You might have noticed in the past couple of weeks that there seemed to be a lot of high school kids wandering around campus. First was the Jazz Celebration that brought more than 1,500 young musicians to Metro April 14-16. Then, on the 15th, Chemistry Day brought another 300 or so youngsters to the college. Finally, last Wednesday, there were 200 budding mathematicians on campus for Math Day.

Towering minds: Young math whizzes compete at Metro Math Day

Wearing t-shirts bearing the phrase, "Don't drink and derive," four members of Monarch High School's Calculus Three class pondered the problem at hand: Construct the highest tower possible such that components can be moved and quickly reassembled—out of three sheets of poster board and tape.

The mathematicians from Louisville, Colo. were among the 200-plus high schoolers from the Front Range crowding the Tivoli Turnhalle for Metro's annual Math Day competition, held on April 20. Vying more for glory than prizes—awards consisted of t-shirts, math books and calculators—teams competed in three events: algebra and analysis, hands-on challenges and geometry, facing problems such as:

"A man entered a store and spent half of the money in his pocket. When he left he discovered that he had just as many cents as he had dollars when he went in, and half as many dollars as he had cents when he went in. How much money did he have when he entered?"

For a team from the Kent Denver School, the event was something of a grudge match. Having lost to D'Evelyn at a CSU math meet, the four boys arrived at Metro bent on revenge, ultimately sweeping top honors in algebra. Busy with their flimsy tower—the guys didn't place in the design event—they said they were happy with the algebra win.

Evan Statton, a freshman from Littleton High School, looked at his team's tower dubiously. Though the structure was nearing seven feet, he echoed the feelings of several students when he said, "(The competition) turned out to be harder than we thought."

When all was calculated and done, Kent Denver teams took first and third in algebra and D'Evelyn High School placed second. In the tower competition, Denver's South High captured the win with a 191-inch structure, followed by Regis Girls High School team at 178 inches and Monarch at 177 inches. First place in geometry went to D'Evelyn, with Littleton High and Monarch placing second and third respectively.

"Math Day gives them a chance to compete with other students in the area," says Ken Prevot, an assistant math professor at Metro who coordinated Math Day. "This is an academic competition for kids who might not compete in sports."

Or, as Robby Roletto, a freshman from Littleton High put it: "It gets you out of school."

Editor's note: The gentleman had $99.98.

"Being smart is cool" at Metro Chemistry Day

Denver-area high school students had a chance to show off their scientific skills and vie for honors at Metro's Chemistry Day, hosted by the Chemistry Department. Portions of the event were sponsored by the Colorado section of the American Chemistry Society.

On Friday, April 15, about 300 students from nine area high schools came to campus to attend the event, which was put on by the chemistry faculty with help from student volunteers. "The event provides encouragement to students in their science studies," said Chris Tindall, chair of the Chemistry Department. "It also gives them an opportunity to see the college."

The competitions included events such as the team Chemistry Bowl and individual contests including the titration competition and the identify-the-element contest. The overall winner was Pomona High School.

Tindall said that area high school teachers are thrilled that the program has been reinstated, after having skipped a few years due to lack of funding. "One local teacher told me, 'I'm so glad you're doing this again. This says that being smart is cool, which the kids don't hear enough.'"