Earning the top prize at a mathematics competition has become commonplace for Carmel High School.
For the 11th consecutive year, students from Carmel earned first place last month at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology High School Mathematics Competition.
Six CHS students – junior Rhea Acharya and sophomores Aneesh Dasgupta, Jack Liu, Bill Quian, Jinhee Won and Jacob Zhang – solved all 20 of the competition’s problems. They were the only students in the competition to do so.
“Most of them are much smarter than I am, so I don’t really have to do much to get them ready,” said Joseph Broman, a CHS math teacher and Math Club sponsor. “They’ve done most of the preparation by completing courses in algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. The Math Club just gives them the opportunity to apply their skills to interesting problems, so in the weeks leading up to the competition, we practice these interesting problems, review past Rose-Hulman exams and compete in other math contests.”
Individually at the senior level, CHS’s Angela Li placed second; Jerry Wang and Christopher Zou were third; and Raphael Li was seventh. At the junior level, Rhea Archarya placed first, Noah Tan second, Lillian He and Lilith Roopesh sixth and Owen Eckart 11th.
The sophomore team was the most impressive, with Dasgupta, Liu, Quian, Won and Zhang tying for the top individual spot. Aniket Biswal earned second place. Jammy Wang was third, Nathan Huangwas fifth, Akash Bhowmik was sixth and Nathan Ou was seventh.
“Carmel is the extraordinary beneficiary of parents who push their children to succeed at the highest level in mathematics,” Broman said. “Many of our students have studied advanced mathematics outside of school and come to us very well prepared. Most of the sophomores in the Math Club are in pre-calculus or calculus, which puts them several years ahead of their peers. So, solving these interesting algebra and geometry problems is something they’ve been doing since elementary or middle school. We also have a very large sophomore class of students in the Math Club, so there were many more competing than the other grade levels this year.”
At the freshman level, Vanaan He earned third place. Tanay Archarya was fourth and Nathan Martin was sixth.
Broman said the achievements demonstrate the importance the district and students place on mathematics.
“We wouldn’t do as well at competitions if they weren’t already coming to us so well prepared from the middle schools and their private studies,” he said. “However, they wouldn’t do as well at these competitions year after year if CHS didn’t foster their talent by offering such a wide range of mathematics courses for them. Many students from CHS go on to study mathematics, engineering and physics as well as a whole host of other mathematically related subjects in college and are well prepared by depth and breadth of the mathematics education they receive here.”
This year marked the competition’s 54th year. It drew 428 students from 27 schools in Indiana and Illinois.
Terre Haute’s South Vigo earned second-place team honors, followed by Evansville’s Signature School in third place, Newburgh’s Castle in fourth and Terre Haute North Vigo in fifth.
