The Beaver County Math 24 tournament took place Thursday, March 7 at Penn State Beaver. The event was sponsored by the Beaver County Lions Clubs and the Beaver County Gifted Consortium. Twenty-one students from Freedom in grades 4 through 8 attended the competition.

Each math class had a tournament to decide who would be on the team. A playoff was held for each grade to decide the students who would attend the competition. Sixteen students made the semifinals and three advanced to the final round. Calla Reynolds, fifth grade, Colton Blank, fifth grade, and Brodie Falk, sixth grade, each made it to the finals in their grade level. Reynolds placed first and both Blank and Falk placed fourth in their grade level. This is the first time in Freedom history that anybody has made it to the finals.

Math 24 is a game that is played by trying to make 24 using only the four numbers on the card. You can use the operations multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.The best way to play is to memorize all of the cards. Some kids tend to try to think through the card while they are playing. That causes them to not remember the card.

To prepare for the tournament students practiced during their math class and at home.

“I practice 10 minutes to 4 hours a day. I just want to be the best I can be, and climb through the ranks of Math 24.” said Reynolds.

Math 24  seems easy but the competition was fierce.

“I was worried about Central Valley and Riverside but I just wanted the trophy and wanted to be on top.” said Blank. In total, there were ten schools and 162 participants at the tournament.