Students Passion for Math Adds Up

 The following column originally was published during January and February, 2025 in a number of APG of East Central Minnesota  newspapers. The titles varied – which is unusual.

Some papers used the title, “I was wrong about Math League.  Others used the title “The immense value of numbers including 155 and 2,600 or “Students Passion for Math Adds Up.”    Papers publishing the column included the Sunthis WeekSun PostSun Sailor, Sun Current,  the APG State News, MilleLacs Messenger,  Elk River Star News, Dakota County Times, Monticello Times and Union-Times. 

Students Passion for Math Adds Up

      by Joe Nathan

Wow was I wrong. I thought perhaps a few hundred Minnesota youngsters participated in the state’s Math League, and maybe 15-20 high schools. Way off.

 

Tom Young, a 30-plus-year Minnesota public school educator and now the league’s executive director, told me Jan. 21 that about 2,600 Minnesota students, and 155 schools, district, charter, private and parochial, participate. They’re from across the state, from International Falls in the north to Fairmont in the south.

Talking with one of last year’s regular season champions, and educators from some of the top-ranked teams in Cambridge-Isanti, Elk River, Edina, Maple Grove, Minnetonka and Spring Lake Park, helped me understand the participants’ passion. A little research showed the immense value of what they’re doing.

Michael Luo tied for regular season champion last year, as a ninth grader attending Minnetonka High School. (He tied with Kevin Qiu, a 10th grader at Wayzata High School.)

Luo told me, “I am happiest when I do math. In the eighth grade, I decided it was fun.”

Though he might change his mind, Luo told me, “Right now I think I want to teach math.”

Why?

Luo: “I remember having ‘aha moments’ when I suddenly understood something. I want to help others have those moments. Also if you really understand something, you can teach it to others.”

Tanner Holte and Connor Gomer are the Minnetonka High School math team coaches. They tied for third last year during the season in the largest school enrollment division.

Holte explained: “I love advising the math team because it is full of students who get excited to solve problems creatively. Competition math encourages outside-the-box thinking, often very different from the skills required in a math class. I get to listen in on some of the most brilliant thought processes I’ve ever witnessed, all coming from a room full of teenagers.”

Magister Thomas is the math team coach and a math teacher at Parnassus Preparatory School, a charter public school in Maple Grove. The team tied with Breck School for first place at last year’s state championship meet, in Class A (smallest high school enrollment). Thomas has been teaching for 16 years, 10 of them at Parnassus. He’s found that the league challenges students “to be critical thinkers while applying skills learned in their math classes. Students learn to work together as a team. They also become better problem solvers.”

Michael Hilst was a participant in Math League in the mid-1980s, “and experienced the value of participation first-hand.” He’s now in his 35th year of teaching at Spring Lake Park High School.

He pointed out: “It is rewarding to watch students get excited over the topics that are new to them, especially when they make connections between the new concepts and ones that they are already familiar with.” Hilst also praised the team’s co-coach, Amanda Preisinger: “A great role model … (she) helps foster the image of mathematics being for any and everyone, which impacts all students, both male and female, in a positive way.” Spring Lake Park currently is in second place in the North Suburban Division.

Matthew Minowitz coaches the Edina Math Team. He describes the league as “a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves … while having a venue to socialize with their peers.” Edina tied for third among the largest enrollment schools.

Steve Larson coaches the Cambridge-Isanti High School math team. He wrote: “I have been only coaching and teaching here for five years. Prior to that I have been teaching and coaching in other schools in MN and around the world since 1988. I loved math and my favorite high school adult person was my soccer coach. He was able to communicate his passion for not only us as students but also for his sport. So I adopted this as my professional and personal goal.”

Larson described the math team as “a unique group of kids as most HS activities are. In every building, there are a group of kids that consider themselves good at solving math problems and instead of just getting a label as ‘the nerds’, I chose to give them a place to excel at their skill and represent their school with pride. In our five years, we have won the division three times and are set for a fourth. I am very proud of this group of kids and working as a team is a rather critical life skill.”

Elk River’s math team coach is Curt Michener, who is in his 32nd year of teaching. He believes being a coach has made him a better teacher: “I’ve gotten to share so much time with young, great thinkers. That time together has made me a better thinker which translates to me being a better teacher.”

Michener’s team currently leads the Mississippi River Division of the league.

Michener finds, “The students learn there are many ways to solve problems and learn the benefits of solving them with others. It is so much easier to retain knowledge and be able to apply it when you work on harder problems with a group. Past graduates have shared how easy of a time they had in college compared to their peers who weren’t ever involved with a math team.”

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math are expected to grow by 10.4% from 2023-2033, compared to all jobs growing by 3.6%. As of 2023, the median STEM job paid $101,650, compared to $46,680 in other jobs. (Info: tinyurl.com/4xdbkt2e)

In Minnesota, a September report from the Department of Employment and Economic Development estimated that between 2022 and 2032, the number of jobs in the computer and mathematical field will grow by 15%, more than any other field.

I asked Tingting Zhu, Michael Luo’s mother, what she thought of the Math League. She responded: “We truly appreciate what the coaches have done for these mathletes. It means so much to us. It’s given him a community of friends.”

Any advice for other parents, Zhu?

“Encourage your children to follow their passion,” she said.

For thousands of Minnesota students, that’s what the state’s very valuable Math League represents. Perhaps schools could give them more attention, along with athletic teams. More information here.

Joe Nathan, PhD, has been a Minnesota public school educator, researcher and PTA parent. He founded and formerly directed the Center for School Change, now known as Catalyst for Systems Change. Reactions welcome, joe@centerforschoolchange.org