The college’s Math Team, currently consisting of six students, meets weekly to solve math problems for competition and for fun, said Advisor Tom Shields. The weekly sessions also help the students practice collaborative problem-solving. The Math Team was formed in spring, 2011.

A spring 2014 tournament held at Prince George’s Community College included teams from Carroll plus 15 other colleges around the region. Carroll’s team placed fourth in the competition.

At the competition, Carroll students Alex Cooke, Tom Henson, and Wayne Jones represented Carroll. They fielded algebra, logic, geometry, and probability problems. The format of the tournament is that problems are presented to the teams at the same time. Participants are given ten minutes per problem, which if answered correctly in the first five minutes yields three points. If answered correctly between the first five and eight minutes, the problem is worth two points. If the problem is answered correctly between eight and ten minutes, the value is one point.

“The tournament is an opportunity to balance speed and accuracy, all while having fun,” said Shields.

“Earning fourth place among 16 colleges is quite the honor,” said Jones. “I hope to work in the field of medicine as a Physician Assistant. Though PAs may not be considered as professionals with an advanced mathematics career, PAs and doctors use math to calculate dosage amounts when prescribing medications,” said Jones. “In some cases, medical providers may be required to convert units of measurement, or solve equations in order to properly give certain treatments, such as breathing treatments or IV fluid therapies. Also, I feel that having a solid math background would help me to develop analytical problem-solving skills which are needed to make diagnoses.”

Alex Cooke also plans to turn his passion for math into a career one day when he pursues a degree and career in electrical engineering.

Other students on the Math Team are Chris Bradford, Mike Cave, and Steven White. Instructor Janice Stencil is a co-advisor.

Students Wayne Jones, Tom Henson, and Alex Cooke, left to right, with Math Team advisors Janice Stencil and Tom Shields.

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