PHILADELPHIA, PA—While the arrival of March signifies NCAA March Madness for most of the country, it indicates that it’s time for the annual First in Math Madness Tournament for students at Commodore John Barry Elementary in West Philadelphia.
Top seeds in the First in Math Madness Tournament at Commodore John Barry Elementary (l to r):
Bottom Row - Maryam (5th), Mekhi (4th)
Middle Row - Madina (7th), Kida (5th), Ahmeena (5th)
Back Row - Raqib (4th), Fadila (4th)
While college basketball players and fans spent Selection Sunday focusing on the television, the students at CJB closely monitored First in Math rankings on their computers.
According to Barry TTL Frank Romeo, this year marks the school’s third First in Math Madness event, pitting student against student, and teacher against teacher, in a battle for school supremacy. Three brackets include: the top 68 students, the top 17 students in K-2, and the top eight teachers in the school.
“The big tournament, containing students from the entire school, is not only chock-full of matchups with classmates squaring off against each other, but also games where you can see second graders versus eighth graders,” explains Romeo. “Rankings are established by student sticker counts on Selection Sunday, and matchups are determined by seeded rankings.”
“The Barry ES event is organized a little differently than many of the March Madness-themed tournaments that many schools sponsor,” explains First In Math Implementation Specialist Shawn Collier. In the school-wide and Team Leader tournaments, only the JTF 100 game is played.
“The way to beat your opponent is to get the higher score. If there’s a tie in score, the tiebreaker will be who got finished the fastest,” says Romeo. In rounds 1-4, the participants get two turns at playing each game. In the Final 4 and Championship round, players get one chance.
In the K-2 tournament, students are allowed to play a variety of games as they advance through the bracket. They get one chance at each game. In the first two rounds, students are timed as they work, and whoever completes the game in the least amount of time will advance.
“While some students may be intimidated by the rank or mathematical reputation of their opponent, bracket-buster upsets happen frequently throughout the tournaments,” says Romeo, explaining that it is not uncommon for a top seed to lose early, or see a low seed make a Cinderella run. “Just like in the NCAA tournament, what you did in the regular season has nothing to do with your current game. It could be a careless error that costs you your matchup or even being too careful. Many times, a student will focus so hard on scoring their 100%, that they will end up costing themselves a win by taking too much time. Other times, speed is their downfall, a careless error eliminating them from reaching their One Shining Moment.”
Romeo, who often gives up his lunch period to organize the events, says that the tournaments take many weeks to properly execute, but everyone involved has a blast. “Announcements are made over the PA system every few days, updating the school on who has advanced, and posters located in the building show the brackets. Seeing the enjoyment, passion and love our students exhibit while playing First in Math, makes the time and effort it takes to organize and run this program well worth it.”
All players receive certificates of participation, and the final two in each tournament receive a trophy at the Annual John Barry First in Math Award Ceremony. “In the end, all of the students will be winners, each participant having gained speed, accuracy and improved overall math skills,” says Collier.