(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Joey Li, math team member at Discovery Middle School, will represent the state of Alabama at the national MATHCOUNTS meet in Washington, D.C.

Li earned first place individually at the state-level MATHCOUNTS tournament in Birmingham on March 9. Li will join three other teens on the Alabama team for the national competition in May. Julie Goldston, Discovery math coach and teacher, will sponsor the Alabama team.

In addition, Winston Van earned seventh place individually.

In February, Discovery’s MATHCOUNTS team with Li, Van, Alan Grissom and Tyler Tolbert won first place at the district level and qualified them for the state tournament. “I am so proud of this amazing team,” Goldston said.

“The top four individuals from all 54 competitors will compose the state’s MATHCOUNTS team,” Goldston said. “MATHCOUNTS pays for each state team member to attend the competition.”

MATHCOUNTS also sends a state team coach. “They choose the state team coach based on which school’s team won the first-place team award. The Discovery team won first place, so I have the honor of coaching our state team,” Goldston said.

Goldston acknowledged help from Sabrina Chen in working with the Discovery team during the past month to train for the state competition. “Discovery’s team may not have won at the state level without her. Sabrina is an extremely bright young woman who has competed successfully in MATHCOUNTS tournaments when she was a middle-school student,” Goldston said.

Goldston describes Chen, 16, as “a natural teacher. She is not a Madison City Schools student and yet she has been willing to give her time and expertise to help our students. She plans to work with our state team and will hopefully be able to go with us to Washington.”

MATHCOUNTS is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization. The national program fulfills enrichment, club and competition goals for middle-school mathematicians in all U.S. states and territories.

For more information, visit mathcounts.org.