Students Compete in Trig Star Contest

Recently, math teacher Mrs. Melissa Dunn and her students participated in the Trig Star Contest.

The Trig Star Contest is a math test that consists of four problems. Students have one hour to complete the test. The winner is a student who scored the highest. If more than one student has the same score, then the student who completed the test in a shorter amount of time is the winner.

“Last year was the first year i administered the test here at Fleetwood,” Dunn said.  “I think there were only about five students who participated. This year 16 participated in the test. All of the students were enrolled in Honors PreCalculus, but perhaps next year we will open it up to students in both Precalc, Honors  Precalc, and Algebra III/Trig. We are still waiting to hear the official results, but there is a monetary prize awarded to the top two or three individuals. Last year, first place was given $200.00, and second was given $50.00. Amounts change from year to year depending on donations from sponsors.”

The test is sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). NSPS aims at increasing awareness of careers in surveying, and so this test mainly focuses on solving for sides and angles in given triangles by using the law of sines and cosines. Surveying work depends on precision, so students must answer with angles given to the nearest second. This test is also given  locally at high schools, and the winners can move on to the state and national levels.