Scarsdale High School Math Teams Place Top in County

The Scarsdale High School Math Team A won first place in the Westchester County Interscholastic Math League, and the Scarsdale High School Math Team B won second place. This league consists of teams from 22 school districts in Westchester county. The teams meet monthly to solve challenging and intriguing math problems. Individuals and teams earn points based on the number of problems they solve correctly.

Five of the top six students in the individual rankings are from Scarsdale. Richard Xu won first place, Dexin Li won second place and third place was a four-way tie. The three Scarsdale students who won third place are Harry Chalfin, Garrett Tanzer and David Wang. The teams are led by Scarsdale High School Math teacher Laura Estersohn.

The final meet was held Monday, March 16 in White Plains High School. Seventeen Scarsdale students attended the final meet. They prepare at Scarsdale High School where they meet, on average, one or two times every week to play in various leagues. The students work through problems and explain their solutions to each other. By so doing, they become stronger mathematically. In addition, they enjoy each other's company and have a good time.

Seventy-seven teams from 22 school districts in Westchester entered the contest. The questions reward clever thinking as much as straight-ahead math knowledge.The questions do not require a knowledge of calculus. In fact, most of the questions can be solved using high school algebra and geometry so that students from all grade levels can participate.

The Scarsdale rankings were based on results from 5 meets throughout the year. The top students throughout the county will go on to a state level meet on April 25 in Syosset, NY. Here are the twelve students who will represent Scarsdale:

Rebecca Agustin, grade 12
Michael Bogaty, grade 12
Harry Chalfin, grade 11
Alan Chung, grade 9
Connie Lam, grade 12
Dexin Li, grade 10
Cailey Martin, grade 12
Garrett Tanzer, grade 11
David Wang, grade 11
Cherie Xu, grade 11
Richard Xu, grade 9
Tom Zhang, grade 10