Math Success

By Brooke Bockenstedt

The day started at 7:00 a.m. with two Western Dubuque students from each
grade and four Cascade students. Riding over to the Mount Mercy Math
Contest, we began to rev up our brains for the coming day. What could be
better than having a day full of a class we loved or at least were good
at? We skittered into the building and enjoyed the continental breakfast
while the director talked about the coming day. Western Dubuque consisted
of two freshman/sophomore teams and two junior/senior teams. Each team
contained one mathematician per grade.

Western Dubuque’s students went their separate ways as they were dismissed to their rooms for the first test. The Western Dubuque and Cascade teams were also split up for the day as they went through various tests, measuring their skills in mathematics. The freshman/sophomore teams had two solo events, two team events, and a group test with the juniors and seniors. After all the testing, WD headed over to find Ms. Vaughn, Mr. Wilson and the Cascade students, traveling
through the Mount Mercy tunnel. Once everyone was accounted for, all of us
headed over to another building. Next were the announcements of the top
student from each grade and the top five teams competing in JEOPARDY.
The director talked a bit about the day and thanked everyone for coming.
He then announced the freshman top scorer: Brooke Bockenstedt from Western
Dubuque High School. Afterwards, the sophomore level’s highest scorer was revealed:  Jenny Brehm of Western Dubuque High School. Then, after the junior and senior level’s top scorer was declared, the top five groups going into JEOPARDY were announced. Fifth, fourth, and third places were acknowledged before it was proclaimed that the second place team with a point value of 89 was Team 12 from Western Dubuque. Team 12 was made up of Scott Klein, Justin Kluesner, Jenny Brehm and Brooke Bockenstedt; this team trailed behind the first place team by a mere 5 points when JEOPARDY began.

The final test continued at a snail pace. One of the freshman students, along with a
sophomore had never seen most of the problems. Team 12 stared around the
room, as most teams did, waiting to be done. The last question was picked
and the scores were close: 55, 60, 69, 79 and 94. Western Dubuque Team 12
ended in second with 79 points. Team 12 received a T-shirt and trophy for
being the second place team at Mount Mercy.

Western Dubuque and Cascade took some photos with their winnings and
headed off with laughs and memories. A stop at Dairy Queen ended the day
of mathematics as the team departed for home.