Vestavia Math Team wins national title 14 out of 16 years

[quaoar]

That's right. The best math students in the country come from Alabama. Imagine that.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1123666117210890.xml&coll=2

Vestavia math team scores in Hawaii

TROY GOODMAN
News staff writer

The Vestavia Hills High School Math Team returned home Tuesday from a week-long trip to Hawaii tanned, relaxed and buzzing from winning first place in a national competition.

Vestavia Hills' team has participated in the annual Mu Alpha Theta National Convention for 16 years, taking first place every year except for the past two years, when it was second.

On Friday, the second-to-the-last day, Vestavia Hills was named the winner, beating out two high schools in Florida. The team was given a bulky trophy to add to its growing awards cabinet.


"The students were thrilled," said team coach and math teacher Kay Tipton. She said the students had been rallying each other to regain the No. 1 spot. "For us teachers, it was another chance to show the rest of the country how good our academics can be."

[TabulaRasa]

1. I don't know

I have a friend that used to compete nationally in Quiz Bowl. He would tell me that the best teams were always from the south, because they have magnet programs. According to him, the schools are so bad that they allow all the best students from an area to go to one school. Consequently, for academic teams they often have four (or whatever) of the best students from the area, as oppose to one, at best, like most other schools. Private schools also do well, for similar reasons. I don't know if it applies in this case, but I was just reminded of what he told me by your comment. Also, I used to compete in math competitions when I was younger and went to a school that participated in all the big ones. However, I've never heard of this one. Maybe it's not completely "national". Hope this doesn't come off like South-bashing ... just found this to be a curiosity.

[quaoar]

2. Vestavia is not a magnet school

Nor is it a private school.

[AUYellowDog]

3. I'm not suprised

Vestavia has a very good math and debate team. Those who apply themselves in the south are really smart, but unfortunately most of us fall into the "we're southern, therefore stupid" mentality and never get out of it. Vestavia, Hoover, and Mountain Brook are the three best school systems in the Birmingham area. Of course, I'm a bit biased, I'm a Hoover Debate alum.

Brandon

[Stuckinthebush]

4. Hang on, now...don't forget Homewood!

One of the best in the state, thank you very much!

I'd say Hoover is tops due to its consistently high scores and innovative programs. I'd place Homewood above Vestavia and Mt. Brook only because of the diversity aspect. But all are very good.

[LannyDeVaney]

5. Alabama's success as this tourney goes back even further

I was on the 1984 Huffman High School (Birmingham) math team, and we won the team-portion of this national competition...Grisssom HS (Hunstville) finished 2nd.

[quaoar]

6. Welcome to DU