Bulloch Co School District Math Competitions Winners

Bulloch County Schools’ winners in the Penny Sikes and Reggie Dawson Math Tournaments.

39th Annual Penny Sikes Math Tournament     

Last year’s 38th Annual Penny Sikes Math Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 public health restrictions,but the competition returned in 2021 with social distance modifications and lots of math computations. Bulloch County’s public, private and charter school math teachers and teams were resilient as the competition was proctored at each team’s school instead of the traditional large-group gathering at Southeast Bulloch High School. The Southeast Bulloch High Math Department coordinated the hybrid event and developed ways to ensure this year’s tournament could continue. On March 11, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for fifth-grade mathletes, and on March 16, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., for sixth-grade, a representative from the math department went to each participating school to proctor the mini competitions and collect the results. Afterwards, they later delivered awards to the winning individuals and schools.

These are the individual and team winners for the 39th Annual Penny Sikes Math Tournament:

Individual Competition

This portion of the competition is based on individua lperformances on a 50-question written test. Any ties were broken by determining which student answered the test’s most frequently missed question(s) correctly.

• Fifth Grade Top-10· 
  • Ethan Chen, Brooklet Elementary, First Place
  • Edward Nguyen, Bulloch Academy, Second Place
  • Mia Kersey, Brookle tElementary, Third Place
  • Janie Cowan, Brooklet Elementary, Fourth Place
  • Austin Wheaton, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Fifth Place
  • Pierce Jarriel, Nevils Elementary, Sixth Place
  • Landon Smith, Nevils Elementary, Seventh Place
  • Caleb Kelly, Brooklet Elementary, Eighth Place
  • Ian Bermudez-Moronta,Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Ninth Place
  • Diana Mbakwe, Bulloch Academy, Tenth Place
• Sixth Grade Top 10   
  • Amy Kersey, Southeast Bulloch Middle, First Place
  • Ohm Pandya, Langston Chapel Middle, Second Place
  • Madelyn Lanier, Bulloch Academy, Third Place
  • Jayden Wilson, Southeast Bulloch Middle, Fourth Place
  • Ellie Branch,Southeast Bulloch Middle, Fifth Place
  • Grant Odom, Bulloch Academy, Sixth Place
  • Caleb Williams, Statesboro STEAM Academy, Seventh Place
  • Cole Blissett, Southeast Bulloch Middle, Eighth Place
  • Grant Boyer, Statesboro STEAM Academy, Ninth Place
  • Taylor Gerig, Statesboro STEAM Academy, Tenth Place

Team Ciphering Competition

The ciphering portion of the competition consists of school teams solving a set of timed math questions.

• Fifth Grade Ciphering Team Winners:   
  • Brooklet Elementary, First Place
  • Bulloch Academy, Second Place
  • Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Third Place
• Sixth Grade Ciphering Teams
  • Langston Chapel Middle, First Place
  • Southeast Bulloch Middle, Second Place
  • Bulloch Academy, Third Place

Overall Team Winners

The overall team winners were determined based on the top-four written test scores from the individual portion of the competition plus the ciphering team scores.

• Fifth Grade Team Winners      
  • Brooklet Elementary, First Place
  • Bulloch Academy, Second Place
  • Julia P Bryant Elementary, Third Place
• Sixth Grade Team Winners   
  • Southeast Bulloch Middle, First Place
  • Langston Chapel Middle, Second Place
  • Bulloch Academy, Third Place

9th Annual Reggie Dawson Memorial Math Tournament     

The 9th Annual Reggie Dawson Memorial Math Tournament for Bulloch County’s third- and fourth-grade students was adapted this year into a series of mini events at each participating school. While usually attracting nine to ten elementary schools, only five schools’ math teams accepted the math challenge this year.

Teams from Sallie Zetterower, Julia P. Bryant, Stilson, and Portal elementary schools and Bulloch Academy collaborated with event organizers to schedule various dates and times to complete competitive math computations.There were individual and ciphering rounds. Each team member took a 45-minute,20-question test with each question counting one point. The top 10 students at each grade level received an award. Also, the top-four scores for each school were factored into an overall team score.

The second round was a team event where groups of four students answered timed questions. Teams accumulated points for each correct answer. These points also factored into each school’s overall score. The team with the most cumulative points at the end of the competition won.

The competition was named for a former Statesboro High School math teacher, Reggie Dawson, whose life and career were cut tragically short when he lost his battle with cancer in 2010. Local math teachers wanted to honor his memory and the excellent example he set for team work and academic excellence by naming the tournament in his memory.

Julia P. Bryant Elementary School’s math teachers established and hosted the event for eight years. This year Tiffany Ward, a 12th grade math teacher at Statesboro High School and the school’s Mu Alpha Theta National High School Mathematics Honor Society students coordinated and proctored the competition. The Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education has sponsored the tournament for the past five years with a series of $1,000 innovation grants.

This year’s competition results are as follows:

• Third-Grade Individual Round – Top10
  • Burke Hall, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, First-place
  • Ethan Key, Sallie Zetterower Elementary, Second-place
  • Charliann Thompson, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Third-place
  • Emily Ault, Portal Elementary, Fourth-place
  • Laile Nesmith, Portal Elementary, Fifth-place
  • Josh Hogan, Portal Elementary, Sixth-place
  • Sadie McFalliard, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Seventh-place
  • Ashwarya Madray-Ascencio, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Eighth-place
  • Logan Boyer, Sallie Zetterower Elementary, Ninth-place
  • CJ Lovett, Portal Elementary, Tenth-place
• Third-Grade Ciphering Team Winners 
  • Sallie Zetterower Elementary, First-place
  • Portal Elementary, Second-place
  • Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Third-place
• Third-Grade Overall Team Winners 
  • SallieZetterower Elementary, First-place
  • Portal Elementary, Second-place
  • Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Third-place
• Fourth-Grade Individual Round – Top10  
  • Jaime Braddock, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, First-place
  • Katy Davis, Portal Elementary, Second-place
  • Evan Nesmith, Portal Elementary, Third-place
  • Maddox Brady, Stilson Elementary, Fourth-place
  • Math Mallard, Portal Elementary, Fifth-place
  • Noah Bittner, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Sixth-place
  • Zande rLanier, Portal Elementary, Seventh-place
  • Tal Collins, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Eighth-place
  • Zoey Lanier, Portal Elementary, Ninth-place
  • Finnley Brady, Julia P. Bryant Elementary, Tenth-place
• Fourth-Grade Ciphering Team Winners·
  • Julia P. Bryant Elementary, First-place
  • Stilson Elementary, Second-place
  • Bulloch Academy, Third-place
• Fourth-Grade Overall Team Winners
  • Julia P. Bryant Elementary, First-place
  • Portal Elementary, Second-place
  • Stilson Elementary, Third-place

Source: Bulloch County Schools