2008-05-01 23:36:06 -

- MATHCOUNTS Lisa Populoh, 703-299-9006 Amy Gorton, 310-578-9943 Racing to correctly answer complex math problems, twelve D.C. area middle-school students earned the right to represent Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. at the Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition - 2008 in Denver, Colorado. The 25th anniversary event will take place at the Denver Marriott Tech Center on Friday, May 9. The

following individuals have earned a position on their respective state teams:

MARYLAND -0- Linus Hamilton, Hyattsville Middle School, Hyattsville Jason Hyun, Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring Ben Lowenstein, Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring Sam Zbarsky, Takoma Park Middle School, Rockville Coach: Sarah Manchester, Takoma Park Middle School, Silver Spring

WASHINGTON, D.C. -0- Paul Banks, Alice Deal Middle School, Washington, D.C. Michelle Jung, Sidwell Friends School, Bethesda Tommy Kiernan, St. Albans School for Boys, Arlington Derek Levinson, Alice Deal Middle School, Washington, D.C. Coach: Guy Brandenburg, School, Washington, D.C.

VIRGINIA -0- Weina Bao, Rachel Carson Middle School, Reston Mitchell Lee, Rachel Carson Middle School, Oakton Seungln Sohn, Longfellow Middle School, McLean Yuquing Zhang, Longfellow Middle School, McLean Coach: Eugene Huang, Longfellow Middle School, Vienna

To earn this honor, these twelve Mathletes(R) competed in local and state contests where they conquered questions such as:

"What is the sum of the positive factors of 48?" and "A quarter weighs the same as two pennies. The quarters in one pound of quarters have a total value of $25. How many dollars would a pound of pennies be worth?" (Answers: 124 and $2)

In Denver, they will be joined by more than 200 other middle-school students from the 50 states and U.S. Territories, the Department of Defense and the State Department. Students will compete in individual and team rounds, vying for trophies, college scholarships and trips to U.S. Space Camp.

At the National Competition, the top 12 individual scorers will advance to the Countdown Round, where they will compete for the MATHCOUNTS National Championship title. These students will be challenged in a fast paced, head-to-head format where they will put their mathematical speed to the test. Rankings of the top 20 teams and top 50 individual winners will be available after the competition on the afternoon of Friday, May 9.

On Friday, May 9 at 3:00 PM MDT, the Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition - 2008 will air live, via web cast on the MATHCOUNTS Foundation's web site: www.mathcounts.org. As part of the new site launch and the 25th year anniversary celebration, the inaugural web cast will include a play-along feature, enabling viewers to square off against talented competitors in the Countdown Round. For more information, visit www.mathcounts.org and click on the "Web Cast" button in the Competition Program section.

MATHCOUNTS is the nation's premier middle school math enrichment and competition program. The mission of the organization is to increase enthusiasm for and enhance achievement in middle school mathematics throughout the United States. Beyond the challenge of learning new skills, the MATHCOUNTS competition series (school, local, state and national) provides students with fun-filled opportunities to focus on mathematics. Each year, more than 6,000 schools register students to participate in the MATHCOUNTS competition and vie for prizes and scholarships, as well as the opportunity to advance to the Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition. Students of all abilities thoroughly enjoy the experience and develop mathematical aptitude, self-confidence and teamwork skills.

A 501(c)(3) organization, funding for MATHCOUNTS comes primarily from its National Sponsors; Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Foundation, Raytheon Company, Texas Instruments Incorporated, the National Society of Professional Engineers, 3M Foundation, CNA Foundation, General Motors Foundation and ConocoPhillips. MATHCOUNTS was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers, CNA Foundation, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Editor's Note: Interested in more samples of the types of math problems these students will be solving? The problems and answers from prior School, Chapter and State Competitions are available at www.mathcounts.org or contact us for a one page sample of representative math problems.

Middle School Mathematicians Vying for National Math Champion
Title on May 9