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News Archive

2007-01-22

Competitive Math a Family Affair for Three Siblings

Maimonides School has a long, successful history of interscholastic mathematics competition. But Wednesday, Jan. 17 may have been the first time that three siblings competed on three different Maimonides teams on the same day.

Tenth grader Hana Snow, who was a member of the school’s first Elementary School math team, is an anchor of the most competitive Upper School team. Her brother Yitzi, an eighth grader, is the youngest member of the second-level high school team. And Beni, a fifth grader, took part in his first meet with the Elementary School math team.

The Snow students’ parents are MIT alumni, “so if you believe there’s a math gene then maybe they have that,” laughed their mother, Stephanie Pollack. She said she and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Snow, “always try not to make math oppressive—and the school does this, too. We want math to be enjoyable,” she said, with an emphasis on thinking.

The two Upper School delegations competed in Greater Boston Mathematics League contests at Brookline High School—the fourth of five regular-season meets. Composition of the Upper School teams changes from month to month, from a pool of about 20 contestants.

At the fifth and sixth grade level, the math team is open to all interested students “to encourage them to enjoy math,” explained Lora Smid, the Grade 5 general studies teacher who coordinates the Elementary School team. “It’s more for the experience than for the actual points accrued.” Twenty-four fifth and sixth graders represented Maimonides in the first of three scheduled contests on the 17th featuring nine schools at the Park School in Brookline. Participants compete in one or two of five categories. “They practice once a week during lunch and recess,” Mrs. Smid said.

Michael Schockett, the mathematics teacher and department co-chair who coordinates interscholastic math at Maimonides, acknowledged that at the Upper School level, “because we're the only small school in the league, what matters is the state tournament, where there are plenty of other small schools.” Six students will compete on the tournament team later this year, and Mr. Schockett said Hana is a shoo-in as one of the three leading scorers. The others are Joseph Mitchneck ’07 and Natan Kawesch ’08.

Yitzi, a Middle School student competing for an Upper School team, is a strong prospect, as evidenced by his recent perfect score (one of only six in the state) on the eighth grade American Mathematics Competition tests. Beni is building his competitive resume as well, as last year he won the fourth grade division of the Boston Math Olympiad.

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