Math Stars at Wayzata High School Win Big

The competition was stiff, with high school students from all over the country participating, but seniors on the Wayzata High School math team swept the competition. “We’re very proud of what the kids did,” principal Michael Trewick said.  The mathematicians had to attack the real-world issue of quantifying and managing the plastic waste that crowds landfills—every five seconds, Americans use 60,000 plastic bags and consume 2,000 bottled drinks. After the Wayzata team’s efforts placed in the top six of 1,054 papers submitted to the Moody’s Corporation’s Mega Math Challenge, Jenny Lai, Abram Sanderson, Amy Xiong, Lynn Zhang and Roy Zhao advanced to the company’s Manhattan headquarters. Led by math teacher and coach Thomas Kilkelly, they nabbed first place with a 15-minute presentation and took home $20,000 in scholarship money.