Canyon Crest Academy places 4th in national math contest

Canyon Crest Academy has some of the best high-school mathematicians in the country, as demonstrated by their 4th-place finish in the 2009 Ciphering Time Trials, a national mathematics contest administered by National Assessment & Testing (http://www.natassessment.com). Coach Brian Shay prepared students for the last major competition of 2009, consisting of 10 rounds in which they had three minutes to solve three problems. The problems in each round covered a range of difficulties in diverse topics, challenging the most-experienced students to answer all three questions within the time limit and requiring less-experienced students to quickly decide which problems they’ll need to skip.
After results from students across the country were double-checked, several of Canyon Crest’s students received individual awards, helping their team to place 4th among the top schools in the country. Thomas Swayze placed 3rd in the 9th-grade division, while Raymond Wu and Henry Maltby placed 7th and 12th respectively in the 10th-grade division. Marco Gentili placed 18th in the 11th-grade division, while Leon Zhou and Igo Raush placed 14th and 25th respectively in the 12th-grade division.
Canyon Crest will be participating in National Assessment & Testing’s next contest, the 2010 Four-by-Four Competition, on Thursday, Feb. 4, which offers a very similar contest format to teams of four rather than to individual students. In addition, Canyon Crest will be participating in National Assessment & Testing’s final contest of the year, the 2010 Collaborative Problem-Solving Contest, on which the entire school can collaborate for one week, doing research or applying technology if they wish.
National Assessment & Testing administers a number of high-quality mathematics competitions that schools can receive through the mail and administer at their convenience. Their contests cover a variety of formats, including individual and team tests, as well as different levels of difficulty, from an easier 100 problems in 30 minutes to a more complicated 15 problems in one week.