On the 29th of March 2014, around 90 high school students chose to gather at FDR High School to attend a specific event. What possible event would warrant such devotion that so many students would be willing to sacrifice their Saturdays? Believe it or not, the event was the South Brooklyn Invitational Math Competition.

This event brings together the most intellectual minds from other high schools in order to test their competitive math skills and applications in the most time controlled settings. In order to prepare for this annual event, the FDR Math team gathers daily during period 9 in room 401. The teams are divided into the Senior Team, Junior Team, and  Freshman/Sophomore Team. Mr. Galli bears the responsibility of teaching the extra-curricular qualities needed for succeeding in such challenging events.

We have confirmation from some of our own FDR Senior Team, such as Serhiy Dmytruk and Lukas Zienius, how rewarding the event was for them.  They both agreed on the challenging, yet rewarding, nature of their participation. They recognized the friendly disposition of their competition, yet they knew the pressure was still on in order to keep up with the  talented minds involved in the race against the clock.

Both students were asked if they would change anything if they were to do this over again, to which they responded by saying that they would put in more time practicing and a deeper resolve into their teamwork as well. The competition may be reliant upon the individual skills of the students, but there are parts in which the individuals form teams in order to solve chains of questions in rapid succession. The tests are designed in such a way as to challenge every contestant, for no one can truly master all the skills necessary to win alone.

The test is divided into different parts, each with their own areas of interest. There are four rounds, the first is the Team round, then comes the Power rounds, next up the Individual rounds, and lastly is the Relay rounds. With such challenges always being pursued by the youth of today, the position of FDR High School, and its stature, will continually improve along with the quality of the students who participate in such events. Hopefully, all other students keep on pushing themselves to succeed at this level, so that the glory can be shared in other subjects as well.