Staff Writer
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| Dr. Les Uhazy and Dr. Jackie Fisher present Tristan Andrus with the individual first place award/ Photo by Brandon Mann |
On Mar. 9, AVC’s math department hosted the 32nd annual Mathematics Field Day.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids in the valley to get to know each other, but also at the same time to get to demonstrate their skill,” said Dr. Les Uhazy, AVC’s dean of math, science and engineering.
While faculty members quickly graded the tests before the awards ceremony, Brad Jackson―Lockheed Martin Senior Flight Test Engineer and adjunct math teacher at AVC―gave a presentation on the meticulous nature of “What Engineers Really Do.”
“You can have the greatest idea in the world,” Jackson said, “but if you can’t describe it, if you can’t tell people how to manufacture and build it, it goes away real fast.”
Jackson used a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to create an analogy for the process of constructing a new plane, and showed the students how every step requires scrupulous planning and instruction to be successful.
“Culture is defined by technology, technology is defined by science, and science without mathematics isn’t science,” Uhazy said in an interview.
“There’s a crisis in our nation,” Uhazy said, “and to compete in world markets and to have the kind of creativity and innovation that’s needed―it’s going to come from … students like yourself, your colleagues in the room, because you are the future.”
Tristan Andrus, a senior at Rosamond High School, took 1st place in the “Individual” category with a score of 72.
Rosamond High School finished first in the league last year, but this was the first time Andrus won a personal award after six years in Mathlete competitions. “I’m very satisfied,” Andrus said. “I feel vindicated.”
The 2nd place Individual award went to Eric Rodriguez of Eastside High School, and 3rd place to Nikita Bakhru from Quartz Hill High School.
The team from Eastside High School finished first in the Leibniz Junior/Senior division for the first time since their school opened its doors in 2005. Students from Rosamond High School won first in both the Newton Leap Frog competition and in the Newton Junior/Senior division, and Knight High School students took first in the Leibniz Leap Frog.
