What had recently happened?
Members of the Hillcrest High School Mathletes have been studying, practicing, and preparing for weeks for the upcoming conference meet at Lemont High School. They all worked hard and had put every knowledge they had for the competition.

On December 6, 2017, the Hillcrest High School Mathletes went to compete against Lemont, Bremen, Tinley Park, Oak Forest, TF North, and TF South at Lemont High School. The students were anxious about competing, but all their hard work paid off. The junior team placed 1st in the written competition on Systems, Area, Volume, and Perimeter, and also placed 2nd in the junior group competition that included a variety of levels of math problems. Students who received an award are the following: Alonzo A., Samuel A., Jovencio D., Danielle D., Johnae H., Tayla J., Melodie S., and Sydney V. Those students have shown great performances and great work ethics.

What is the HHS Mathletes?
The Hillcrest High School Mathletes is a club for students who enjoy the idea of mathematics. Mathletes allow students to participate in competitive competitions on solving math problems with others schools in the area. It also allows students to engage in math activities that develop cooperation, learning, fun, and celebration. Math, a vital component of education, rarely has occasions that portray its importance such as the student’s math abilities. Mathletes show students that math can be as fun as drama and athletic events. Being a member of the Mathletes group is open to all students with interests of understanding advanced mathematical concepts. Students who are a member and participant of the club have shown better math solving and critical skills in the past few years. They have grown to have better confidence and a stronger knowledge on math.

What do the Mathelets do?
The Hillcrest High School Mathletes have been competing in written, oral, and group competitions. The level of difficulty on the math topics differs based on the grade level of the student. The HHS Mathletes has been competing for many years and has won several awards. The coaches of Mathletes have been pushing the students to work hard and prepare for upcoming competitions.

What goes on in a day of a Mathlete?
After a stressful and somewhat exciting day, students who are part of Mathletes stay after school to practice and prepare for the individual competitions that they are put in on that day. Then, all the Mathletes travel to the location of the competition, which is either a home competition or at another school. The competitors are then asked to go to the designated rooms that they are required to be in. While in the room, the instructor reads the rules and instructions before the competitors take a 4 question test for 20 minutes. When the instructor states: “You may begin,” students then rush to write their name and school down. In the 20 minutes, the competitors have to answer an easy, medium, and hard math question on a specific math topic. The instructor warns the competitors on the time they have left to answer the questions with the best of their ability whether they have 10, 5, or 1 minute left. After the instructor calls time, competitors must then raise their paper in order for the paper to count toward the schools points. Then after the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd competition, the individual scores of each grade from one school are tallied and rankings are then announced. The students then call it for the day and go home.

Being part of Mathletes is an exciting club to be part of because participants can socialize with friends and at the same time enjoy math.