St. Marguerite mathematicians score big nationally

Friday, Jun. 12, 2015

TOOELE — After three months of intense preparation, 26 students in grades 1 to 8 from Saint Marguerite School in Tooele were among more than 6 million students who engaged in an international mathematics competition called Math Kangaroo. As its name implies, the competition originated in Australia in the 1980s and now covers 52 countries around the globe.

The contest is not just for the best mathematically talented students; it aims to test students in ways that show mathematics can be interesting, useful and even fun. Nonetheless, competitors are ranked by their results nationally and by state.  

In a ceremony held on June 2 at the University of Utah Tooele campus, first-grader Abby Camacho and second-grader Hailey Donner were recognized for first-place ratings in their grade levels in the state of Utah and ranked 50th and 48th respectively among all who tested in the entire United States in their grades. 

Seventh-grader Madison Perez and first-grader Crystal Hubbell were acknowledged for their third-place finishes in their grades in Utah and were ranked 76th and 56th in the nation, respectively.  In addition, fourth-grader Benji Child ranked 48th in the nation along with his seventh-place finish in Utah. 

These students and 76 others who competed at the University of Utah on March 19 were lauded by math lecturer Dr. Piotr Runge of the University of Utah in a special ceremony held on June 2 at the Tooele campus.