BLOOMSBURG- Problem solving doesn’t get much more competitive than this – hundreds of high school students from across Northeastern and Central PA, all showing off their math skills here at Bloomsburg University.
Organizers say the annual math competition that includes brain teasers, a quiz bowl and more continues to grow.
"This year was our biggest ever, we've had 24 schools, 76 teams, over 300 students from around the area came to compete,” said Bloomsburg University Assistant Professor Lisa Lister.
Many of these students say they look forward to solving these problems quickly with only pencil and paper in hand.
"You know math is my favorite subject in school so it's fun to get out of school and just practice it,” said Parkland High School Senior Devansh Desai
The day long competition heats up with the ‘Math 24’ challenge. Teams rush to figure out how four numbers add, subtract, multiply or divide to equal 24.
In this year's competition, the Math 24 cards all seemed to be dealt in one school's favor. Scranton Prep was able to sweep first second and third place.
Scranton Prep Senior Molly Farrell helped lead her team to victory and says this was an adrenaline rush.
"I'm still a little shaky, it's been crazy but it was really nerve racking because both times we went against the first and third place so it's weird going against your own teammates,” said Farrell.
But although it looks like all fun and games…
"It's very competitive, they love to practice with the game of 24, and they're also studying and reminding themselves of things they've learned during high school,” said Scranton Prep teacher Tom Gorman.
Scranton Prep students say their secret to a sweep was really relying on teamwork.
"They are all so intelligent and do so well and we all encourage each other really well so I think that's definitely our key to success,” said Scranton Prep Senior Caitlin Dermody.
A recipe for success that other teams plan to try to top in next year’s competition.