May 1—DICKINSON — The Dickinson Middle School MathCounts team secured an impressive second-place finish at the statewide competition on March 27, 2023, after competing against 160 students from across North Dakota. One student from the team will represent the state at the National MathCounts competition in Orlando, Florida, where they will compete against over 200 students from around the country.

Several DMS students placed in the individual rounds of the competition including Leyton Weigel in 3rd place, Daniel Jiang in 5th place, Ethan McMacken in 11th place and David John Ricks in 17th place. Weigel will go on to attend the National MathCounts competition in Orlando, FL this May, one of only four students in the entire state of North Dakota to advance to the national level.

MathCounts is a program that aims to promote math excellence and competition for middle school students across the state and nationally. Kicking off the year with specific study materials, each school team advance and work their way through county, regional and state competitions. Then, as in Weigel's situation, the top four individual finalists and top team coach in the state receive an all expense paid trip and opportunity to compete at the national competition.

The national competition in Orlando is expected to host over 200 competitors between grades 6-8 from across the country to compete in the final level of the MathCounts competition. The national competition is a four-day event including a variety of activities outside of the competition including seminars, private movie screenings and a special MathCounts party.

"In today's increasingly technological world and information, student participation in programs which promote teamwork and individual success, such as MathCounts, are an integral part of their education," according to the MathCounts website.