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Three Olney area schools were among the top finishers in Our Lady of Good Counsel High School's 35th annual Eighth Grade Math Competition on Nov. 5.

St. John's Episcopal School in Olney won first place.

"I could not be more proud of the young men and women who competed this year," said St. John's Math Team coach Mary Persinger. "They make St. John's a proud place to teach and learn."

Sandy Spring Friends School and St. Elizabeth's Catholic School in Rockville tied for second place, and St. Peter's Catholic School in Olney finished in third place.

Thirteen private schools participated in the event, each entering a team of six students.

The students each completed a timed test of 25 multiple-choice questions without the use of a calculator. The four top finishers from each school contributed to the team score. Several of the schools held their own competitions to determine their participants.   

Top individual finishers included Sun Woo Park (St. Jude's, 23 points), Michael Roche (St. Elizabeth, 22 points), Neil Advani (Sandy Spring Friends, 21 points), Nicholas Gah (St. John's Episcopal, 21 points), Ricky Elmendorf (St. John's Episcopal, 19 points), Nate Rodriquez-Fuller (St. John's Episcopal, 19 points), Luke Keehan (St. Bernadette, 19 points), Jason Lee (St. Bernadette, 19 points), Matthew Reilly (St. Pius, 19 points), Tommy Davin (Holy Redeemer, 19 points) and Cara Sanneman (St. Mary's in Rockville, 19 points).

"Good Counsel holds the annual math contest as part of our partnership with the local private and Catholic schools and to support and encourage strong math education," said Patricia Riely, math department resource teacher. "We also provide support to the private and Catholic school math teachers at other times during the school year to assist them with the use of the graphing calculator technology and to encourage them in their establishment of strong curricula to prepare their students for the rigors of high school math."

Mill Creek Towne students

help the homeless

Mill Creek Towne Elementary School hosted its fifth annual Help the Homeless Mini-Walk on Oct. 30, raising $1,560 for the Dwelling Place in Gaithersburg.

The Dwelling Place is a two-year residential program for homeless families making the transition to stability and independence by helping them get better jobs, find affordable housing, obtain health care and improve their family relationships.

About 100 students and adults participated in the event.

The mission of Fannie Mae's Help the Homeless Program is to raise awareness of and funds for metropolitan area organizations that are working to prevent and end homelessness, with an emphasis on programs that help homeless people return to independent living.

Schools to host financial aid workshops

Financial aid workshops are being offered at four area high schools next month and in January.

The workshops are open to any parents and students who wish to attend, but are targeted toward graduating seniors and their parents. During the workshops, information will be available about grants, loans, scholarships and work-study programs that are available to help pay for college.

The schedule of workshops is as follows: 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at Col. Zadok Magruder in Derwood, 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at Paint Branch in Burtonsville and Northwood in Silver Spring, and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at Sherwood in Sandy Spring.

Items appropriate for School Notes should be sent to Melissa J. Brachfeld at mbrachfeld@gazette.net, sent by fax to 301-670-7182 or 301-670-7183, or mailed to School Notes, The Olney Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday for consideration for the following week's paper. Items will be used on a space-available basis.