By John Tozzi
The NSPE, along with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and other groups, sponsors the competitions across the country to encourage students interested in math and science.”We have to encourage our brightest to go into the sciences in order to compete worldwide,” said Chris Petallides, president of the Queens chapter.The top students will go on to state and national competitions later this spring.Teams of seventh- and eighth-graders from 12 schools, accompanied by math teachers, gathered Saturday morning to face group and individual challenges and compete for trophies. At the top levels, students can earn scholarships for their prowess.”Every school puts up their best math students,” Petallides said. “It's like a spelling bee.”Kevin Peng, a Bayside resident who goes to MS 74 in Little Neck, won first place in Saturday's competition. Along with other winners, he will go on to the state competition in March. The national finals will be held in May in Arlington, Va.”I think that math is an exact language that is key to all the sciences,” said Petallides, who envisioned at least half of the participants going into some form of engineering down the road. “The reason I think that NSPE does MathCounts is to encourage young people to go into the science of math, and by extension, engineering,” he said.The local competition is not without political overtones. Last year City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) attended the event, but he has since clashed with some engineers over recent rezoning proposals in the borough. This year state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), himself an engineer, was chosen to address the students.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 188.
