Monday, November 26, 2001
WARREN -- Young math enthusiasts are gearing up for an annual competition that's sure to have its pluses and minuses.
The Trumbull County Educational Service Center will have its Challenge 24 math tournament Dec. 4, with help from Youngstown State University.
It will be at 6 p.m. in Western Reserve Middle School, Loveless S.W.
A preliminary competition earlier this month at Reserve cut in half the field of about 100 pupils from Warren City Schools in grades four to eight.
A total of 180 pupils will compete Dec. 4.
Each school can send only a limited number of pupils to the county competition, so the city school district has its own internal contest first.
Challenge 24 is a math game in which pupils use multiplication, addition, subtraction and division in various combinations to manipulate four numbers on a card to equal 24.
The competition last year brought together 170 pupils in grades four to eight, representing 66 classrooms.
It was the first year that winners in the local tournament attended the Northeast Ohio Challenge 24 in Cleveland.
Trumbull County pupils won more than half the medals given in Cleveland -- 24 of the 25 local competitors earned a gold, silver or bronze medal.