A team of six Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart students won first-place honors in their division at the recent Archdiocese of Chicago math competition held at Loyola University-Chicago’s Crown Center. MathCats team members freshman Amelie Chew, sophomore Maggie Glunz, freshman Madeleine Lillis, junior Fiona McNulty, and sophomores Emmy Seliga and Maya Whiteman competed against students from three other Chicago area Catholic high schools in Division A at the Feb. 3 event. Individual honors included a first-place finish by Whiteman, a third-place finish by Glunz and a fourth-place finish by Seliga.

“It was truly a team effort, as we are a young team composed of mostly freshmen and sophomores competing against seniors,” Shao-Yun Guo, Woodlands Academy math teacher/MathCats co-moderator, said. “I could tell from the morning that our team was excited about this contest.  We were working hard up to the contest, figuring questions out and trying to help each other learn.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago math contest, held annually since 1967, took place at the end of this year’s Catholic Schools Week celebrating Catholic education in the United States. Daily themes during the week included recognitions of local parishes, communities and students as well as faculty/staff/volunteers and families.

Woodlands Academy is a Catholic, independent, day-and-boarding, college-preparatory school for young women of all faiths in grades nine through 12. Founded in Chicago in 1858 and located in Lake Forest since 1904, it is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries on six continents. Woodlands Academy is rated the 2024 #1 Best All-girls High School in Illinois and #1 Best Catholic High School in Illinois by Niche, an independent research company. This marks the seventh year in a row that Niche has ranked Woodlands the #1 Best All-girls High School in Illinois.