ALTON - Several young brainiacs competed in the Alton Community Unit School District #11 annual math contest.
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On Saturday, May 2, 2026, students in fourth through eighth grades packed Alton High School for the contest. Brett Hentze, a high school math teacher who has organized the event for the past 24 years, shared that the fun is in watching the students show off their skills and their excitement for math.
“It’s amazing to see how much these kids get into it and how excited they get about math and actually supporting each other, too, while they’re doing it,” he said. “I wish it was like that every day and everybody wanted to do math all the time.”
Hentze explained that there are coaches at East, West and North Elementary Schools and Alton Middle School. These coaches choose a few students to represent their school and grade level at the contest.
Over the past few weeks, students have been practicing math after school by taking practice tests and studying with each other and their coaches. Hentze noted that the students sometimes come by even when they don’t have a practice scheduled, asking their coaches for more math tests or study sheets because they enjoy it so much.
The contest itself consists of two tests. Teams of four students take the “team test,” where they are all scored together. Then, each student has the chance at an individual test.
“The kids have a lot of fun doing their practices,” Hentze said. “And man, when they get here in the commons, they are ready to go. They are super excited.”
Alton High School students proctor the tests and monitor the students during the grading, which is done by Hentze, his wife and a few other faculty members in another room. Then, the students and their families all come together for an award ceremony. The top five teams and the top eight individuals are recognized for their work.
This year, Hentze was excited to see such a full audience. Students’ families came out early on a Saturday morning to support their kids and celebrate math. He also noted that, while there is a competitive spirit to the contest, everyone was supportive and happy for the winners.
“The gym was half full of parents, grandparents, everybody rooting their kids on to see how they did…It’s kind of nice to see all the community getting involved like that,” he said. “Every one of us that was there on Saturday, even at the awards ceremony, it didn’t matter whose team won or what name was called. That gym just erupted whenever somebody won something.”
The contest allowed the district’s culture of belonging to combine with education and connection. For Hentze, the contest is always a highlight of the year. He is proud of the students and teachers who collaborate to make this event happen, and he hopes the competing students never lose their joy for learning and math.
“It’s very exciting for us to watch and just see how much they’re really into this and wanting to compete every year,” he added. “I just want to keep on doing it for as long as I can.”
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