Melissa Doherty, a teacher at Rocky Heights Elementary, quizzes students in preparation for the Math is Cool regional competition on Friday.

Relays aren’t just for running. For Hermiston Mathletes, it’s one of the many creative ways they solve math equations. One team member will solve the first problem, the next person will use that answer to solve a related problem, and so on. If one person gets the wrong answer, the whole team is thrown off.

In the Math is Cool program, open to fourth and fifth graders, students compete in a variety of different math-related events. There are individual competitions, as well as group exercises such as the relay, multiple choice questions and a Jeopardy-style event. Students are quizzed on concepts both at and above grade level.

Three Hermiston schools sent fourth-grade teams to the Math is Cool regional competition on Friday — Desert View, Rocky Heights, and West Park. McNary Heights Elementary School in Umatilla also has a team. At the fifth grade competition in February, McNary Heights earned first place in their division, scoring 122 points. West Park’s team took first in its division, as well, earning 139 points, and Rocky Heights scored a second place finish at 93 points.

On Friday, the three Hermiston schools put up a good showing in the competition. West Park’s fourth graders did not place as a team, but the highest scorer, Aries Woodward, placed second overall in the division and will continue on to state. Desert View’s team took fifth place in the highest division. Rocky Heights’ team took second place in their division.

West Park students practiced the week of the tournament, working on a quiz that had been offered at a previous tournament. One question asked students:

“Gabe and Maya are throwing water balloons at a target. If Gabe has a 30 percent chance of hitting the target, and Maya has a 50 percent chance of hitting the target, what is the probability they both hit the target? Answer as a percent.”

Teacher Tess Neddo said students who were high-performing and showed good problem-solving skills were asked to join the class.

As the students worked, Neddo explained how the competition will go.

“For the multiple choice section, if you get the answer right, you get two points. But if you get it wrong, you get negative one points,” she said. “This is the only test where you get penalized for wrong answers.”

Evelyn Chavez said the team has spent a lot of time learning about percentages, and that they work together to check each other’s answers.

“Sometimes we do it in twos, and we’ll check to see if we’re right or wrong,” she said.

Erica Miller said her daughter, Aries Woodward, has enjoyed math as an extracurricular activity, and hopes she will continue to pursue it.

“She loves math anyway,” Miller said. “It’s good for her to meet other kids that like the same thing as her.”

As Rocky Heights students gathered for their weekly practice, teacher Melissa Doherty quizzes students on the concepts of mean, median, mode and range, before they worked in teams on story problems. The students had 45 seconds to answer each question.

“It’s been pretty difficult, learning about things we’re not used to,” said Emilie Wyant.

Students said they’ve learned how to calculate the area of triangles, trapezoids and parallelograms.

“We learned about converting cups to ounces,” said McKenzie Hendrix. “Measurement differences, angles.”

Doherty’s husband, Ben, helps coach the team. He said the program was brought to Rocky Heights by principal Jerad Farley, who used to work in Washington.

“He wanted to get kids involved and see math differently than in class,” he said. “Play games, have fun, and challenge themselves with it.”

He said the team atmosphere allows for several different types of learners to thrive.

“Some are really good at math. Some are interested in math, and some are very competitive. When we do our teams, we don’t just have the mad brilliant kids. We want some kids who are more methodical.”

Doherty said that some students are encouraged to join the class, but it is open to anyone interested.

Some schools build the curriculum into their school day. Heather Mills, a fourth grade teacher at Desert View, said the students spend a portion of their math lesson working on concepts they will use in Math is Cool.