Mathletics pupils set to flex muscles

HINERANGI VAIMOSO
While many pupils cringe at the thought of mathematics, 15-year-old Scott McDonald of Karamu High School finds it stimulating and even "kind of fun".
The Hawke's Bay Mathletics championships kick off at 1pm today at Karamu High School where 14 teams of year 9 and 10 pupils from around the Bay will compete for title of top mathlete.
Scott admitted never being one to study for hours on end but attributed his mathematical ability to natural talent and not to mention the fact his parents happen to be teachers.
"Our maths teacher has helped us a lot, he gives us problems to solve and we work on those. Drilling helps," Scott said.
Although Scott had only been in one other competition like mathletics he knew it would be another exciting challenge. Scott's two other teammates are James Wray and Fuemun Huang.
"I'm looking forward to it, our team are good at relying on each other and we all know how we each other work," Scott said.
"I have no idea what the other teams have in store but I do think we'll go quite well."
The team will answer questions using trigonometry, algebra, arithmetics and problem solving, which may involve, for example, finding the largest possible value of A and B when 6A3 is added with 2B5 and has a number divisible by nine.