Davidson Elementary School continued its tradition of math fair success last weekend as three projects advanced from a regional competition in Boone to the state finals later this month.

Rachel Bringewatt (photo), who is in Nicole Virzi’s fifth-grade class, led Davidson students by tying for first place among 125 projects in the Grades 3-5 division at last Saturday’s Western Region Math Fair at Appalachian State University in Boone. Her project, “Planting by the Numbers,” analyzes how landscape designers use math.

Placing third was “Traveling Buddies,” a project by Michael Grigg and Michael VanBuhler. They compared travel times for three different modes of transportation – bike, car and airplane – to such places as DisneyWorld and the moon. The two Michaels, who are indeed buddies, are third-graders in Tina Cataldo’s multi-age class.

Earning one of six honorable mentions (which also advance to the state level competition) was Christina Dennis, a fourth-grader in Celia Felthaus’s multi-age class. Christina’s project, “Speeding on Concord Road,” measured traffic speeds near her house and compared them to police radar measurements. Her findings, including the fact that 91 percent of vehicles in her study were speeding, will be presented to the town board during the public comments time at their next meeting Tuesday, April 10.

The Western Region is one of three in the state. Qualifiers advance to the State Math Fair April 27 at the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics in Durham.

MATH FAIR TRADITION

Dr. Colleen Thrailkill, talent development specialist for Davidson Elementary School, spent Saturday helping out at the regional fair and said winning three awards “is pretty remarkable for our students and I’m very proud of them.”

Davidson Elementary selected six projects through its own math fair, held in February. All students who attended the regional competition Saturday were able to present their work to a panel of judges and to have their projects posted for public viewing.

Davidson has a strong record in state math fair competitions. Last year, fifth-grader Joseph Andry won the state 3-5 grade competition with his project, “Eggs, eggs, eggs.”

And Jordan Clark-Brown, then a third grader, won it all in 2004 for his study of costs related to Davidson Elementary’s car pool line. Jordan’s findings about the needless expense, waste of time and pollution caused by the car pool line drew considerable media attention.

The math fair is sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Pictured below are Michael VanBuhler (at left) and Michael Grigg with their regional award on the campus of Appalachian State University. Also below is Dr. Colleen Thrailkill, talent development specialist for Davidson Elementary, together with Christina Dennis, who won an honorable mention for her project.