by Katie Vasquez
These whiz kids walked into Our Lady of Grace Catholic academy gym to cheers.
They were ready to quickly crunch numbers and battle each other to be the math champion for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“I’m very excited for the competition. I wasn’t expecting to get past the school one,” said Eric Bindrum, a 4th grader at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Academy.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are the best from 28 different schools, and at the annual diocesan math bee they will be quizzed on everything from multiplication to division.
“In today’s world, with being so focused on finance and technology, math, I would argue is the most important subject in school, right up there with ELA,” said diocesan math bee moderator, Timothy Dillon.
After more than a dozen rounds, the first, second and third place spots were announced,
for some, the key to success was believing in themselves.
“I knew that confidence would get me further,” said Jordan Francois, a 4th grader at SS Joachim and Anne School, “I thought i would get first place, but I didn’t care, I just wanted a place at all.”
For others, hours of practice.
“I practiced all the rounds up to round 15,” said Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Academy 4th grader, Christian Cheng.
“My dad would ask me questions and I would try to answer them. He would keep asking me until I got it wrong,” said Giuseppe Creri, a 3rd grader at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy.
But the moderator says when you add it all up, these contestants are all winners, each getting their own trophy, certificate, and a sense of satisfaction that they are the best of the best.
“A lot of the adults here, myself included, say we wouldn’t be able to do the math up there as fast as these kids do. It’s so impressive to see what our students are capable of,” said Dillon.
A separate competition for the 6th, 7th and 8th graders of the diocese will be held in April.