When SooYoung "Harry" Park '18 helped form the Wilbraham & Monson Academy's math team, he thought that setting might serve as an appropriate environment for him and other Academy students to prepare for the annual American Mathematics Competition.
Like many of his answers on this year's AMC 12, Harry proved to be correct as he and two other students advanced to the next round following their performance on the national test at WMA Feb. 7.
Won Geun "Allen" Park '18 and Jiaming "Martin" Mao '17 will join Harry at the American Invitational Mathematics Examination on March 22 at the Academy.
"This is the first year in my 12 years we've had three students advance to the second round," Math Department Chairperson Mark Fischer said. "We had 30 students participate and three students advance to the second round. We're looking forward to seeing what these students can do at the next round."
All three students agreed the math team, specifically working on AMC questions months in advance, played a role in their score on the test.
"I've taken the test four times, so once each year," said Martin, who advanced to the second round of the AMC 10 two years ago. "I did some preparation, and the math club helped me with some problems that ultimately got me into the second round."
After studying for the AMC at length during the summer, Harry brought what he learned to the newly formed math team in the fall. After spending nine full days at a math camp in New Jersey in November, he offered even more materials to math team members.
"By teaching it, it allowed me to review more materials and allowed me to understand more, and that's the main reason why I got the score I did," Harry said. "I was definitely happy because it allowed me to show my mathematical ability. Also, as a math team leader, I could prove to be a math leader in our school."
Allen added the test was very challenging and "one of the hardest tests in America. But we were well prepared from our math club. It's a great honor to contribute to the school's reputation. Also, I really appreciate Mr. Fischer and Mr. (Dave) Daniels leading us to the higher math level, and I hope we do well on the next level."