Four Sugar Land kids representing Texas won the MATHCOUNTS National Team Championship title at the 2005 MATHCOUNTS National Competition on May 6 in Detroit.

The Texas team members are

President George W. Bush meets award recipients of the 2005 MATHCOUNTS National Competition in the Oval Office Thursday, May 12, 2005. Pictured with President Bush, from left, are: Richard Johnson, vice chairman of the board for MATHCOUNTS; Claudia Allums, coach for Neal Wu; Dennis Mou, member of the first place team; Jeffrey Boyd, coach of the first place team and second place individual; Kevin Chen, member of the first place team; Mark Zhang, member of the first place team and second place individual winner; Patricia Li, semifinalist; Karlanna Lewis, semifinalist; Neal Wu, first place individual winner; Jeffrey Chan, member of the first place team; Pallavi Shah, coach of Patricia Li; Gary McDonald, chairman of the board for MATHCOUNTS and Terry King, coach of Karlanna Lewis. White House photo by Paul Morse

The Indiana team took second place, and the California team placed third.

In the individual competition, Neal Wu of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, won the MATHCOUNTS National Champion. Mark Zhang of Sugar Land, Texas, was awarded the second-place individual title with Patricia Li of San Jose, California, and Karlanna Lewis of Tallahassee, Florida, advancing to the Semi-finals.

“The mathematical abilities of these students are truly amazing,” said Peggy Drane, executive director of MATHCOUNTS. “The Mathletes at the National Competition are the best of the best, but they represent more than 500,000 middle school students around the country who used MATHCOUNTS materials to improve their math skills. Thanks to MATHCOUNTS and its wonderful volunteers, every one of these students is better prepared for success in the technological future.”

The MATHCOUNTS National Competition teams, comprised of the four top scoring students in their respective state competition, represented all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Department of Defense and State Department schools worldwide.

“It is an honor for General Motors to bring together some of the brightest children in the country to our headquarters for the 2005 MATHCOUNTS National Competition,” said Lawrence D. Burns, MATHCOUNTS honorary chair and GM vice president of Research & Development and Planning. “This is an educational program which GM has proudly supported for almost twenty years. MATHCOUNTS challenges the minds of young people who are the workforce of tomorrow and encourages them to achieve. The students competing in this competition set a great example for their peers with all their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm.” Bill Russell, basketball legend and Raytheon spokesperson joined in the activities to congratulate the students on their achievements. “We are here to celebrate the future generation of Americans and their extraordinary talents in math. I congratulate the Mathletes and coaches and commend MATHCOUNTS for inspiring a passion for math.”

As National Champion, Wu won the $8,000 Donald G. Weinert Scholarship, a trip to U.S. Space Camp and a notebook computer. Zhang won a $6,000 scholarship as 2nd Place Individual. Semi-finalists Li and Lewis each won a $4,000 scholarship, and Wu’s coach, Claudia Allums, received a notebook computer. Sergei Bernstein of Massachusetts won an $8,000 scholarship as the Written Round Winner and Nathan Benjamin of Indiana won a $6,000 scholarship as Written Round Runner-up.

Additionally, each team member from first-place Texas won a $2,000 scholarship, trips to U.S. Space Camp and a notebook computer.

Four of the top students participated in the Masters Round and gave a 15-minute oral presentation of their solution to a complex problem before a panel of three judges and more than 500 spectators with only 30 minutes to prepare. Adding to his earlier award, Bernstein won the Masters Round and received a $2,000 scholarship, courtesy of General Motors, for this accomplishment.

Celebrating its 22nd anniversary, MATHCOUNTS is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program open to all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. Each year, MATHCOUNTS develops an entirely new MATHCOUNTS School Handbook, meeting National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards for grades 6-8, and provides a complimentary copy to middle schools nationwide. Since 1983, more than 6 million students have participated in MATHCOUNTS. The 228 Mathletes who competed in the National Competition represent more than 500,000 students who have been exposed to MATHCOUNTS at the local and state levels. MATHCOUNTS brings together educators, youth, industry sponsors and volunteers to ensure students develop the mathematical skills needed for their future.

More than 17,000 MATHCOUNTS volunteers from the business and education communities annually organize and conduct the program in communities nationwide. Local and state competitions are coordinated through the leadership of state and local chapters of the National Society of Professional Engineers. MATHCOUNTS’ Founding Sponsors are the CNA Foundation, the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. National Sponsors also include ADC Foundation, General Motors Foundation, Lockheed Martin, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Raytheon Company, Shell Oil Company, Texas Instruments Incorporated, 3M Foundation and Xerox Corporation.

AWARDS

• Scholarships for winning individuals courtesy of General Motors Foundation and Motorola Foundation
• Scholarships for members of the winning team courtesy of Motorola Foundation
• Scholarship for Masters Round winner courtesy of General Motors Foundation
• Trips to U.S. Space Camp courtesy of NASA