Two Northport High School seniors turned their own search for more math opportunities into a new event for younger students. On Nov. 12, 130 middle school students gathered at Northport High School for the first Long Island Math Excellence Competition, known as LIME, according to the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District.

The competition was created and organized by seniors Josh Fields and Isaac Aibel, with support from their adviser, Naomi Edlin. It brought students in grades six through eight together for an afternoon of problem-solving, teamwork and creative thinking.

Why Two Seniors Built It

The district says the event grew out of a gap Fields and Aibel noticed when they were in middle school themselves. At that age, they found few chances to take part in in-person math competitions on Long Island. They built LIME so younger students could explore mathematics outside the classroom, meet peers who share the same interest and carry that energy with them into high school.

Getting there took months of writing, testing, coding and collaboration. The two seniors first worked with several members of Northport High School's previous graduating class to draft questions, then tried those questions out in ninth-grade math classes. When the problems proved too hard for the intended age group, they went back and wrote a new set.

How the Competition Worked

Students competed in teams of five and worked through original problems written by Fields and Aibel. The questions were designed to reward creative approaches and to welcome students who were trying a math competition for the first time.

Each round had three sections, each asking something different of individual students and their teams:

  • Solo-speed: students took turns representing their teams across 10 questions.
  • Pensive: teammates worked through five questions together.
  • Team-speed: entire teams raced to answer another 10 questions.

The district notes that the format pushed students to share ideas, divide up responsibilities and weigh different strategies as they worked toward solutions.

Student-Built Technology

The software behind the event was also built by students. Fields, Aibel and students from the previous graduating class created the web-based platform used to run the competition. This year, sophomore Humdard Azeemi joined the effort to refine the code and expand what it can do.

The platform handled several jobs during the live event. It played music during waiting periods in the response rounds and compiled results so organizers could track team standings quickly.

A Schoolwide Effort

The day drew on several groups inside Northport High School. A total of 23 high school volunteers helped run the competition, including math students, computer science students, Mathletes and members of the Math Honor Society. They supported the visiting students and helped put the seniors' plans into practice.

Middle schools from across Long Island took part. Participating schools represented Bay Shore, Elwood, Eastport-South Manor, Cold Spring Harbor and Longwood, along with Northport Middle School, East Northport Middle School and West Islip's Beach Street and Udall Road middle schools.

The Results

  • First place: Northport Middle School's NMS 4 team
  • Second place: Cold Spring Harbor
  • Third place: East Northport Middle School's ENMS 3 team

Organizers thanked Cristina Iavaroni, Emily Lagiglia, David Mattesich and Mario's Pizza of East Northport for their support.

For Families of Young Math Students

The district describes this as the inaugural competition. It has not announced a date for a future edition. Families of middle school students who want to know about upcoming math events can reach the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District at 158 Laurel Avenue in Northport, by phone at (631) 262-6600, or follow district news on its website. Parents in other districts can ask their own middle school math departments whether their students took part this year and how teams are selected.

The full district announcement, including more on how the problems were written and tested, is on the Northport-East Northport district site linked below.

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