Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 34 June 27, 1996 - Beeks student wins math poster contest

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including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Beeks student wins math poster contest

By Sally Harris

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 34 - June 27, 1996

Ryan Naff, a fourth-grade student at Beeks Elementary School in Blacksburg was the overall winner in the first annual Mathematics Awareness Week poster contest sponsored by Virginia Tech's mathematics department.

Naff's poster will be framed and will hang in the mathematics department commons room during the 1996-97 academic year. It shows a variety of ways he uses math for making decisions in everyday life. Examples include a bank-deposit slip, a bar chart showing the number of years he has been at various schools, and a thermometer that helps him answer questions such as "Is it too cold to wear shorts today?"

The poster contest was held as part of the department's centennial activities during Mathematics Awareness Week. Students in grades K-12 in Montgomery County were asked to submit posters on the theme "Mathematics and Decision Making." Virginia Tech calculus students judged the contest.

All winning posters were displayed in the food court of the New River Valley Mall for two weeks, and winners received calculators and Virginia Tech Math Centennial sunglasses. All contestants received "I Love Math" pencils and Virginia Tech Math Centennial Pens.

Prizes were furnished by the Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics and Tech Line Inc.