Indian Trail team needs votes to advance in math challenge

Four homeschool Indian Trail friends are putting their brains together to collectively compete in the first annual Reel Math Challenge, a video contest centered around solving math problems while integrating technology.

The competition is sponsored by MATHCOUNTS, a nation-wide program for middle school students that promotes mathematics achievement. In the challenge, teams of four will chose one problem in their MATHCOUNTS School Handbook and will teach that problem in a video they create.

The videos are then uploaded onto the challenge website where the public can cast their vote for best submission by "liking" the video.

Currently clenching the first place spot are Luke Muma, Strider Frank, Josh Forster and Parker Garrison - members of the Peers Harnessing Ideas (P.H.I.) team. The acronym is also a play on the mathematics term for the golden ratio, Parker points out.

Judges will then review the top 20 videos and select four teams to advance to the 2012 MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando.

The P.H.I. team is now asking for help from the community to advance in the competition. To vote for the P.H.I. team, "like" their video.

In the future:

Continue to read Young Achievers for full-length article on the P.H.I team.

And in the meantime, do you have someone in mind who fits the Young Achievers mold? Email me at youngachievers@charlotteobserver.com, or call 704-358-6043.

Photo: Luke Muma (front left), Strider Frank, Parker Garrison (back left) and Josh Forster hold up doorstops they created for their math video submission. Photo by Brittany Penland.