Doing the Math
Fred T. Foard High School wins CCC&TI math competition

In its first year of participation in the competition, Fred T. Foard High School recently won first place at the 19th annual Edwin Troy Carpenter Mathematics Competition hosted by the college transfer and mathematics departments of Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute (CCC&TI). Freedom High School placed second in the competition, and Watauga High School placed third.

3rd Place Team – Watauga High School Pictured is Watauga High School’s third place team. Back row, left to right, Rick Miller, Advisor, Troy Carpenter, Edward McDonald, Koji Tokushige, Ben Robertson, Wesley Templeton and Bill Cornett, Advisor. Seated, left to right, Emma Seagle, Kaley Greene, Kelsey Gustaveson and Ingrid Forsyth. Photo submitted

Each year, CCC&TI invites numerous public and private high schools from Alexander, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Lincoln and Watauga counties to participate in the mathematical showdown named for former CCC&TI math instructor, Edwin Troy Carpenter. Carpenter taught mathematics at CCC&TI from 1970 to 1991 and managed the college’s planetarium for a time during his tenure, as well.

This year, West Caldwell, South Caldwell, Freedom, Watauga, Fred T. Foard and the Caldwell County Early College high schools fielded teams for the event. Patton High School, in its first year of operation, also sent a team to the competition. “We had six teams and 43 students compete this year,” said Mike Bradshaw, coordinator of CCC&TI’s Math Department.

Each school was allowed to send a maximum of eight students, with two students competing in one of four areas: Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II and advanced mathematics.

Bradshaw said the event provides some friendly competition for area students and helps prepare them for future tests in high school and college. “Our goal is to encourage and reward outstanding achievement in mathematics among our area’s high school students,” Bradshaw said. Participants have 80 minutes to complete a multiple-choice test composed by CCC&TI math instructors. The student scoring the highest in each level receives a plaque, and second and third place winners receive ribbons. Individual scores are combined to determine team rankings.

Individual winners in Algebra I were: Ingrid Forsyth of Watauga, first place; Vanessa Phelps of West Caldwell, second place; and Melissa Pressley of Freedom, third place. Geometry winners were Stephen Smith of Freedom, first place; Kerry Ellwanger of Fred T. Foard, second place; and Kelsey Gustaveson of Watauga, third place. Algebra II winners were: Drew Minnear of Freedom, first place; Marc Farris of Fred T. Foard, second place; and Erica Detweiler of Fred T. Foard, third place. Advanced Math winners were Phillip Pressley of Freedom, first place; Nicholas Jenkins of Patton, second place; and Ben Robertson of Watauga, third place.

The Altrusa Club of Caldwell County, a service club for professional women, helped sponsor the event by providing money to pay for the plaques, ribbons and trophies. Funds for the competition were also provided by the Foundation of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute.

For more information about the ETC Mathematics Competition, call (828) 726.2354 or e-mail mbradshaw@cccti.edu.