A Service of The Arrow           Monday March 27, 2000 8:56 PM

By: Kory Sutherland

ARROW STAFF

From 3:30 to 6:00 on Wednesday, March 1, students from around the Flathead Valley and other surrounding schools participated in the annual district Math Contest held at FHS.

"This contest has been held since the mid-’70s," says math teacher Fred Longhart, who is also the primary judge of the competition and president of the Montana Council of Mathematics Teachers. "Since 1986, it’s always been hosted at Flathead."

Most students who participated in the Math Contest went for fun or to show off their math skills. However, money was at stake for seniors who did particularly well.

"There are two $200 scholarships awarded to the top male and female participants," says Longhart "Kendra Kuhl from Flathead and Tim Hinkle from Bigfork were our winners this year."

"It felt pretty good to win," said Kuhl, a senior. "It was one of those lucky days when things just seemed to click in my head. It doesn’t happen that often."

There were almost 150 students alone from FHS & KJHS who competed, and to add to the fun were Whitefish, Bigfork, Eureka, Troy, Libby, and the newest contestant, Fortine. The combined attendance was around 500 students, with Flathead tying for first in the team competition.

"The competition really was tough. A lot of the small schools prep their students to excel in this contest, we go in cold turkey," says Longhart.

Students who participated took tests on seven different classification levels. The tests were designed to fit all levels of math students from sophomores to seniors, but students could also pick from easier or tougher tests. The only restriction — participants couldn’t test below their grade level, but could enter any test of higher difficulty.

Longhart believes that without the pressure of grades students perform better and their confidence is boosted.

"It’s designed to be a fun activity and to promote mathematics," Longhart said, "It gives students an opportunity to challenge themselves in a test where the stakes aren’t that high."

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