PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Port Antonio High School has topped the second staging of a math contest among schools in the education ministry’s Region Two.

The win came during the Ministry of Education Maths Expo and mathematics problem-solving competition on air safety, held at Port Antonio High School on Thursday. The theme of the expo was ‘Mathematics: The Gateway to the World’.

Region Two secondary mathematics coach Lamar Quant was pleased with the results of the competition; however, he had hoped to see more schools participating. Seven entered and four made it to the finals of the contest. In the first stage they were tasked with using three materials to build a mechanism that could protect an egg falling from a second-storey building. Schools submitted videos of their attempts.

The four teams that made it to the finals had less than two hours to build a blimp and have it travel in a straight line or fly at a set altitude across at least five metres inside a classroom.

“This was done successfully by most groups. The problem was at the testing stages; they had a little struggle,” said Quant.

“The concern from the judges was that of the 16 students only two were male students. But it was a very successful competition; students worked very hard but Port Antonio High won by travelling a distance of 3.75 metres,” he added.

The winners received trophies and four drones.

St Mary High was second, Annotto Bay High third, and Marymount fourth.

At the same time, Keviesha Williams of Annotto Bay Primary and Infant School won the maths fashion show.

Nicole Gordon, fourth-year mathematics and science student at the College of Agriculture, Science, and Education, welcomed the expo as she found it to be beneficial. She was particularly pleased about a model of a city constructed for the event.

“In building this city we know that it will work as it is how mathematics is played out in real life. The students are fascinated as they see how the buildings are made and fitted,” she said enthusiastically.

Another teacher, who welcomed the expo and the role it plays in helping students apply mathematics to real life.However, the teacher expressed concern about the cost of material needed to compete. The educator, who did not wish to be identified by name, suggested that cash incentives could be given to each school to defray some of the expenses.

Shauna-Gay Young-Henry, mathematics coordinator for Region Two, was pleased that more than 20 schools participated in the maths expo.

“This is the second year and we asked the schools to come and participate based on the particular theme. We also asked exhibitors to display mathematics in their particular field so that the students could see that maths is everywhere and not just in the classroom. We had a problem-solving, poster, and fashion show competition. The responses were good and we had some 25 schools participating,” she said.

“We want the schools to recognise that maths is in everything that we do, that it will be applied, and students will love it and not be afraid as they apply it and our math performance improves at all levels. We want the teachers not just to teach maths but they [should] apply it along with the students. We want them to see that maths is in everything they do, like reading the metre and the police using the speed trap,” Young-Henry added.