Math Masters
If you’re fond of solving math problems, math team may be the team for you! The AHS Math Team, also known as Snack Team, is one of our ten prestigious academic teams on campus. Math Team is an award winning team that competes several times throughout the year.
To earn a spot on the team, Math Team members had to try out by taking a test with questions varied in difficulty. All test-takers were given one hour and thirty minutes to complete the test. Only the top scorers were selected. They practice regularly, meeting every Wednesday. Led by captains Taejin Huang and Victor Li, both seniors, practices always include a lot of snacks to fuel their brains. The team usually practices for upcoming competitions, except on special occasions, according to math team member freshman Ryan Wang. To practice, members are put into randomly assigned groups to create math problems for other team members to solve. On Oct. 21, Math Team participated in a competition for the Bay Math League (BML) at West High School. There were many other students from many other schools also participating. Each person on the team took three individual tests. The tests covered either 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th-grade material. Each test had a time limit of ten minutes. There was also a team round, where team members worked together on a test to solve more difficult problems. For the team round, the team was split into four teams. In the end, all the regular tests and team round tests were graded and the team came home with a 3rd place trophy. Other competitions throughout the year include the BML (a series of 4 after-school competitions) and Math Day at the Beach at Cal State Long Beach. Members also participate in several “write-in” competitions as individuals and as a team. They also have the opportunity to participate in several national contests including the AMC and ARML. Even though it’s a quite challenging to get onto math team, “being on the team is a lot of fun.” according to math team member freshman Ryan Wang. He said that “once [he] saw the math team [he] knew [he] wanted to join” and he “really enjoys the challenges math provides”. Junior Samuel Cui, who has been a Math Team member since his freshman year, said, “I’ve always loved math, ever since I was young! That’s not to say that I really enjoy sitting down at home with a ton of math homework though. The two don’t necessarily coincide.” Math Team may require a lot of time and commitment but in the end, it’s all worth it.















