The Xavier math team began their competition season at Jefferson High School on Saturday, October 15. The team consists of seniors Peter Deegan, Megan Korbel, and Woojin Shin, juniors Joseph Bioche and John Pape, and sophomores Anna Garbe, Joseph Iverson, Lauren Korbel, and Melina Testin.

“We took first in the small school division, and Megan and Lauren Korbel both qualified for State with their individual scores,” moderator Mrs. Anna Scholl said.

Each competition is made up of four rounds: team, target, sprint, and relay. The competitions, held at schools across the nation, consist of individual rounds and team rounds. Scores are calculated at the end of the rounds to determine placements.

Before competing, the team practices with Mrs. Scholl once a week after school. Practice involves working through math problems or competing in an online competition called Math Madness. This allows the team to practice their skills and compete against other schools across the country. Members of the math team are not required to compete at competitions.

“The Xavier math team is a great opportunity to solve more interesting problems than standard class work allows,” Megan Korbel said. The second competition was November 5 at Waverly-Shell Rock.

Saints on the math team are not just sharing their love of math with each other, they are also planning on sharing their passion with students at Xavier Catholic Schools.

“We’re starting a service project in the spring at the feeder elementary schools to get them involved and learn to appreciate the art of math,” Mrs. Scholl said. For eight weeks, members of the math team will travel to the feeder elementary schools once a week for an hour after school to help teach kids about math. All students are invited to help with this service project.