Club Dispatch: Math Club and Honor Society

One thing in common about the students in room D112 at lunch on Wednesdays—they are all math nerds. Or math enthusiasts, you might say. Either way, they are all members of either CB West’s Math National Honor Society or Math Club.  

After a few years of inactivity, the Math National Honor Society and Math Club were revitalized by current senior and President of the Honor Society, Cayleigh Haag, in hopes of creating a group for students with a love of math. To be a part of the Honor Society, students must meet certain course and GPA requirements; once admitted, students are obligated to attend 10 hours’ worth of meetings throughout the year. A student in math club is simply expected to attend meetings when they’d like.  

Currently, Haag presides over a board that includes a Vice President and two secretaries. Mr. Paglione is the teacher adviser and host of the weekly meetings. To check on what the club is up to, you can follow the Math NHS’s Instagram account that features posts from most meetings. The society and club combined have over 70 student members, and, while not everyone attends each week, the meetings have been known to get quite crowded and energetic.  

At each meeting, students may complete challenging worksheets from math competitions, like AMC or Rocket City Math League. The worksheets span from Algebra to Calculus, with a mix of number and word problems. Some students choose to work alone, while others decide to work with their friends. Some students don’t even work on the worksheets, instead opting to participate in or observe a chess game in the back of the room.  

Recently, new ideas have been generated to improve the club by providing more options for students. Some of these ideas include math competitions in teams, math puzzles, and math board games. Both the Honor Society and club were excited for the addition of new activities to the weekly rotation. Currently, student-planned Math Olympics are in the works. Whatever the activity is, it’s so cool to see the way these clubs, that began as just a few people, have expanded and cultivated a group of students who share a passion for math.