MVSD's Annual Math Field Day

MVSD's Annual Math Field Day

    Mountain View School District’s top student mathematicians in 4th through 7th grade from all 12 of the District’s schools competed in the 2019 Math Field Day held at Madrid Middle School.  The math scholars represented their school by competing in both team and individual math activities in three rotations including Problem Solving, Conceptual Understanding and Computational and Procedural Skills.  Their excitement and mathematics expertise were evident as they put their math skills on display, using logic and strategic thinking to solve the problems. 

The morning kicked off with a motivational keynote address by Victor M. Salazar, President/CEO of Omni Metal Finishing, Inc. which provides service to the aerospace, aircraft, military and commercial industry.  Salazar is an expert in the field with over 50 years of experience and encouraged the students to work hard, set goals and be confident in who they are and their abilities.

     “I am honored to be here with you outstanding students,” said Salazar.  “It’s very important that you have confidence and believe in yourself, your abilities and the work that you do.  Success is attainable if you work hard and go after your dreams.  I am proof that you can come from another country and succeed and I truly love what I do,” said the 68-year-old who has no desire to retire because his work is fun.   “Remember too that if you fail at something, keep going, it’s not the end it’s just a challenge and opportunity for growth.”       

          After the three rounds of competition, the math wizards had lunch and took part in a variety of Physical Education activities led by P.E. teachers while the judges tallied the scores. 

         “We liked the second round the best,” said members of Baker School’s 5th grade team.  “We are good at fractions and practiced them a lot so the conceptual understanding round was the easiest for us.”   The team members didn’t mind the extra math practice after school or giving up a Saturday for math and agreed the event was a lot of fun.

       Math Field Day Coordinators, Rod Cano and Tizoc Tirado shared that Math Field Day presents a special and unique opportunity for students, teachers, and members of the community at large to come together in a "celebration" of the creative outlet that is math.

     “Math Field Day provides an opportunity for our students to engage in healthy competition in key mathematical areas,”

said Cano.  “These type of events are important to have throughout the District due to the conceptual shifts in math brought about by our Common Core State Standards in math,” he added. 

        It was a packed house in the Madrid School cafeteria as family members gathered for the awards presentation to celebrate the students and hear the winning teams announced.  The energy and excitement were powerful as bronze, silver and gold medals were given out in each category for each grade level.  On hand to congratulate the hard working mathematicians were MVSD Board of Education members, Adam Carranza, Christian Diaz, Jacqueline Saldana and Cindy Wu, Superintendent, Lillian Maldonado French, Assistant Superintendent Ray Andry and school site administrators.  After the medals were given out, the crowd waited for the announcement of the Best Overall Teams by grade level who will go on to represent MVSD at the Los Angeles County Math Field Day in May.   Taking top honors and the huge Best Overall Trophy were Baker School’s 4th grade team, Parkview School’s 5th grade team, Madrid Middle School’s 6th grade team, and Monte Vista School’s 7th grade Team. 

      “Today was a great day for our students,” said Tirado.  “They worked very hard and we are extremely proud of their efforts.  We were excited to have such a large and enthusiastic turnout of parents and family members, as well as the support from our School Board and District administrators.  We are looking forward to our teams competing at the county level and representing the Mountain View School District.”  

     MVSD is proud of all the amazing Math Field Day scholars as well as their school site coaches and appreciates the tremendous effort and dedication of the Math Field Day Committee and the many parent volunteers who made the event such a success.

 

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