Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart’s 18 participating MathCats finished in eighth place overall at the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (ICTM) Division 1A State Finals held April 5-6 at Illinois State University in Normal.

Highlights included a second-place finish in Geometry by the Woodlands Academy team of sophomores Maggie Glunz, Chloe Mensah, Emmy Seliga and Maya Whiteman. In addition, Whiteman placed seventh in the individual Geometry competition.

The MathCats Frosh/Soph 2-person team of Maggie Glunz and Maya Whiteman finished in eighth place at the ICTM State Finals as did the Junior/Senior 2-person team of Claire Smylie and Aanya Sahu.

In other events, Rei En Chew, Madeleine Lillis, Chloe Mensah, Emmy Seliga, Lauren Janos, Gracie Jennings, Fiona McNulty, Judith Koukol placed ninth in Calculator team competition as did the Oral team of Maggie Glunz and Gianna Keuer.

Principal Rocco Gargiulo, a former math teacher at the Lake Forest all-girls college-preparatory high school, is proud of the MathCats’ strong showing at the state level, which followed their third-place overall finish at the February regional competition. “This confirms Woodlands Academy’s commitment to STEM education,” he said. “It also acknowledges the dedication of our MathCats co-moderators and the entire math department to leading our students along the way to becoming empowered young women.”

According to its website, ICTM is a community of pre-K through post-graduate educators promoting equitable, high-quality mathematics teaching. Its math contests – held annually since 1980 – aim to recognize outstanding student mathematical achievement, encourage independent study and stimulate interest in mathematics while providing a wholesome meeting ground for mathematics students and teachers through academic competition.