I really hope both Faith and Valerie will make it past the TSTST in June, and that the legislature will understand just how big the gap is. However, I didn't feel like it was my job up to this point to watch the evolution of property values, but now I do, Glen wonders how, if anything, property values have changed across the parish with the educational changes made over the past few years. Especially in and around Jennings, since it's the community that saw the most educational changes post-pandemic. Going from a run-down school whose students mostly graduated with an education so poor it barely qualified as a work permit to a mathletic powerhouse on the national stage, and to a lesser extent in quiz bowl and debates...
Because property values will play into the parish's school budget for next year. He spends the whole game not as an announcer, but looking at the post-pandemic evolution of property values for major communities of the parish. Welsh, Lake Arthur, Lacassine, Elton. Yet he knows better than to expect people to want to move in any of these. His provisional budget for the following school year must be regarded as provisional until he receives an answer from the legislature regarding his parish's application for EEF and MSPGO funds.
The game itself is tightly fought, with both sides fighting tooth-and-nail. The Venomous Agendas play as if it is their last game for the season, and it may very well be. As are the opponents, especially the other seniors with Svitlana at the top of the team, without whom the Panthers would probably go back to what they were before Svitlana entered the equation.
By the end of the game, the following question seems to force everyone's hands into a sprint. Five men and nine women stand equally spaced around a circle in random order. The probability that every man is seated diametrically opposite to a woman is m/n, where m and n are relatively prime integers. Find m+n. A little too easy for a playoff question to the eyes of some VA fans, but for some reason, Chantal answers it first, by cycling through each of the 5 men, and, by entering her answer of 191, Chantal somehow appears in the VAs' top-5 for that game.
In the Math Madness, only the top-5 scores from a team are considered, so the VAs could bring both middle schoolers and high schoolers together for the spring and the middle schoolers wouldn't need to fear making mistakes since they wouldn't count towards the team score. Once the game ends:
"Venomous Agendas win, forty to thirty-nine! Mojo Mathletics is no more, and the Venomous Agendas advance to the semifinal!" the home announcer shouts.
The crowd is wowed upon learning of their own advancing to the final four. Glen then gets down to the locker room at the end of the game. He then approaches Chantal:
"Chantal, this was your best playoff game as a mathlete. Now, I wish you the best of luck at the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, given that this game made it financially feasible for not only you, but all five VAs on the debate team qualified for it to attend, as well as the middle school quiz bowl team to attend the MSNCT!" Glen makes his wishes known to Chantal, even though Chantal just isn't as good a mathlete as she is an extemper.
"To be honest, it's the second game, not this one, that made it feasible for us to attend the ToC and the MSNCT" Chantal then tells him about the financial realities of attending the ToC and the MSNCT (Middle School National Championship Tournament)
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Upon returning home with his daughter, Glen, once again, confronts the costs of the pressure he has been putting for so long.
"Honey, can you please keep training for the next three weeks? You may now include Salome and Nicole" Glen pleads with his daughter, almost like a beggar.
"For years now I have been pushed towards a nearly endless math training regimen! I think Faith is a safer bet for next season, and you made me subject her to the same treatment!" Valerie then lashes out at her dad.
"Faith wouldn't have gotten to the race to the IMO without you! You must understand that, in middle school, she wasn't even as good as you, and her mom had to fight against the coach to allow her to play in freshman year! Also, the jobs that cannot be outsourced going forward not only require you to consistently work very long hours, perform with the same consistency, but also consider prestige as a job skill! A soft job skill perhaps, but a job skill nonetheless" Glen warns his daughter about the intensity of the training regimen.
"Give me a break! I have been paying the price in the race to the IMO because I was unable to catch a break when I needed it most!" Valerie snaps.
I feel like dad will take the pressure off me only if either I make it to the IMO, Faith does or once in college. He feels like I can get a job he deems acceptable provided I attend the right college, irrespective of what I major in, Valerie then ruminates, her head down.
"If you think it's already bad enough here, try to imagine how overworked our opponents are! They have it worse than you!"
"To be fair, dad, we can't offer nearly as much extracurriculars as their home institutions can... but I acknowledge that I am not alone to be that stressed. However, it's of no comfort to me!" Valerie keeps lashing out at her dad, before storming out of the dining room.
Once in her bedroom, Valerie starts asking Anna for some reading material outside of math and science that she feels would be of use to better understand herself and the world, for instance, in psychology. Or in some other way that might be of help to Valerie.
It was about time, Valerie... Overdue even. I previously told you that I would give you some starting points the summer after senior year; it appears that you need to read these things now. The first thing I want you to read is about the dangers that await high achievers like you and I. You have been completely oblivious to the dangers, I haven't. You also know that the academic teams are top-heavy because they have earned a reputation for intellectual intensity among the student body, which makes people wary to join these "mostly for college." But only once you understand the dangers we face, will you then be ready for more profound humanistic knowledge, Anna pauses to ponder on what to send Valerie and why.
