Area pupils place first in math challenge

Their effort brought a visit from the creator of the math challenge program.
NILES -- A group of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School are the best in the nation in McDonald's First In Math On-Line Program.
The 44 pupils on the "OH Touche 7" team won special recognition for their effort in winning the national contest -- a visit to the school by Robert Sun, the man who developed the program.
Sun is chairman, president and chief executive of Suntex International Inc. and holds numerous copyrights to a variety of educational games, including the First In Math On-Line Program and the Challenge 24 card game from which it is derived.
Sun visited Mount Carmel last month to present each team member with a bronze medal. Austin Munno, a fourth-grader and the top performer in the program, received a gold medal, while second-place winner Tyler Wiery, third-place winner Vince Infante, fourth-place winner Michael Raschilla and fifth-place winner Kyle Paden all received silver medals.
First In Math is an Internet-based program designed to sharpen participants' basic skills in areas such as computation, problem solving and critical thinking. It encourages pupils to learn in a competitive environment and work with classmates on their teams.
Shari Munno, fourth-grade teacher at Mount Carmel, got the school involved in the program seven years ago and serves as the team leader.
The First In Math program is challenging and a fun tool for children to reach high standards of math success, she said, adding that every pupil in the program is mastering skills beyond his or her grade level.
Parental support
Parents have gotten behind the effort as well, with the Mount Carmel Parent Club adding its own incentives to promote the program, Munno said.
Parents say they would rather see their children working on the computer to improve their math skills than spending hours playing video games, she said.
The pupils spend one hour a week on the program in school but also work on it during their free time at home, she said.
The school also holds a special math day each January during Catholic Schools Week, conducting a Challenge 24 tournament for the whole school, starting with the first grade.
Munno also takes a team to regional competition each year, and Mount Carmel will serve as the host school in February to the Trumbull County 24 Challenge Tournament.