On March 5, the Oak Hill MS MathCounts team achieved a best-ever 6th place among 23 teams in the MathCounts State competition at Wentworth Institute of Technology. MathCounts is a mathematics competition for middle-school students with chapter, state, and national events. More than 120 middle-school students across Massachusetts participated in the State competition, having qualified in one of seven Chapter competitions held in February. The Oak Hill team advanced to States after finishing 3rd in MetroNorth Chapter.

Congratulations to team members Jared Mi, Noah Kim, Vedant Kulkarni, and Sophia Yan, who attended weekly practice sessions with other students as well as additional sessions in preparation for the difficult collaborative team round. Their consistent efforts and collaboration were evident in their resulting achievement. In addition, Jared Mi also placed 12th in the written competition and participated in the prestigious Countdown round. All the students on the team are in Grade 8 and will start at Newton South HS in the fall.

Newton South HS students Elena Baskakova, Aaron Lu, and Steven Hu — all alumni of the Oak Hill MathCounts team — coached the Oak Hill team and attended the event, running a warm-up practice before the competition and providing guidance and support between the competition rounds. The Oak Hill team was the only team in this competition coached entirely by high school students. The 2022 State competition was the first in-person competition since the 2020 event, in which Elena, Aaron, and Steven participated.