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Middle School Students Conquer Hardest Math Problem
It is fitting to share great news this week about two of our Middle School students’ mathematical accomplishments in Scholastics’ Hardest Math Problem Contest (HMPC), as all 7th and 8th Grade students engaged in ERB testing featuring a section of quantitative reasoning.
This part of the weeklong testing assesses students’ abilities of sense-making, a critical capacity that transcends math into all facets of engaging in any challenge. Analogous to the test was the first round of the HMPC, though it only featured one question that demanded a great deal of strategy and processing.
Although offered as an optional assignment, the contest was undertaken by Tess Rosenfeld ’25 and Shaun Masada ’26, who submitted their work in the fall. Because the challenge was quite extensive, they had to wait for their results until recently. Scholastic just happily informed them that they both entered the correct answers!
The problem consisted of interpreting data while using a multitude of mathematical fields, including algebra, proportional reasoning, and statistics. Tess Rosenfeld observed, “It was a unique, multi-step problem-solving question that required bringing in lots of mathematical concepts and skills.” They will now move on to the second round and a chance to win a $5,000 college scholarship and laptop! Click here for the second-round problems.
There are many math challenges and contests out there for all of our students. Sierra Canyon math teachers and coaches are more than happy to help you find one or offer more information about our teams and competitive electives. We are very proud of our students and wish them all the best in the next round.
Lower School: 11052 Independence Avenue
Middle and Upper School: 20801 Rinaldi Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311 | 818.882.8121
Middle and Upper School: 20801 Rinaldi Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311 | 818.882.8121
Sierra Canyon School is a private, independent, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory school for students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12 located in Chatsworth, California. The highly cosmopolitan campus community is reflective of the Greater Los Angeles area and the world at large. Students are empowered to realize their greatest creative, ethical, intellectual and physical promise through small class sizes, a diverse student-teacher culture and a family-like environment.
