Just the Facts, Champ
Wedgwood Elementary School Fifth-Grader Michael Ilagan Wins First in Math “Just the Facts” Multiplication Tournament
Wedgwood First in Math Just the Facts Multiplication finalists Michael Ilagan (left) and Chimaobi Nwosu (right) race to become the fastest.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Wedgwood Elementary School fifth-graders were ready to show off their multiplication speed on Friday, December 6, 2019, as 39 students entered the cafeteria with laptops ready to participate in the First in Math Just the Facts for Multiplication Fifth-Grade Tournament.
In the end, Michael Ilagan, from Mrs. Donna McGough’s class, finished just a few seconds ahead of Chimaobi Nwosu, from Mrs. Emily Ehret’s class, to win the championship round. Ilagan had defeated Andrew Nelson, while Nwosu beat Evan Eschenbach in the semifinals. Quarterfinalists included Ilagan, Nwosu, Nelson, Eschenbach, Jadeson Troung, Brianna Rainey, Emerson Perez, and Luke Ridgeway.
The tournament, organized by Wedgwood math teachers Domenick Renzi and Autumn Mattera, was a huge success as students not only had fun, but also became more fluent in their multiplication facts. Students entered the All-Purpose Room, searched for their place at one of the tables, and got ready to log into First in Math, an online supplemental math program that uses a gaming approach to increase math interest and improve student performance. Once there, the students were ready to begin a 5-minute session of Just the Facts for Multiplication against a single opponent to see who would answer the most multiplication facts correctly in the shortest amount of time. Winning students advanced to the next round, ready to again demonstrate their fact fluency.
Students participating in the Wedgwood Just the Facts for Multiplication Fifth-Grade Tournament included: Ryan Crean, Leo DiPietro, Evan Eschenbach, Mason Hatton, Lillyana Jones, Nolan Rollins, Justin Taylor, Marco Barilotti, Zachary Clark, Michael Ilagan, Andrew Nelson, Andrew Schmidt, Mia Taxis, Jadeson Truong, Dean Weatherby, Melanie Liguori, Emily McCrea, Isaac Parra, Luke Ridgeway, Andrew Robinson, Olivia Sutton, Riley Townsend, Leonardo Williams, Eleanor Lawyer, Emerson Perez, Brianna Rainey, Max Van de Zilver, John Chirico, Christian Curcio, Chimaobi Nwosu, Adriana Olivo, Ariana Silver, Kendall Spera, Emmanuel Willams, Colin Boyle, Brayden Mumbower, Ava Deccio, Lyla Messick, and Xavier Riggins.
The Final Four of the Just the Facts Tournament of Champions included (left to right) fifth-graders Andrew Nelson, Michael Ilagan, Evan Eschenbach and Chimaobi Nwosu.
- WTPS -