For Anna, it seems to start with an article or two each about the dangers that threaten high achievers and how to mitigate their impact. However, Valerie is much more interested in how to lessen the pressure. Dad hasn't written me off yet, even though I don't compete at the EGMO, but I understand that I accomplished results so many mathletes of either gender could only dream of, Valerie then starts reading about how to deal with the pressure.
I really hope that just being in the race to the IMO three years in a row will open the eyes of the legislature to how uneven achievement has been across the parish, along with 2 EGMO participations in 3 years. For all the academic extracurricular successes obtained by VA, its average ACT score is still a lowly 23. Lacassine averages about 5 points lower, and the remaining schools in the parish are within 2 points of it in either direction. Remember also that, on average, 2 kids go on to take calculus as juniors at VA on any given year, and both are usually on the math team, Glen, preoccupied by the MSPGO money, and what he hopes to accomplish with it, has an inner monologue, while he is not as concerned about the EEF.
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In the following 2 weeks, Valerie appears to have traded in the old mathletic training time away from team practices for music rehearsing and a little bit of 4-H volunteering on weekends. And maybe some readings on topics such as sociology, psychology and the like, as given to her by Anna, in between review time for AP tests she's about to take after the mathletic season ends. However, before the final of the Math Madness starts, her father questions her about her readings made in the last few weeks on the psychology of high achievers.
"What is the meaning of this?" Glen asks Valerie when he catches her reading a text about high-achieving students being a group at risk, a few moments before the Math Madness final. "High achievers at risk?"
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"The dangers I incur are all too real in my case! There are times where I wished I could transfer, but I often seem worried about how transferring would affect mathletic performance and what that implies for college when I do wish I could transfer! I really hope reducing my math training regimen has helped set my mind straight!" Valerie ruminates before stepping into the stadium.
"I concede your opponents, and certainly tonight's opponents, attend high-achieving schools, but never did I believe that VA was a high-achieving one! I mean, yes, VA is the best school in the parish, but if you take the academic teams away, it's just one's ordinary rural high school otherwise"
"And yet, some of them, at MOP and here tonight, might need to make a lot more effort in language arts and social studies to get the same grades as they do in math and science!"
And then, in the VAs' locker room, the mathletes are huddled around the coach. The tension in the room is almost threatening to some of them.
"Tonight we have the opportunity to win it all on the mathletic stage! We are the best mathletes in Louisiana, and not just because we have both of the state's MOPpers playing tonight! For some of you, tonight's game represents the culmination of years of sacrifices, for everyone, it's our chance to get mathletic glory for the season!" Trent harangues the team.
"For me in particular, the coming days will be difficult since after the game, I will leave the town to get to Lexington so that I will compete at the Tournament of Champions in extemp! Along with the public forum and policy pairs of course" Chantal adds her comment.
"And this is my chance to redeem myself from my failure to get to the EGMO and IMO!" Valerie then shouts. "Justice for Svitlana!"
Obviously, all the most important players had to be quick in commenting since there just isn't much time before their opponents get into position. Also, only a handful of players on either side remember their last playoff encounter: Cristiano for the VAs, and a handful few for their opponents, the TJHSST Colonials. For years now, they hated each other, be it in mathletics or quiz bowl; the Colonials readily but secretly acknowledged the VAs' superiority on the debate floor.
"Tonight is the grand final of the 2027 spring Math Madness playoffs! The Venomous Agendas' opponents, from Virginia, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Colonials! Let the game begin!" Glen makes the opening presentation of the game.
Despite the crowd's powerlessness over the questions, to some it would feel like the noisiest math contest of their lives. The mathletes know that a crowd that size is a double-edged sword, however. Yet, even then, these mathletes know that they must fight tooth and nail to win.
However, unlike the previous games, Chantal seems to underperform, so Salome and Nicole step up to the plate. At the same time, the opponent's top-5 are a mirror image of the VAs' since, rather than to have 4 girls and 1 boy in the top-5, TJHSST has 4 boys and 1 girl.
It proves a very tightly contested game, as expected out of a clash between mathletic powerhouses. With 1 question left to go, and both teams having 4 players who answered all 8 questions of the game correctly, the pressure is on Salome, the slowest of the VAs' top-5, to answer the final question correctly.
And not only that, but she is locked into a race against the clock as well as against the opposing players. Her sweating face getting red is seen on the stadium's screen, and, at this point, the game is tied 39-39, with the hardest questions coming in from the second third of the AIME.
It seems like Salome's brain is guzzling her body's energy for a bit as her effective brainpower goes up along with her brain's activity. Here goes nothing... Salome muses while she enters her answer to the final question, mere moments before the fastest opponent still in play does the same.
It's only now that it dawned on me that, for all the concerns teachers could have about elementary school mathletics, we can't keep getting the same kind of success without a solid mathletic foundation in elementary school! Maybe I can use the money from the wagers I made with the office staff about the race to the IMO to run my own parochial math contest! In addition, since one of the key breakpoints for girls' attitude towards math is late in elementary school, it only seems appropriate for the resulting contest to be girls-only, Glen realizes that, notwithstanding VA, which, as far as state tests are concerned, is gender-balanced in math, the parish has wide gender gaps in math.
