It was math madness in Brooklet on Saturday, March 8, as nearly 200 fifth- and sixth-grade mathletes took over center court in Southeast Bulloch High School's gymnasium to slam dunk some math equations during the 42nd Annual Penny Sikes Math Tournament.
Eleven elementary and six middle school teams from Bulloch County's public and private schools took part in this year's individual and team ciphering portions of the competition. It is organized and hosted annually by faculty from the Southeast Bulloch High School Math Department and sponsored by Morris Bank. The competition is open to any public, private, charter, or homeschool students in Bulloch County, and entry is free.
Penny Sikes is a former Bulloch County Schools math teacher and administrator, who began the tournament in 1983, with an innovation grant from the school system. The tournament is one of three local math competitions held annually which include Georgia Southern University’s Invitational Math Tournament for middle and high school students, and Bulloch County Schools' Reggie Dawson Memorial Math Tournament for third and fourth graders. Congratulations to this year's winners:
Winning Teams:
- Overall Fifth-Grade Team: Brooklet Elementary School (BES)
- Overall Sixth-Grade Team: Southeast Bulloch Middle School (SEBMS)
- First-Place Team Ciphering Fifth-Grade: Julia P. Bryant Elementary (JPBES)
- First-Place Team Ciphering Sixth-Grade Southeast Bulloch Middle School
Top Individuals:
- M. Cowan - First-Place Fifth Grade, Brooklet Elementary School
- O. Zhang - First-Place Sixth Grade, Southeast Bulloch Middle School
Other Top-Three Team Placements:
- Second-Place Fifth-Grade Overall Team Awards: Julia P. Bryant Elementary
- Second-Place Sixth-Grade Overall Team Awards: William James Middle (WJMS)
- Second-Place Fifth-Grade Ciphering: Brooklet Elementary
- Second-Place Sixth-Grade Ciphering: William James Middle
- Third-Place Fifth-Grade Overall Team Awards: Sallie Zetterower Elementary (SZES)
- Third-Place Sixth-Grade Overall Team Awards: Bulloch Academy (BA)
- Third-Place Fifth-Grade Ciphering: Sallie Zetterower Elementary
- Third-Place Sixth-Grade Ciphering: Bulloch Academy
Other Fifth-Grade Top Individuals in order of 2nd-10th Place: G. Opoku of JPBES; K. Durach of BES; N. Munger of JPBES; C. Wolfe of BES; C. Braddock of JPBES; C. Grooms of BES; A. Rahman of SZES; B. Williams of BES; and J. Winnette of Stilson Elementary (SES).
Other Sixth-Grade Top Individuals in order of 2nd-10th Place: G. Choi of SEBMS; D. Chen of SEBMS; B. Batchelor of SEBMS; F. Carroll of WJMS; G. Mackelprang of SEBMS; W. Herman of WJMS; H-Y Kim of SEMBS; J. Abell of Langston Chapel Middle; and C. Nichols of BA.
More About This Year's Winning Teams
Brooklet Elementary: The Brooklet Elementary School Math Team, made up of 12 members, is coached by Kristen Lee, Sarah Jones, and Landon Williford. The coaches are very encouraged by the students' interest in mathematics as more than 30 fifth graders tried out for the BES Math Team this year.
Julia P. Bryant Elementary: The Julia P Bryant Elementary Math Team has 12 members, and it is coached by Ashley Miller and LaToya Jenkins. The team members shared that they love studying math with their coaches, and that their favorite thing was their coaches teaching them the MMMR rap. MMMR is the concepts of Mean, Median, Mode, and Range, which are used in statistics to describe and analyze data sets.
Sallie Zetterower Elementary: The Sallie Z Math Team has nine members, and it is coached by Katie Stewart, Valerie Skrak and Josey Lightle. The coaches love to see how these students from different fifth-grade classrooms come together and work seamlessly.
Southeast Bulloch Middle School: The SEBMS math team has 10 members, and it is coached by Tracy Batchelor and Patia Rountree, Ed.D. The school has been competing at the Penny Sikes Math Tournament for more than 25 years. The coaches' most memorable moment this year was during a ciphering practice session. Everyone missed a problem, and the conversation and resilience that followed was both meaningful and memorable. Their team's math-inspired motto this year, which was featured on their team shirts at the competition was "You have to be odd to be #1."
William James Middle School: The WJMS Math Team has 10 members, and it is coached by Tom Borck. The school has been competing at the Penny Sikes Math Tournament for more than 20 years.
Bulloch Academy: The Bulloch Academy Sixth-Grade Math Team has 10 members, and it is coached by Walter Leveritt. The school has been competing at the Penny Sikes Math Tournament for 25 years. Last year as a fifth-grade team, they were honored with a second-place win. Their coach shares that their team is known for its love of competition. The math-themed motto that the team chose this year to place on their team shirts and to motivate them was, "Math has serious problems."