Year 9 team from Lakes high school crunches numbers

Ila Ford-Robertson (left), Stella Pinckney, Daniel Burrows and Taylan Onan, Rotorua Lakes High School's Year 9 team.

A group of excited Year 9 and 10 Rotorua Lakes High students travelled to Rotorua Girls' High School last week to compete in the annual Bay of Plenty Mathsmind competition.

Four teams, each made up of four students, competed against others from schools around the Bay of Plenty for placings in their year level, cups and various prizes.

Rotorua Lakes High School Year 9 students Stella Pinckney, Ila Ford-Robertson, Daniel Burrows and Taylan Onan won third place out of 40 teams, after an hour of extremely hard problem-solving.

"I enjoyed meeting the other students and comparing our problem-solving abilities," Daniel said.

"There were some mind-boggling questions and it got quite stressful after we realised we were in the running for a place," Ila and Stella said.

"We are really glad we concentrated and gained third place. We were so proud of ourselves."

The students received medals and calculators for their efforts and look forward to doing even better in next year's competition. - Submitted by Rotorua Lakes High School