Middle school students finish first in 24 Game Challenge
Three Upper St. Clair middle school students finished first in the South Hills 24 Game Challenge hosted by West Jefferson Hills School District on May 4, 2016. Braden Yates, grade 8, won the Platinum level, the highest level of difficulty. Eighth grader Devan Ekbote and sixth grader Daniel Wang took top honors in the 7th/8th Grade and 6th Grade categories, respectively.
The 24 Game is a math card game in which the objective is to find a way to manipulate four integers so that the end result is 24. The beginning version of the game uses four single-digit numbers. As students gain skill, the game is played with double-digit numbers, exponents, integers, fractions and even variables.
Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools conducted school-wide championships to determine the 10 students who would travel to West Jefferson Hills to compete in the South Hills 24 Game Challenge.
Qualifying to compete from single digit all the way through the “platinum” or highest level, were Ft. Couch Middle School students: Christian Chiu, Devan Ekbote, Jay Vakil and Braden Yates. Qualifiers from Boyce Middle School included Esha Lahoti, Keshav Narasimhan, Qadir Khan, Carter McClintock-Comeaux, Danny Martin and Daniel Wang. Kathy Hoedeman, math resource teacher at Boyce, and Connie Gibson, gifted coordinator at Fort Couch and the high school, coached the students.
After two rounds, seven Upper St. Clair players were in the top 13 overall. Final results are as follows:
Platinum Winner: Braden Yates
7th/8th Grade: - 1st Place – Devan Ekbote
- 2nd Place – Christian Chiu
- 4th Place – Jay Vakil
6th Grade: - 1st Place – Daniel Wang
- 4th Place – Danny Martin
5th Grade:
Photo:
- Back Row: Mrs. Hoedeman, Devan Ekbote, Carter McClintock-Comeaux, Jay Vakil, Christian Chiu, Braden Yates, Mrs. Gibson
- Middle Row: Danny Martin, Esha Lahoti, Keshav Narasimhan, Daniel Wang
- Front: Qadir Khan
