Corona students call Math Counts competition fun

Avid student Tyler Vollmer organizes mathcounts teams and provides training for these teams as one of his community services project. Tyler, who is 13 years old and an 11th-grader at Santiago High School, has been coaching five Math Counts teams in Corona since last October.

Racing friends to find the right answer is more fun than solving equations in math class, say Corona students practicing for Math Counts competition.

"It was my first competition," said Tyler Vollmer, 13, an 11th-grader at Santiago High School. Tyler coaches five Math Counts teams of sixth-, seventh- and eighth graders in Corona. "I love how you compete with all your teammates. It's more of a collaborative competition."

Students say they're learning more and classwork is easier now, too.

"We learned a lot more stuff here before we learned it in a teacher's class," said seventh-grader Courtney Carrillo as she practiced before school at El Cerrito Middle School. Teams are preparing for competition Feb. 19 at California Baptist University in Riverside.

Cal Baptist associate professor of mechanical engineering Ziliang Zhou said he leads the competition to show the university's support for future scientists and engineers. He also has seen the benefits of Math Counts in middle school for his own son and other students.

"This is the best time to develop a strong foundation for problem-solving skills," Zhou said.

Courtney is one of four students who practice at El Cerrito. In sprint rounds, they try to be the first to solve each problem. Another 17 students -- from Citrus Hills and Raney intermediate schools, and Foothill and Wilson elementary schools -- practice at Tyler's home.

Kimi Vollmer, Tyler's mother, said they haven't found a school where teams can practice Saturday mornings but, she said, campuses are open then anyway for detentions and extracurricular events.

At El Cerrito, they meet before school in history teacher Esther Summers' room twice a week.

"To me, having children have an avenue for extra activities is important," Summers said. Other student clubs meet in her room before and after school as well, she said.

Tyler started taking math and science at Santiago when he was 9 and an El Cerrito student who had skipped three grades.

He said he used to go to Orange County for Math Counts. Fifty teams competed last year, his mother said, adding that last year, 10 teams from Riverside and San Bernardino counties competed at Cal Baptist, none from Corona or Norco.

Tyler said he's excited to teach math and coach students his own age. During practice sessions, he offered advice on how to approach problems and was thrilled when seventh-graders found the answer. He said it's not like solving equations in algebra or geometry. Math Counts' problems incorporate different strands of mathematics in word problems.

Tyler gave sprint round sheets from the 2009 Math Counts to the El Cerrito team.

"This stuff is really challenging," seventh-grader Abrar Hakim said. "It's really hard, harder than Algebra 1."

Reach Dayna Straehley at 951- 368-9455 or dstraehley@PE.com

Original Story from The Press-Enterprise: Corona students call Math Counts competition fun.