The Math Counts team finished first in the district competition Feb. 28 in Viera. In the individual competition, West Shore students finished first in the top first through eighth.

Math teacher Steve Thomas is the sponsor of Math Counts, a program that offers math competitions for students in grades six through eight.

“Math counts is a program that was put together by engineers and engineer companies in the United States to entice precocious young Americans to do math and science and continue with it after middle school,” he said.

Seventh-grader Mircea S. placed second place in the district competition.

“It was fun, we laughed a lot,” he said. “There were a lot of West Shore kids in the Top 10, so we already knew each other. It was a lot more relaxing than I expected.”

Thomas said he was pleased with the results.

“We dominated the competition this year,” he said.

The Math Counts team members will be going to the state tournament on March 20 at Lake Buena Vista. If they win there, they will travel to the national competition in Boston on May 8.

Mircea said his expectations are high.

“I do expect to do pretty well,” he said. “My goal is to get into the Top 50, but that’s really hard.”

Of the Top 10 finishes in the district tournament, the top eight were claimed by students from West Shore. The top eight are as follows in order from first to eighth place: Viorel S., Mircea-David S., Ryan F., Christian C., Connor M., Kishen M., Divya R., and Cameron B.

Editor’s note: Brevard Public Schools policy prohibits the inclusion of middle-schoolers’ last names on district web sites.