San Jose, March 21, 2018: Moreland School District announced that three Country Lane students, two Payne students, two Easterbrook Discovery School (EDS) students, and five Moreland Middle School (MMS) students qualified out of almost 50,000 applicants from across the country to participate in MathCON; a prestigious national academic competition hosted by Concept Schools in Chicago.

Among the top 1% of students chosen to advance, the 576 finalists include Country Lane 5th graders John L., Andrew P., and Guillaume Z., Payne 5th graders Mia L. and Richard D., EDS 6th grader Marcus L., and 8th grader Ishan G., as well as Moreland Middle 6th graders Nab S., Aadhithan A., Tanvi G., 7th grader Siddharth B. and 8th grader Aarushi W.

Students from 43 states in public, private, charter and home schools took the initial online exam at their school to qualify for MathCON, which will be held at the University of Illinois at Chicago on May 5.  The day-long event brings together elementary, middle, and high school students to compete for various prizes and national prestige through various math questions.

“We’re incredibly proud when any of our students earn recognition for their accomplishments, and we’re so excited to have eleven students from four of our schools representing the Moreland School District,” Superintendent Mary Kay Going said. “Mathematics is a key curriculum area in elementary and middle school as they develop strong mathematical foundations for future math and science careers. This is a great honor not only for these students, but also for their schools and the Moreland School District.”

MathCON was created in 2008 by Concept Schools as a Midwest competition with just 125 participants, and has since grown into a national event.  MathCON’s goal is to engage students in STEM outside of the classroom and encourage more students to enter the STEM fields, which are currently some of the fastest-growing industries in the country.  Students nationwide compete across several mathematical disciplines: algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis, number systems, and pre-calculus.

In past MathCON’s competitions, Moreland has had several students place nationally and one global ranking.