Orcas Island’s Elementary and Middle Schools produced a record number of 27 students to compete in Washington State’s 2015 Math Olympiad.  The competition began this year on May 2 at 8 a.m., when 2,600 math students from 59 schools across the state gathered at 18 different sites to simultaneously take the fifth through eighth grade tests.  All Orcas students attended a single site at Bainbridge’s Commodore Options School.

The competition began with a one-hour “Long Problem” that studied and predicted the flow of water measured at two transects along a hypothetical stream. After a short break, students tackled five 20-minute sets of “Short Problems,” separated into categories such as “Geometry” or “Statistics and Probability.”

Orcas students were divided into teams of three or four students a piece, consisting of a fifth, sixth, two seventh and four eighth grade teams. This year, Orcas teams earned seven “excellent” scores with three teams earning “superior” high scores.  Of special note, one of those teams was an Orcas team of fifth grade girls who earned their high score out of a field of 23 other fifth grade teams.

The two-day field trip was made possible by the Orcas Island Education Foundation and the Orcas Island School District.  Countless hours each spring are provided by volunteer parent coaches with extra help this year from Marcia West.