Locals excel in county mathematics contest

Students from Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley middle schools, Baymonte Christian School and Boulder Creek and Brook Knoll elementary schools came away with honors at the 43rd annual Santa Cruz County Math Contest last month.
Charles Escott from Boulder Creek Elementary and Jonah Oxenhandler from SLV Middle School stood out as winners in the competition.
Students worked as individuals and in teams. Individual short-answer tests were designed to reflect state standards for fifth, sixth and seventh grades and for Algebra I courses. In teams, students had to use problem-solving and reasoning strategies to solve problems.
Boulder Creek Elementary School: Charles Escott, first place, fifth grade; Charles Escott, Madelaine McCarthy and Jackson Turnery, honorable mention, on the fifth- and sixth-grade team.
Scotts Valley Middle School: Edward Sims-Johnson, second place, sixth grade; Jillian Koopman, third place, seventh grade; Angelo Acker, Jonathan Chiu, Scott Edwards and Steve Lonhart, second place, on the seventh- and eighth-grade team; Melissa Clark, Lili Manzo, Angel McElroy, Ben Acker, Dylan Dix, Dylin Eisenhut, Cole North and Jack Palmer, honorable mention, on the fifth- and sixth-grade team; Julia Miller, Benjamin Shaw, Sophie Shen, Maia Woodmansee, Victoria Jones, James Marshall, Christian Murai, Tatiana Parrish, Alex Turowski, Oscar Reksoatmodjo, Tony Reksoatmodjo and Alec Vucinich, honorable mention, on the seventh- and eighth-grade teams; Ben Acker, Alex Urdahl, Genevieve Imboden, Cole Henry North, Sean Krezeczowski and Brett Ifland, honorable mention, sixth grade; Ayan Patel, honorable mention, seventh grade; Angelo Acker, Alex Beraut, Julia Miller and Benjamin Shaw, honorable mention, eighth grade.
Brook Knoll Elementary School: Brandon Einck, third place, fifth grade; Ian Gallagher and Conor Santos, honorable mention, fifth grade.
San Lorenzo Valley Middle School: Jonah Oxenhandler, first place, seventh grade; Robert Adams, honorable mention, sixth grade.
Baymonte Christian School: Emily Booth, Gwendolyn Olson and Kay Smith, honorable mention, on the fifth- and sixth-grade team; Sean Anderson, honorable mention, eighth grade.