Westlake math students place third in regional contest

A team of sixth- through eighth-graders from Parkside Intermediate School and Lee Burneson Middle School placed third overall among nine schools competing at the annual Equations mathematics competition.

Sponsored by the Educational Support Center of Cuyahoga County, the regional competition requires students to use mathematical skills to create and solve questions using creative methods.

In the seventh- and eighth-grade division, the seventh-grade team placed first while the eighth-grade team placed second. The middle school teams are coached by LBMS gifted specialist Kate Vitek and seventh-grade math teacher Anne Dill.

Individually, Talia Zhen, Talya Jeter and Akshya Dhinakaran took first, second and third places, respectively, in the seventh-grade individual competition. In the eighth-grade competition, Miranda Li placed first, while Ryan Karpuszka and Patrick Smith tied for third.

The sixth-grade team is coached by Parkside teacher Patrick McMorrow and included Amanda Li, Jack Jennings, Stephanie Randar, Selena Alamir, Farrah Abumeri and Victor Ikezawa.

The seventh-grade team included Akshya Dhinakaran, Talya Jeter, Esther Park, Meghana Tandon, Talia Zheng, Chad Sargent and Katie Cirincione. The eighth-grade team included Ryan Karpuszka, Patrick Lee, Miranda Li, Allie Routhier, Patrick Smith and Maria Alamir.