MATHCOUNTS comes to WFU campus

Professor Moore with MATHCOUNTS students

Focused on making math fun for middle schoolers, Associate Professor of Mathematics Frank Moore, a group of Wake Forest students, and faculty volunteers hosted the regional competition for area 6th through 8th graders.

The MATHCOUNTS Chapter competition was held on Saturday, Feb. 11, in Benson University Center and brought 140 students from 17 middle schools to campus to solve complex math problems. The top three teams from this round advanced to the state competition.

Moore, who serves as the Winston-Salem coordinator, remembers competing in MATHCOUNTS as a kid and hopes some of these students will also be inspired to pursue math-related careers.

“It is great to get everybody involved and see the wide range of students who get to participate,” he said.

Adam Cross, a math teacher from Hanes Magnet Middle School, has coached his team for 11 years and believes events like MATHCOUNTS help change the narrative surrounding math.

“My goal is to change the math reputation everywhere,” Cross said. “We have different things for different people in the math club. So you can love math and begin doing it on any level.”

MATHCOUNTS has been held annually on Wake Forest’s campus since 2017, with the exception of the years 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.