Students take top math honors at boot camp

After a grueling competition of solving math problems from pre-algebra to calculus, students from Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek High took home five top place trophies at the third annual Morehouse Math Boot Camp.

Taylor Howell, a senior at Sandy Creek, is the competition’s overall winner.

Phaidra Buchanan, a 10th grader at Sandy Creek, won the overall award in both the eighth and ninth grade competitions. She has also won overall awards in the competition for the last two years.

Flat Rock student Andy Huynh took first place honors in the eighth grade competition and Sandy Creek student Preston Earle earned the first place award for 12th grade.

Flat Rock’s math team coach Monique Williams and math teacher Monica Reckley have been taking students to the Morehouse Boot Camp since its inception three years ago. Every year, Flat Rock has taken the eighth grade award and students have won awards at the high school level as well.

Approximately 80 students, including a group from Florida, participated in the competition. Competitors answered 100 multiple-choice questions covering math concepts from pre-algebra to calculus. Only individual awards are given, but there is a brief part of the competition where students are randomly grouped together for a free response session.