PJH Students Take On Best In State at TMSCA Contest
April 20, 2010
Plains Middle School students, 7th grader Vanessa Carreon and 8th graders Colby Bearden, Alex Rodriguez, and Percy Sosa, attended the 2010 Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) state competition April 17 in San Antonio. Although just being a small group of four, this “fantastic foursome” made a big impact on the other contestants by finishing as a team in 8th place among all Class A schools represented in the science competition, and placing 12th in the overall sweepstakes of Class A school competition in the categories of math, science, calculator, and number sense!
The students left Friday morning, April 16th, to go on their journey to the River City. Mrs. Kelly Baum, 7/8 science teacher, and Mr. John Starcher, PJH Principal, sponsored the trip. Mrs. Baum worked steadily throughout the weeks preparing the students and kept their mind sharp with Q&A sessions and practice tests. The group toured the Rainforest Café on the River Walk while in San Antonio. Unfortunately, the much-needed rains asked for by so many came true and washed out several of the plans the Plains contingent made. Nonetheless, the students enjoyed a good time and ended up with a great showing at the state level!
The team finished with 387 points placing them in 8th position for all Class A schools. The same point total also allowed the PJH team to finish in 12th place out of fourteen Class A schools entered in the competition in the sweepstakes division (a culmination of math, science, number sense, and calculator scores combined). Plains JH outscored area teams Whiteface and Sudan in the sweepstakes division. A record number of students from Class 5A to 1A totaled 2,360. Colby Bearden tied for 2nd place high-scoring individual while Alex Rodriguez tied for 12 high-scoring individual. Vanessa Carreon placed 13th among the 7th graders and Percy Sosa placed 25th in the 8th grade category.
Congratulations to Vanessa, Colby, Alex, Percy, and Mrs. Baum for outstanding work!
