Weedsport offers many kinds of extracurricular activities to suit the interests of all kinds of students. Be it athletics or drama or even the sciences, our school has something for just about anyone willing to put time and effort into it. Math Team is no different. Many students with an interest in math and an aptitude for solving problems are encouraged to join this team and compete against other teams from around the county.

The competitions in Math Team differ a bit from the setup you would expect in events like Odyssey of the Mind or Envirothon. The individual members have their own scoring as well as a cumulative overall score that determines which school is the victor. This setup is similar to that of golf matches or swim meets. This system also allows for those individuals who excel in these kind of competitions to get the recognition they deserve.

One such individual is senior Nate Harding who I recently took time with to interview about the Math Team. He gave me a rundown on how the competitions go. One of the major parts of this competition in the relay problem solving portion. This involves a multi-step problem that is passed through team members. The solution of the preceding problem is necessary to solve the portion after it. This means that one mistake may lead to a larger issue down the road.

This year’s Math Team took second place in the league which propels them to the state competition. Nate says his biggest weakness he has was over thinking things. He would look too far into a problem and miss an easier way of solving it.

The team is coached by math teacher Mr. Graziano, with help from Mr. Corbin and Mr. Ward, also high school math teachers here at Weedsport. The team typically holds practices once a week in the morning before school.

Excelling at any kind of activity requires hard work, dedication, and constant practice. The extracurricular activities here at Weedsport can in some respects teach lessons that are just as important as what we learn in class. They teach students responsibility and the value of teamwork and practice. These are things that cannot simply be taught in class for a grade. It’s a real-life experience that people like Nate are using every day to prepare for the real world that awaits us all in the future.