On March 5, 2024, twenty-four seventh graders and twenty-four eighth graders from twelve area schools gathered to compete in the Mississippi Council of Teachers of Mathematics Middle School District Math Tournament at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jackson County Campus. Area schools from George, Harrison, Jackson, and Stone Counties were invited to participate.

In February of this year, participating schools administered a math test to their seventh and eighth grade students; the top two winners from each grade advanced to the district level.  This year, over 1,250 students took the local-level test. At the district level, students took another test to determine the top two winners for each grade. These students will advance to the state competition which will be held at The Mississippi School of Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 6, 2024.

Dr. Cedric Bradley, vice president of the Jackson County Campus, helped welcome the students, and their adult chaperones to the tournament.  He shared information about the opportunities that await the students at MGCCC if they choose to attend when they finish high school.  Dr. Bobby Ghosal, assistant dean of Teaching and Learning, and Dr. Emma Miller, dean of Teaching and Learning, attended the awards ceremony at the end of the tournament and presented certificates to the top scoring students.

The first-place winners will receive a $150 check and will represent the MGCCC District at the state tournament.  They were were Skyler Balch (eighth grade) from Pass Christian Middle School and Sebastian Slaydon (seventh grade) from Biloxi Junior High School.  The second-place winners will receive a $100 check and will represent the District at the state tournament. They were Brooklyn Guymon (eighth grade) from St. Patrick Catholic High School and Tucker Hoffman (seventh grade) from Pass Christian. The third-place winners were Aidan Marshall (eighth grade) from East Central Middle School and Gideon Sibley (seventh grade) from Gautier Middle School. The top ten winners from each grade received a District Certificate. All 48 participants received a door prize, a local certificate, T-shirt, and enjoyed a free lunch for attending the district tournament.

This was the 40 year the math instructors on the JC Campus hosted this event. Allison Turley served as the district coordinator this year.  The DeLisle Plant of the Chemours Corporation have sponsored the event for 25 years helping fund the prizes, certificates, and medals. In addition, Heygood’s Engraving and Printing of Pascagoula provided T-shirts and medals for the participants at cost.

Students who represented their schools at the district tournament this year included:

• Biloxi Junior High School – Sebastian Slaydon, Paxton Sengsiry, Noah Griffin, Jayden Frazier
• Colmer Middle School – Miles Sprague, Ella Lawrence, Sebastian Tran, Joseph Goldman
• D’Iberville Middle School – Bailey McDaniel, McKenzee Franklin, Annie Le, Morgan Carter
• East Central Middle School – Aiden Carraway, Meredith Arnold, Aidan Marshall, Colby Smith
• Gautier Middle School – Gideon Sibley, Austin Griffith, Terrence McClendon, Aidan Wozencraft
• Long Beach Middle School – Peyton Reeves, Skylar Lacap, Ishaan Kalluru, Audrey Keeton
• North Woolmarket Middle School – Evan Lajoie, Micah Hickman, Joseph Langham, Stevens Eager
• Ocean Springs Middle School – Breanna England, Russell Allman, Abby Walton, Manny Huffman
• Pass Christian Middle School – Tucker Hoffman, Grayson Werner, Skyler Balch, Zerriah Brooks
• Patrick Catholic High School – William Hough, Bentley Puzz, Brooklyn Guymon, Sophia Oehms
• Stone Middle School – Ivie Stockman, Xavior Toller, Jayden Nelson, Jaxsen Huse
• Vancleave Middle School – Cooper Flurry, Jake Atkinson, Jonah Harris, Mason-Kate Keebler