seats.)

The winner of the Proctor's bee will win an all-expenses paid trip to represent the Capital District at the Scripps National Bee in Washington DC in late May, as well as a number of other prizes.

AMC 8

We had a record number of brave homeschool students undertake the AMC8 challenge this year. It was an honor to administer the exam and I am proud of each and everyone who took this very difficult exam.

The top three students from the overall group (14 homeschoolers and 9 strong students from local schools) constitute the AMC8 team for the purposes of team honors.

This year, the top three students in the local administration under the auspices of Albany Area Math Circle were all homeschoolers and their combined score qualified for the National School Honor Roll. The three students on the Albany Area Math Circle AMC8 team are Matthew Babbitt, Preston Law, and Wyatt Smith.

Only three other school teams in New York State achieved this honor this year! The list of AMC8 Honor Roll teams is available here.

In addition to team honors, four homeschooled students won individual honors.

Matthew Babbitt (Gold Award, Perfect Score, High Scorer in NY Award, Certificate of Distinction)

Preston Law & Wyatt Smith tied for the Silver Award. Both also receive a Certificate of Distinction for scoring 21 points or above.

Abigail Trouwborst won the Bronze Award for third place. She will also receive a Merit Roll Certificate, an honor reserved for students in 6th grade and below for scoring 15 points or above. Abigail's performance is especially noteworthy since she is only a 5th grader!

Congratulations to all of the above AND to all who took the challenging AMC8 exam.

Honorary Member

Adam is too young to attend our regular weekly meetings, however it has been my and Matthew's pleasure to meet with him each week separately. Adam is simply an amazing young mathematical problem solver, who also enjoys reading, geography, and learning to play chess (among many other activities). We look forward to having Adam join our regular group in a couple of years.

Our Student Coaches

Our student coaches...

Coach Neil Curwen. is an 11th grade homeschooler. He also participated in MathCounts as a student and is now in his second year of coaching. He was was selected for and participated in the LeaderSpark leadership training program provided by the Schenectady County League of Women Voters. He has many other talents, including Shakespearean acting, directing, and rowing.

Coach Ben Kaiser. is a 9th grade homeschooler who has been taking part-time classes at SCCC. He participated in MathCounts as a mathlete at both the chapter and state levels. He received a Bronze Award and Honor Roll listing on the AMC8. Ben is in his first year of coaching.

Coach Zagreb Mukerjee. is an 11th grade student at Guilderland High School. He participated in MATHCOUNTS for Farnsworth Middle School at chapter and state and is a member of the school's Math League (NYML) team, 1st in the region for the last few years, and several-time perfect scorer. He is a graduate of Leaderspark. He is a National History Day state champion, and is active in the community. Zagreb is beginning his first year as a coach, and is also a member AAMC.

Coach David Rolnick. is an 11th grade homeschooler. He attended the Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) in 2006 and was invited again in 2007, though opted that year to attend the Research Science Institute (RSI) instead. David has tied for 1st place in the Vermont Math Coalition Talent Search for each of the past two years. David is a member of AAMC, and offers (free) online tutoring to AAMC students. This is his first year as a coach. David’s other interests include nature (especially moths), writing, and wordplay.

Coach Schuyler Smith. is a 9th grade homeschooler. He also participated in MathCounts as a student competing in the National Competition held in Fort Worth Texas last year, finishing 28th out of 228 national finalists. He was captain of the 2007 scoring team which took first place at chapter and state competitions. He received a perfect score on the AMC8, and qualified to take the USA Math Olympiad. This will be Schuyler's first year as a coach. He currently attends classes at Union College part time. Schuyler is also a member of the AAMC.

Coach Leah Trouwborst is a 9th grade homeschooler who participated in MathCounts as a mathlete, serving as the captain of the 2007 alternate team. Leah has been named to the AMC8 Honor Roll. She began coaching last spring.

Coach Luke Trouwborst. is a 10th grade homeschooler who participated in MathCounts as a mathletes at the chapter and state levels. Luke was captain of the 2005 scoring team and made the AMC8 Honor Roll. He has qualified for the American Invitational Math Exam (AIME.) Luke is also a lawyer on the homeschool mock trial team which placed 2nd in the region last year, and is very active in his church. He is beginning his second year as coach.

Coach Jay White. is a 9th grade homeschooler who also participated in MathCounts as a student. Jay was a member of the scoring team for heeg MathCounts last year, which won first place at chapter and state. Individually, he placed 10th place at Chapter and 11th place in the State MATHCOUNTS competition. He received a Bronze Award and Honor Roll listing on the AMC8. He has qualified for the American Invitational Math Exam (AIME.) He is beginning his first year as a coach. Jay is also a member of the AAMC.

Coach Lindsay White. is an 11th grade homeschooler who also participated in MathCounts as a student. She was selected for and participated in the LeaderSpark leadership training program provided by the Schenectady County League of Women Voters. She is also a member of the AAMC.