For the fourth consecutive year, second graders at Deasy Elementary School in Glen Cove City School District have proven they are among the top young mathematicians in New York State.
Students Malek Mesbah, Dillan Gonzalez and Isaac Abraham, all from teacher Nicole Crumlich’s second-grade class, captured first place in the regional round of the First in Math Statewide Elementary Mathematics Tournament, outperforming students from 82 school districts across Nassau County and parts of Westchester and Putnam counties. The trio will now travel to Albany on June 13 to compete in the state championship tournament against the nine other regional winners from across New York.
The accomplishment continues a remarkable streak for Deasy School, which has now advanced students to the state-level competition every year since the program began four years ago.
“We are incredibly proud that our District is being represented in this statewide competition for the fourth consecutive year,” Superintendent Dr. Alexa Doeschner said in a statement. “Our students’ focus and skill are remarkable. None of this would be possible without the strong foundation built by Ms. Crumlich.”
The First in Math competition challenges students to solve fast-paced mathematical problems under pressure. Participants are tasked with using numbers on rotating wheels to create the number 24 using two mathematical operations. Students are scored based on both accuracy and speed.
“For the competition, they’re required to do two steps to make the number 24,” Crumlich explained. “Whether it be adding and adding, or adding and then subtracting, they have to do two operations to make the number 24.”
The competition is timed, making quick thinking just as important as mathematical skill.
“The more they get correct, the faster, the higher their score is,” Crumlich said.
The regional tournament divided New York State into 10 regions, with students from grades one through eight competing simultaneously during a several-hour online competition. Only the top three scorers in each grade level from each region advanced.
“So our kids won for second grade,” Crumlich said proudly. “Out of the whole region, our second graders won.”
The victory earned the school a regional plaque, individual trophies for the students and a $1,000 grant. But school officials say the recognition has also energized the entire Deasy community.
To celebrate the students before they leave for Albany, the school plans to hold a “clap-out,” a spirited sendoff tradition in which students and staff line the hallways cheering with pom-poms as the competitors walk through the building.
“Now, because we have experience with winners, the kids know all about the competition,” Crumlich said. “Our school does a clap-out for the kids the day before they leave for the competition.”
“It’s amazing,” she added. “The whole school goes out in the hallway with pom-poms and cheers them on and wishes them good luck.”
For parents, the achievement has been both exciting and unexpected.
Valerie Mamrosh-Gonzalez, Dillan’s mother, said she had heard about the program through another family whose child previously advanced in the competition, but she did not realize how competitive it truly was until her son qualified.
“We know he’s a smart kid, but we were very surprised when he won it,” she said.
She said Dillan quickly embraced the challenge and began practicing enthusiastically at home on his own.
“I thought we were going to have to kind of coax him and keep on top of him,” Mamrosh-Gonzalez said. “But he would come home and just want to practice right away. It was kind of fun for him. It’s like a game for him, basically.”
Beyond mathematics, Dillan also enjoys basketball and using a flight simulator at home inspired by his father, who is a pilot. But for now, his focus is on Albany.
“He knows it’s a big recognition for himself and the other two classmates and for the school as well,” Mamrosh-Gonzalez said. “He’s excited to go to Albany.”
As the team prepares for the state finals, Crumlich said the students’ success reflects more than just academic talent.
“It takes hard work, practice and perseverance in order to win,” she said. “If they put their minds to it, they can do it.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of them and their hard work and their perseverance,” Crumlich added.
