By Joyce DeWallace, Contributing Writer
Marlborough – In some circles, they’re called “Mathletes.” These are students who prefer to compete at a desk in a classroom with two sharpened pencils rather than out on one of the sports fields. The Math Team from the Advanced Math & Science Academy (AMSA) of Marlborough recently won top honors in the small school division at the New England High School Math Teams Championship in Canton. Just a few weeks earlier, they had won the state championship at Shrewsbury High School. They vied against 16 other teams, which were the top squads in their respective regions. Members of the first place finishers were seniors Pranav Nagalamadaka, Satwik Mekala, and Prakalya Chandrasekar; junior Rishi Advani; sophomore Aditya Hoque; and freshman Praneet Mekala.
“The kids that do it, like it,” said Coach Matt Vea. “They practice once a week after school for most of the school year. It’s a social thing for them. They’re with their peers, sharing their love of math. They particularly like meets when they have to travel, shortening their school day and getting them out of school.”
“It’s really like a family. I’ve known these guys for years and I’ve made good friends,” said Chandrasekar, the only female competitor on the elite team.
“I like it because it puts me in an environment with other kids who also enjoy math,” added Hoque.
“ASMA as a school has done really well in the past. We knew we had a shot at the championship. It brings great pride for our school, and it goes right to our name, Advanced Science and Math,” said Nagalamadaka.
Newcomer Praneet Mekala was very excited about the win.
“It’s a new experience for me. This is the first time I’ve competed on the varsity with some insanely smart people,” he said with a big grin.
Like their athletic counterparts, the math team members wear a uniform. Theirs is a simple one of navy blue t-shirts emblazoned with “Come to the Math Side – We have π” in white letters and slacks instead of jeans. Their reward at this meet was another fancy plaque and the winners received sweatshirts as prizes.
“Competition gets the kids excited and keeps the students interest level high,” explained Vea.
About 40 active members make up the entire team, and 35 have competed in league meets. It’s not just young men; there are 17 young women who love math enough to compete. Students have to answer very quickly, and thus need to memorize lots of math facts covering algebra, geometry, trigonometry and some pre-calculus. They solve word problems along with equations. They need to know their formulas, theorems, logs, exponents, radicals, circumferences, integers, whole numbers and sequences.
“Math is something you usually do just to learn, but on the math team you get to compete and that motivates me to learn more,” added Advani.
Senior Satwik Mekala explained that the next competition will be very different. It’s run by the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) and is a national competition held at the end of May, this year at Penn State. ARML is a prestigious math tournament that is often called the “World Series of Mathematics Competitions.”
“All six of us are going as part of the western Mass. team,” announced Mekala proudly.
Vea, a math teacher at ASMA, started the Math Team in 2009 and has been running the program ever since.
“I love mathematics and working with young people,” he said. “Anything I can do to foster their interest in this subject motivates and excites me.”
