The Math Olympiad is a competition in which fifth to eighth grade students from all over Washington do one thing most kids don’t like – math. The event takes place at roughly 15 locations throughout the state, with emphasis on team achievement and a spirit of celebrating everyone’s success.

On Friday, April 30, the team consisting of Orcas Island 7th graders Dylan Thompson, Taj Howe, Quinn Freedman, and Gabriel Vergen arrived in Bellevue and rested for the upcoming day. The next morning the mathletes got up, ate, grabbed their calculators, and headed for the competition. As the starting time drew near, there were nearly 150 students, all of them ready to do math. The Orcas Island teammates were in a room shared with other 7th grade teams.

In the first session, the team was given 15 minutes to read a long problem, and one hour to solve it. The problem involved planning a quilt made up of various patterned fabric squares by measuring out the squares and backing, while staying under a $30 budget. The problem encouraged the students to draw from various aspects of their math skills. They were then asked to explain their intentions and the logic behind their conclusions.

The short problem portion of the Olympiad consisted of 5 different areas of math studies composed of 5 problems each, with twenty minutes allotted per section.

The Orcas Island team received ribbons in both sections and had an “Excellent” in the long problem and four of the short portions, and a “Superior” in one of the short portions. To celebrate the success of the day the team saw an IMAX movie, played in a video arcade, went swimming, and ate sushi. Overall, the trip was not only a mathematical success but a good, fun time for everyone.