WEST COVINA, CA - ON SATURDAY JUNE 2^ND IN THE EARLY MORNING DRIZZLE AT AROUND 7:30 A.M., SCHOOL BUSES AND CARS BEGAN ARRIVING AT EDGEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL IN WEST COVINA. AMONG THE ARRIVALS WERE FIVE TEAMS OF FOUR STUDENTS EACH FROM FOUR DIFFERENT SCHOOLS IN THE WALNUT VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE TEAMS FROM THE WALNUT UNIFIED WERE WINNING TEAMS FROM THE WALNUT DISTRICT'S MATH FIELD DAY HELD ON MAY 24^TH.

ROUGHLY FOUR HUNDRED ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS REPRESENTING OVER TWENTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY GATHERED AT EDGEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MATHEMATICS FIELD DAY COMPETITION. MANY OF THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS WORE SHIRTS WITH THEIR SCHOOL NAME OR LOGO TO SHOW THEIR SCHOOL SPIRIT. OTHERS WORE T-SHIRTS INDICATING THEIR OWN SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MATH FIELD DAY COMPETITION.

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATON MATHEMATICS FIELD DAY SERVES AS A CROWNING ACTIVITY TO A YEAR-LONG INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM IN MATHEMATICS. ITS PURPOSE IS TO DEVELOP MATHEMATIC CONCEPTS AND PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES, TO ENCOURAGE INTEREST AND RELEVANCY OF MATHEMATICS, AND TO PROMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICS AS STATED IN THE CALIFORNIA MATHEMATICS CONTENT STANDARDS. 2001 MATH FIELD DAY IS SPONSORED, ORGANIZED, AND ADMINISTERED BY THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION. THIS IS THE SIXTEENTH ANNAUAL EVENT FOR GRADES 4, 5, AND 6 AND THE SEVENTH ANNUAL EVENT FOR GRADES 7 AND 8.

DURING THE COMPETITION, THE TEAM OF STUDENTS MOVE THROUGH TWENTY STATIONS TO SOLVE MATHEMATICS PROBLEMS ALIGNED TO THEIR GRADE LEVEL AND STANDARDS. THE STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED ONLY A VERY SHORT TIME AT A GIVEN STATION TO SOLVE A TEAM PROBLEM QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY. THE COMPLEXITY OF SOME PROBLEMS WERE SO DIFFICULTY THAT SOME TEAMS HAD NO GUESS OR ANSWER TO THE GIVEN PROBLEM. THE PROBLEMS ARE CATEGORIZED INTO FOUR DIFFERENT AREAS CALLED "NUMBER SENSE", "ALGEBRA AND FUNCTIONS", "MEASUREMENTS AND GEOMETRY", AND "STATISTICS, DATA ANALYSIS, AND PROBABILITY". THE RIGORS OF THE COMPETITION WERE SO INTENSE THAT IT TOOK ALMOST FOUR HOURS OF CONTINUOUS PROBLEM SOLVING TO FINISH THE 20 STATIONS.

COMPETING FOR THE WALNUT VALLEY UNIFIED FOURTH GRADE TEAM FROM COLLEGEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WERE DAVID CHEN, ALEX LEU, NICHOLAS OVERSTREET, AND DONNIE THOMPSON. ON THE FIFTH GRADE TEAM FROM EVERGREEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WERE BRANDON CHOU, JENNIFER KIM, SAM KIM, AND ANDY KOE. THE MIDDLE SCHOOL WALNUT VALLEY REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE SIXTH GRADE WERE SHARON KUO, TIFFANY MA, OBY OWU, AND KRISTINE SARNLERTSOPHON FROM CHAPARRAL. ON THE SEVENTH GRADE TEAM FROM SUZANNE WERE MARCUS LEUNG, DENTON LI, BRIAN WU, AND SHAWN YANG. ON THE EIGHTH GRADE TEAM, ALSO FROM SUZANNE, WERE EVA CHENG, MATT GUNAWAN, MICHAEL LIN, AND JONATHAN LU.

ALSO VOLUNTEERING WITH THE PROCTORING DUTY WAS ANGELA SUN OF WALNUT HIGH SCHOOL. ANGELA COMPETED IN THIS EVENT AS A MEMBER OF LAST YEAR'S PRIZE WINNING WALNUT VALLEY TEAM.

AFTER A LEASURELY LUNCH TO ALLOW THE SCORER TO FINALIZE THE WINNERS FROM EACH GRADE LEVEL, THE STUDENTS, TEACHERS/COACHES, AND PARENTS ASSEMBLED IN THE GYMNASIUM FOR THE AWARD PRESENTATION. THE FINAL RESULT SHOWED THAT WALNUT VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS WELL REPRESENTED IN THE HONORS THAT THEY RECEIVED. THE SIXTH GRADE TEAM FROM CHAPPARAL MIDDLE SCHOOL RECEIVED A FIRST PLACE PLAQUE IN THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CATEGORY. THE SEVENTH GRADE TEAM FROM SUZANNE MIDDLE SCHOOL RECEIVED 4^TH PLACE RIBBONS IN THE NUMBER SENSE CATEGORY, 2^ND PLACE PLAQUES IN THE ALGEBRA FUNCTION CATEGORY, AND 1^ST PLACE PLAQUES IN THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CATEGORY. THE EIGHTH GRADE TEAM FROM SUZANNE MIDDLE SCHOOL RECEIVED 6^TH PLACE RIBBONS IN GEOMETRY AND MEASUREMENTS, 6^TH PLACE RIBBONS IN THE ALGEBRA FUNCTION, 3^RD PLACE PLAQUES IN THE NUMBER SENSE CATEGORY, AND 1^ST PLACE PLAQUES IN THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CATEGORY.

ALL OF THE MATHEMATICS FIELD DAY PARTICIPANTS FROM THROUGHOUT THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY - THE COMPETITORS, COACHES / TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, PARENTS, AND VOLUNTEERS - ENJOYED THE DAY VERY MUCH AND CONCLUDED THE DAY WITH MANY FOND MEMORIES.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE STUDENTS FOR AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE. THANK YOU FOR RETURNING HOME WITH HONORS TO THE WALNUT VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, YOUR SCHOOL, AND YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES.
 
 

L-R - Chaparral Middle School students Oby Owu, Kristine Sarnlertsophon, Tiffany Ma, and Sharon Kuo displaying their winning plaques from the Los Angeles County Office of Education Mathematics Field Day.
 
 

L-R - Mrs. J. Arlotti, Suzanne Middle School Teacher with students Brian Wu, Shawn Yang, Marcus Leung, and Denton Li displaying their ribbons and plaques from the Los Angeles County Office of Education Mathematics Field Day.
 
 

L-R - Suzanne Middle School students Eva Cheng, Jonathan Lu, Matt Gunawan, and Michael Lin displaying their winning ribbons and plaques from the Los Angeles County Office of Education Mathematics Field Day.