This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Pleasantdale Math Team Scores High Against Tough Competition

Eighth-graders post the highest finish for a public school in major contest.

Mary Ann Wentzlaff has never watched the movie “Mean Girls,” but she knows all about the sort of intense math competition that occurs near the end of the film set in suburban Chicago.

For the past 21 years, Wentzlaff has directed the efforts of the math teams at Pleasantdale Middle School. Recently, the eighth-grade math team recorded one of the best results in school history, placing fourth in a 22-team field in a competition at the prestigious Latin School of Chicago.

“What was really significant was we scored the highest of any public, non-specialty school,” noted Pleasantdale District 107 Superintendent Mark Fredisdorf.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The three teams placing ahead of Pleasantdale were all from private schools for gifted students. Pleasantdale tied for fourth with the host school.

Fredisdorf shared the team’s success with the public at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’re just immensely pleased with the achievements of our students and their teacher, Mary Ann Wentzlaff,” Fredisdorf said. “We feel it is a good testimonial to our math program and the work of our students.”

Math team members taking part in the Latin School competition were Stephanie Lin, Anika Ranginani, Gabriel Thalji, and Soumya Yallapragada.

“We were very proud of them,” said Wentzlaff. “We were all very excited.”

Wentzlaff said the competition is nothing like the sort of head-to-head, game-show like event depicted in “Mean Girls.”

“The questions are given in a written format,” she explained. “They collaborate with their own students.”

Wentzlaff said the team members have practice sessions before a competition.

“Basically, we work problems in different styles,” she said. “It’s really a matter of practicing problem-solving, rather than individual problems.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Burr Ridge