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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

On "Pi Day," Minnesota Mathletes Look Forward to National Competition

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Monday, March 14, 2016   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - As mathematicians celebrate "Pi Day" – with the date, 3-14, bearing the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi – four top-ranking Minnesota middle schoolers will be heading to Washington, D.C., for a national math competition after bringing home top honors in the state's Mathcounts tournament over the weekend.

The student "mathletes" from St. Paul's Capitol Hill Magnet School competed against students from 25 other schools across the state.

For math teacher and winning coach Alex Ford, this is his third national competition. Beyond learning how to compete and do algebra, he said, the tournament also helps students prepare for adulthood.

"Mathematics makes you a better thinker, it makes you a better logical thinker, it makes you a better problem solver and it opens doors for kids," he said.

Nationally, the Mathcounts tournament brings in about 40,000 students from 6,000 schools. The Capitol Hill Magnet School students will head to the final round in early May.

Many of the student mathletes prepare for the tournament throughout the school year, but the training isn't just for those doing well in math. Ford said he also likes to include students who may need some extra help.

"At the chapter level, at the school level, we bring kids in just because it's fun," said Ford. "They may not make it so far in competition, but it's still a really good experience for them, too."

Volunteers at the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers worked with teachers throughout the state to help host this year's competition.

The competition results are online at mathcountsmn.org.




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