St. Patrick Catholic School in Parsons finished first in the state Prodigy math competition and will advance to the national contest in May.
St. Patrick competed in the Heroic division, which is for schools of 100 to 200 students. St. Patrick has 77 students. Parsons Middle School finished fourth in the same level and will be among the five schools in the state in Heroic division to advance to nationals.
St. Patrick recognized the students’ efforts in a presentation on Thursday, Oct. 2. The sixth grade class was recognized for finishing first in the school.
Prodigy sets three levels for competing schools depending on the number of students. St. Pat’s was in the Heroic level. Schools in the Mythical level have 250 to 500 students and schools in the Titan level have 500 students or more.
St. Patrick Principal Mike Carson said St. Patrick students answered 22,859 math questions correctly between Sept. 15 and Sept. 30. The sixth grade as a class answered 5,111 questions correctly, the most answered questions among grades in the school, Carson said.
Carson noted that St. Patrick would have won the Mythical level in Kansas as well given the number of correct answers.
‘Pretty amazing.” Carson said nationals will be in May and the school has a number of events planned to boost student morale. “The kids worked really, really hard.
“We have amazing staff. Amazing teachers and amazing students. They’re all the best,” Carson said.
Veronica Polak, the sixth grade teacher at St. Patrick, said students who competed in Prodigy did so in their free time. No class time was dedicated to the competition in the 15 days that the school participated.
At the assembly, teachers and Carson recognized the top five students who answered the most math questions correctly in the contest.
The top five were: — Fifth place: Gabe Ridgeway, a third grader who answered 675 questions.
— Fourth: Mila Sharp, a second grader, who answered 823 questions.
— Third: Hannah Schibi, a sixth grader, who answered 900 questions.
— Second: Brooks Myers, a first grader, who answered 1,119 questions.
— First: Corbin Myers, sixth grader, who answered 1,143 questions.
Polak is in her third year of teaching at St. Patrick. She’s also taught at Labette Community College and Corpus Christi Catholic School in Lawrence.
She said Prodigy tailors the math questions to the student’s grade level. The online game is similar to a quest game for the students and can be competitive. Correct answers allow the student’s chosen character to level up in the game.
She said her class of 10 kids was focused. She attributes their success in the contest to their drive.
“And they’re competitive. They’re very competitive,” Polak said.
She attributed their finishing first in the school to the teachers before her and the school’s curriculum.
“I think it’s an amazing tribute to what our students are capable of,” she said.
The Rev. Nic Jurgensmeyer of St. Patrick Catholic Church told students he was proud of their accomplishment.
“That’s incredible. I think we can beat even the biggest schools. I think you guys are that good,” Jurgensmeyer told the students.
