They forsake two to three of their Saturdays a month. They sometimes stay late at the end of a long day or put in extra sessions during what would otherwise be a little down time.

 

          Not bad, considering we’re talking about a group of 9- to 12-year-olds.

 

          That’s right, the Preston Hollow Elementary School math team, which consists of 12 fourth- through sixth-graders, put in a lot of practice time with each other and coach John Pickens, a sixth-grade math teacher, in preparation for this year’s citywide DISD Math Olympiad, held in late March.

 

          Did it pay off? Well, if you consider beating out teams from nearly 120 other schools to take first-place honors paying off …

 

          The group, Pickens says, was well prepared for victory. They started practicing math problems in August. In addition to staying after school for 45 minutes on Tuesdays for practice sessions, the group’s members also have individual tutoring sessions during the school day. The fifth- and sixth-graders also give up part of their weekends to compete in TMSCA (Texas Mathematics & Science Coaches Association) competitions.

 

          With that arduous training schedule, Pickens says, the kids were “expectant” of a victory. Which is not to say they still weren’t thrilled.

 

          “They were very excited. They were elated,” he says proudly. They had some extra motivation as well, he adds.

 

“Last year, we got eighth (place), and they were very disappointed. They wanted a better showing this year.”

 

          The math teams members are: fourth-graders Christian Smith, Bon-Hwang Koo, Reggis Guthrey and Amanda Goldstein; fifth-graders Molly Fisher, Sarah Fisher, Stephanie Gore and Messhia Young; and sixth-graders Taylor Converse, Kateann Kleinman, Emily Westbrook and Barrington Hwang.

 

          In addition to their team victory, Guthrey, Hwang, Molly and Sarah Fisher, Gore and Hwang all placed in both area and district individual competitions.

 

          The kids initially had little time to celebrate: Six of the 12 immediately started training for the state mathematics competition, held last month in San Antonio (results were unavailable as of press time).

 

          After that, however, a little celebration was definitely in order. Pickens held a party for the team at his house, something he was glad to do.

 

          “We’re very excited about it,” he says of the victory. “That what we work toward for the whole year — winning the Math Olympiad.”