SCC announces MathCounts winners

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The team from North Laurel Middle School took home first place at the Regional MathCounts competition held on the Somerset Campus of Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. Pictured, back row, from left, are Layne Gaynor, Hunter Riley, Elaina McPhetridge, coach Linette McPhetridge; front row, Pooja Kanthawar, Hayden Riley, Kathryn Wilkerson and Sawyer Holcomb. Layne Gaynor was honored as the top student and scholarship winner of the 2008 regional event.
Monticello Independent Middle School won third place in the 2008 Regional MathCounts competition held at Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. Team members, from left, are Jessica Hardin, Adam Shelton, Alia Barrier, Amy Lair, Renee Bell, Sarah Angelle, Bethany Latham, and Joe West. Absent from photo are team member John Ogle and coach Jennifer Chaplin.
The team from McCreary County Middle School won second place in the 2008 Regional MathCounts competition held on the Somerset Campus of Somerset Community College on Feb. 2. Team members, from left, are Levon Combs, Breanna Duncan, Kyle Ball, Andrea Cooper, Steven King, Tyler Perry, Donald Parriman, Dylan Jones and coach Tanya Jones.
The team from Corbin Middle School won fourth place overall during the 2008 Regional MathCounts competition held on the Somerset Campus of Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. Team members, back row, from left, are Chad Brown, Cassidy Phipps, Tommy Rally, Caleb Dunn, Austin Powers, coach Jennifer Phipps; second row, coach Jane Wages, Malerie McDowell, Alex Chumbley, Wayne Logan, Paul Parsons, Skyler Mills; front row, Myriah Rich, Alyssa Emmett and August Fox.
A team from St. Camillus Academy competed in the 2008 Regional MathCounts event held at Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. Team members, from left, are coach Terry Newquist, Elizabeth Jackson, Gloria Hensley, Ghazal Jawed, Shelby Phillips, Abby Newquist, Katherine Devers, Nitin Krishna, Monisha Rekhraj and Savannah Durham.
A team from Clinton County Middle School competed in the 2008 Regional MathCounts event held at Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. Team members, from left, are coach Jake Staton, Evan Shelley, James Staton, Jordan Vincent, Ellis Shelley, Destiny Guffey and coach Shirley Williams.
MathCount Co-coordinators Neil Mosley (left) and Ed Manning (right) present a plaque to Arthur Dawson (center), SCC math professor, during the annual event at Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2. The plaque honors Dawson’s many years of service to the MathCounts program.

February 22, 2008

Local News

Anonymous The Commonwealth Journal Fri Feb 22, 2008, 10:29 AM EST

Six area middle schools from Albany, Corbin, London, Monticello and Whitley City participated in the regional MathCounts competition, held on the Somerset Campus of Somerset Community College on Saturday, Feb. 2.

The first-place team award went to North Laurel Middle School. Second place was awarded to McCreary County Middle School. Third place went to Monticello Middle School and fourth place was awarded to Corbin Middle School.

The top student and scholarship winner of the Feb. 2 event was Layne Gaynor of North Laurel Middle School. The scholarship pays tuition for one semester at Somerset Community College, with the Cumberland Falls Engineers, the sponsor of the event, contributing $500 and SCC providing the rest.

According to SCC Mathematics Professor Arthur Dawson, MathCounts is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program. Dawson has coordinated the annual regional MathCounts at SCC for many years.

Co-coordinators Neil Mosley and Ed Manning honored Dawson with a plaque in recognition of Dawson’s many years of service to the MathCounts program.

“MathCounts participants are ‘Mathletes,’” Dawson explained. “While there are plenty of opportunities for athletes to earn recognition, there are very few opportunities for students who excel in math to win awards and be recognized.”

The top two teams from the SCC Regional Math-Counts event will advance to the state level.

The advancing schools are North Laurel Middle School and McCreary County Middle School.

Three individual students also qualified to advance to the state level. They are Joe West of Monticello Middle School, Tommy Rally of Corbin Middle School and Amy Lair of Monticello Middle School.

The top 11 students in order of their final placement were Layne Gaynor of North Laurel Middle School; Pooja Kanthawar of North Laurel Middle School; Joe West of Monticello Middle School; Tyler Perry of McCreary County Middle School; Tommy Rally of Corbin Middle School; Donald Parriman of McCreary County Middle School; Amy Lair of Monticello Middle School; James Staton of Clinton County Middle School; Renee Bell of Monticello Middle School; Levon Combs of McCreary County Middle School; and Wayne Logan of Corbin Middle School.

Schools participating in the 2008 Regional Math-Counts event were North Laurel Middle School, Corbin Middle School, Monticello Independent Middle School, St. Camillus Academy in Corbin, Clinton County Middle School and McCreary County Middle School. Approximately 50 students participated in this year’s competition.

The following faculty and staff of Somerset Community College participated in the MathCounts contest on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008: David Behrman, Arthur Dawson, Martha Deitz, Billy Dobbs, Carrie Fitzpatrick, Clinton Hayes, Debra House, Joseph Lynch, Richard Matika, Raymond McDonnell, Virginia Metcalf, Roger Osborne, Cecilia Ramilo, Gary Sherman, Loris Sherman, Gail Stringer, Anita Walker and Sharon Whitehead.

Math Counts is sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the CNA Foundation. National sponsors include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, Northrop Grumman, 3M and General Motors.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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