NEWPORT – The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division sponsored a “holiday math bowl” for New Bedford, Mass. middle schools on Dec. 10.
The third annual event was held at Keith Middle School.
Fifty to 60 sixth through eighth grade students were expected to compete from the three New Bedford middle schools: Keith, Normandin and Roosevelt.
Roosevelt won the competition last Wednesday; Keith Middle School came in second. Normandin withdrew from the competition earlier on Wednesday.
The competition was for students involved in the schools’ MATHCOUNTS programs.
MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement and provides extra incentives for students to push themselves to achieve more in mathematics. There are also statewide contests in February, and a national competition in Boston in May that the New Bedford schools compete in.
The competitions are for teams and individuals.
NUWC Newport also supports after-school science clubs, robotics teams and other programs to encourage interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among elementary through high school students.
NUWC began its involvement with the MATHCOUNTS program in 2009 with a grant from the National Defense Education Program so it could bring it to the area schools NUWC was working with at the time as part of its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach.
Initially, NUWC started with a middle school in Newport and one in New Bedford, though Newport withdrew from the program after a couple of years, according to NUWC. In early 2010, the program was expanded in New Bedford to three middle schools.
According to Candida Desjardins, NUWC Newport’s educational outreach program manager, “U.S. students’ interest in technical disciplines is comparatively low to the rest of the globe. STEM education provides the spark to students to inform them of the potential career choices they may have. It helps put what they learn in the classroom into context and helps them build the academic foundation they need to excel in technology fields.”
