Joshua Sloane will Represent Arizona in MathCount Competition
By Jamar Younger
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.15.2009
Tucsonan Joshua Sloane, 13, and three of his peers from the Phoenix area have earned the right to be called champions.
The middle school students didn't earn that title by competing on the hardwood or the gridiron, but in classrooms, armed with pencils, paper and calculators.
The students emerged as the top "mathletes" out of the 100 who competed in the MathCounts statewide competition Saturday at Cienega High School.
The competition required the students to solve problems involving integers, geometry, square roots, scientific notations and other math topics within specified time limits.
Sonoran Science Academy was recognized as the top team in the competition, which brought together more than 30 middle schools from across the state.
Five schools represented the Tucson area.
Kadir Bahar, Sonoran Science Academy's coach, will accompany the four winners to the national competition, which will be held May 7-10 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando.
The Arizona winners will compete against the best math students from each state and some U.S. territories. 
Sloane is a veteran of the competitions. The Sonoran Science Academy eighth-grader went to the national competition last year and has participated in the statewide event for the last three years.
He said he was nervous during the last round as he waited for the other nine contestants to square off against one another.
During the final round, two students sat at separate tables equipped with buzzers and had to solve a problem within 45 seconds.
"As I was waiting, I kept thinking, 'three more people, two more people, one more person,' " he said.
The MathCounts competitions have helped Sloane accelerate through his school's math curriculum, he said. This year he is taking pre-calculus.
"I've learned a lot from these competitions," he said. "It actually allowed me to skip geometry."
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/284438