Release Date: 3/10/2009 Contact: Philip Hosmer, 410-949-3042
Bana Miller, 410-887-4171

Baltimore County students score in this year's M&T Bank 24 Challenge®

Students from Lutherville, Cockeysville match math wits in annual contest

TOWSON, MD. (March 10, 2009) -More than 200 children in grades 5-8 from 74 county schools gathered at the Timonium Crowne Plaza Hotel on Saturday, March 7, to compete in the prestigious M&T Bank 24 Challenge®. Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston and Lisa Schwartz, M&T Bank's regional manager for northern Baltimore County, were among the community leaders, parents and teachers cheering on Baltimore County's best "mathletes."

"By sponsoring the 24 Challenge®, M&T Bank supports Baltimore County Public Schools in inspiring young students to excel in mathematics and to develop as overall scholars," said Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston. "The opportunities to participate in this and other co-curricular activities strengthen students' study skills, help them develop poise and confidence, and invite the community to celebrate young people for their academic achievements."

Developed by Suntex International, Inc., the 24 game is designed to improve skills in mental computation, pattern recognition and deductive reasoning. Each card presents four numbers that can be combined to total 24. The challenge is to determine what combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division of whole numbers, fractions, or integers will yield that solution.

When the dust cleared on Saturday and each competitor had calculated multiple sets of four numbers to produce an answer of 24, students from Lutherville Laboratory and Cockeysville Middle School swept their respective divisions. Students competed for trophies, $1,000 U.S. Savings Bonds, and the title of Grand Champion in the four divisions of the 13th annual countywide contest.

The 2009 champions are the following, with grand champions' names in bold-face:

Elementary School Level


Single Digits Competition
Angela Zhang - TOP SCORE - Lutherville Laboratory
Elizabeth McKinley - Cromwell Valley Elementary Magnet School
Chengrui Fu - Summit Park Elementary School
Riley O'Neill - Fullerton Elementary School

Double Digits Competition
Michelle Wu - TOP SCORE - Lutherville Laboratory
Kay Htut - Halethorpe Elementary School
David Rus - Fifth District Elementary School
Kiran Kokilepersaud - Essex Elementary School

Middle School Level

Single Digits Competition
Rex Ledesma - TOP SCORE - Cockeysville Middle School
Vishy Gorti - Perry Hall Middle School
Elizabeth Beazley - Hereford Middle School
Emma Patron - Cockeysville Middle School

Double Digits Competition
Helen Gao - TOP SCORE - Cockeysville Middle School
Allie Preston - Dumbarton Middle School
Jordan Coates - Perry Hall Middle School
Subhashini Arumagan - Hereford Middle School

Integers Competition
Regina Ledesma - TOP SCORE - Cockeysville Middle School
Yilin Feng - Cockeysville Middle School
Steven Zhang - Cockeysville Middle School
Matthew Buckingham - Perry Hall Middle School

M&T Bank, sole corporate sponsor of this mathematics initiative in Baltimore County Public Schools, supported the awarding of savings bonds for this annual spring tournament.

"We are pleased to sponsor the '24 Challenge' Math Tournament because it's a fun way to teach the math and critical reasoning skills necessary for students to excel in higher education and ultimately the workforce," said Noel Carroll, senior vice president for M&T Bank. "Supporting education is integral to our community approach to banking."

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