Friday, Jun. 27, 2008

Grapevine Kids Buzz at Math Bee

By Barbara Gelinas

Contributing Writer

Three students from Heritage Elementary in Grapevine stepped up to the plate when they attended the National Math Bee last month at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Anisha Navendra, Ishan Navendra and Allyson McCain participated in an online math tournament May 2-3 sponsored by BatterUp, a computer math game that records players’ math skills in the form of batting averages. Since 2006, the online tournament has chosen the three highest scoring teams from each state to attend the national bee.

Each team was comprised of students from three schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, structured by grade level. The first-grade team members were Anisha Navendra from Heritage Elementary, Amanda Piyapanee from Euless Oakwood Terrace Elementary, Puja Nayak from Carrollton McCoy Elementary and Devina Devagharan, who is home-schooled. Kumari Nallakumar was their coach. The third-grade team included Ishan Navendra and Allyson McCain from Heritage Elementary and Athisha Piyapanee from Euless Oakwood Terrace Elementary.

The first-grade team, the "Davinci Girls," won first place for subtraction and third place for addition, said student sponsor Sudha Raghavan. The third-grade team, "The Heritage 3," made it to the finals but were eventually eliminated, she said.

"I was very nervous," said third-grader Allyson McCain. She said team members did their best. Allyson, whose favorite subject is science, said she wants to be an actress when she grows up. She said playing in the tournament helped improve her math skills.

"It got her plugged into the subject at a really critical age," said Allyson’s father, Chris McCain.

Allyson’s parents said they didn’t need to do a lot to help her prepare for the tournament. The online game was the competition.

Raghavan agreed that there was no extra preparation for the tournament. As team mother to the "Heritage 3," she said she just encouraged them to keep playing. She went to Birmingham with her children, Anisha and Ishan Navendra, for the national competition. She said they had a great time.

All of the students enjoyed visiting the McWane Science Center, said Raghavan. She said the center had several hands-on exhibits that were fun for the children. They had so much fun that they stayed past closing time on one occasion, she said.

"We practically closed the place down," she said.

"I liked the Science Center," said third-grader Ishan Navendra.

Ishan said his favorite exhibit was a remote control airplane. He said he wants to be a pilot when he grows up.

His sister, Anisha, was a member of the "Davinci Girls." She said her favorite subject is math because she likes addition. She would like to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

Nallakumar discovered the National Math Bee on a blog for parents who home-school their children. This is the first year that students from a local school have attended. She said they plan to focus even more on competing for next year. Allyson McCain’s mother said her daughter is already looking ahead.

"Going to the competition has really pumped her up. She wants to do it again next year," said Deena McCain.