"And the 2027 Spring champion of the Math Madness is... the Venomous Agendas!" the home announcer shouts into the microphone, and the crowd cheers on their beloved VAs.
The VA mathletes then receive their gold medals from Glen, who hands them the medals ordered the week prior to the game. Every mathlete is happy for how the final victory in this league makes them feel at the top of the world. Upon the end of the game, Chantal is headed towards her parents' car and is driven towards Lexington en route to the ToC.
Glen then gathers the 3 non-senior female mathletes remaining and makes a proposal for them.
"I believe that tonight's successes can't be sustained in the long run if elementary school kids aren't exposed to mathletics. My plan is to organize a math contest aimed at elementary school girls that will be able to challenge kids as appropriate for them. Faith, Salome, do you have an idea of when is the best time for a math contest?" Glen asks the 3 mathletes.
"I'd say right before the finals. So it's a pretty short notice" Salome then tells the trio of mathletes.
"The questions are not the issue. We can always use some old AMC-eight questions and we should be good to go. Might be a little hard for fifth-graders and below, but if the end goal is..." Faith starts talking about one key logistical aspect of the contest.
"I'm tired of my dad using us as if we were some sort of trophies in a parish-sized case!" Valerie shouts in front of him. "He might mean well, he might lack sensitivity at times"
"Organizing this contest will look good on all your college applications, so at least you have some leadership to show for yourself" Glen explains to the trio of mathletes. "Especially for you, Salome because the weight of winning the Math Madness isn't as high as the MOP"
MOP x2, 4-H, band, Math Madness title and VMC finalist (hopefully gold) as captain of the math team... they will see how imbalanced my profile is. Might be enough for Tulane, but how much weight does living in an underserved rural area hold elsewhere? Would the admissions offices actually understand there just isn't nearly as much extracurricular opportunity here, and what you do have is strictly rationed? Valerie seems to let her anxieties over college applications cloud her mind. Our opponents all season were overworked because they juggled way more things we have no access to, and have a much more loaded resume.
"Fine, I'll do it, it might not be much, but it's better than nothing" Valerie sighs, when she tries to conjure names of kids currently in elementary school in her neighborhood.
"There are three questions left to resolve: the prizes, the venue and getting the word out, the first two before the last" Salome then suggests their plan to the other two.
"And, of course, a session where we can answer the questions of the contestants" Faith asks, while Valerie is attempting to book a room at VA for Saturday right before the elementary school finals.
For some reason, even though Faith is going to take calculus next year, she, along with everyone else not at the VMC final, is released from further practices for the rest of the year.
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Fast-forward to Monday morning in Lexington. Chantal is assembled with the other Venomous Agendas at the ToC, somewhere in the University of Kentucky's campus, before the topic draw for the extemp final.
"This is it: the extemp final. May the sacrifices endured by our mathletes to get us here not be in vain!" Sadie tries to be short and sweet. "They worked so hard to raise the money!"
"The only reason why I could even get mathletics done is because I feel comfortable enough with extemp to ease up on extemp training!" Chantal then retorts to Sadie.
And then I really am "ultra-brilliant" the way my parents described it last year! I just don't openly flaunt it, Chantal muses while awaiting her turn for the topic draw.
In the end, Chantal lost the ToC final by one measly point, against a player who's much more comfortable playing domestic extemp than international extemp.
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And then comes the VMC final, in which people are confident in getting the gold. People also start dreaming of two co-winners of the Lasedri Prize being VAs, hoping that both Chantal and Valerie will win it.
The following week, their own math contest hosted at VA ends up featuring about a dozen female mathletes from grades 4-6 from all over the parish and the co-winners are Trillian, then a third-grader, and... a sixth-grader from Lacassine? Oh my god: never would I have thought Lacassine would produce a gem of a female mathlete, no more than a third-grader would tie for first on AMC8 questions, Glen struggles to hide his surprise because he accepted to grade the copies of the contest. After all, it was his idea and he accepted to fill that role.
And later, the MSNCT on which, because of the school being new to middle school quiz bowl, people don't expect much. However, training on high school sets along with the high school teams was beneficial and they deliver a performance much like the first HSNCT the VAs took part in. Not the best but certainly very good for a first-time participation, 21st.
Yet, middle school quiz bowl flew under the town's radar because, for some reason, it didn't have the same gravitas high school quiz bowl did. That, even though quiz bowl has earned the same reputation for intellectual intensity at both levels.
Speaking of high school quiz bowl, 2 key quiz bowlers graduate this year: Sadie will attend Vanderbilt, while Cristiano will attend Carnegie Mellon. Hopefully Anna will be able to bring the new quiz bowlers up to speed on the high school game, the quiz bowl coach reflects on the implications of Cristiano and Sadie graduating. She's good at arts, literature, history and geography, our big hole is science for next season. So our window to win the HSNCT will close this season.