Math Club Has Much in Store for Portola
Photo Courtesy of Shelley Godett
Club adviser Shelley Godett stands with (left to right) seniors Harry Song, William Hsieh, Nikhil Jha, junior Anthony Tan, seniors Joyee Chen and Nicholas Delianedis at the Math Day at the Beach competition.
November 3, 2019
Entering the four-year mark of Portola High’s establishment, staff and students try their hardest to make everyone feel included. From the variety of classes to clubs, there is something for everyone at Portola; for some, it is Math Club. From the intense study sessions to the long tournaments, Math Club is taking Portola to the next level.
Math Club, co-founded by senior Joyee Chen and junior Kevin Du, was created in 2016-17, but took off the year after.
“This club is so special because students all share the same common passion and love for mathematics,” math teacher and club adviser Shelley Godett said. “They are not only interested in doing fun challenging problems together, but they promote the members to share their passion and talent for math by helping students that need it.”
With a focus on students who thoroughly enjoy math, the club attends competitions such as the Caltech Harvey Mudd Math Competition (CHMMC) and Math Day at the Beach. Other competitions such as the American Mathematics Contest (AMC) 10/12, a series of exams created for the purpose of promoting the development and challenging the minds of young students, are offered on campus every year.
“The competitions last year went surprisingly well. We met every Saturday morning at 8am to practice. Our team worked pretty hard to improve in our math skills and form a close bond,” Du said.
Motivated by receiving sixth place out of approximately forty teams at CHMMC last year, Math Club has many exciting things planned for the future.
“As of now, I just want the club to keep going. Our seniors are graduating, and we’re going to need new members to continue the trend,” Du said. “We will go to CHMMC again this year, and we hope to also go to Math Day at the Beach in April of next year. Other than that, we want to expand our club and get more students to explore the depths of math, which many people underestimate.”
![Junior Joanna Peng utilizes a MacBook and iPad after school to work on assignments. One of Peng’s most used products is her iPad due to its versatility. Peng uses it as a computer using a magic keyboard and also uses it to draw and make calls. “Ive bought iPads since the first generation when it came out, [I’ve bought the] minis, and then I crashed [the iPad 3] under my table,” Peng said. “Its something that I continue to buy and continue to use most often in my life.”](https://portolapilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_5259-600x450.jpeg)
