Echo Lake Eagle Mathletes compete at 13th Annual Shoreline Math Olympiad

Echo Lake Mathletes and adult leaders in tie-dye

From Johanna Polit

On Saturday, March 12th, the Echo Lake Eagles mathletes rallied to compete at the 13th annual Shoreline Math Olympiad at Shorecrest High School. Echo Lake Elementary fielded three sixth grade teams, three fifth grade teams, and four fourth grade teams, who competed alongside over 600 public school, private school, and home-schooled students from all over Shoreline.

The students were clearly ready to go, when during the opening ceremony the Echo Lake students spontaneously started the school chant, “We are Echo Lake! We are Echo Lake!” Clap!

While school team t-shirts have become the norm over the years, there was a buzz early during the opening ceremony in the auditorium as folks fell in love with Echo Lake’s vivid school-colors tie-dye t-shirts. Principal and 5th/6th grade head coach Paul Shanahan was stopped repeatedly in the hallway and complimented, and the organizers ended up impressed as well, adding a school spirit award at the last minute just for Echo Lake, which was presented to Paul Shanahan and 4th grade math coach Karen Anderson during the awards ceremony. They shared the award with the tie-dye team of parents Johanna Polit and Lynn Huston, who worked with the kids to dye shirts for all, and to develop a matching team banner.

The students were clearly enjoying themselves from early in the day, and winning individual and team awards certainly helped carry the team spirit through to the very end. The fourth grade in particular made quite a splash. 

Principal Paul Shanahan also had this to say: “Once again, an army of volunteers (led by SMO coordinator Lisa McDonald) put on a tremendous event at Shorecrest. I am very proud of the teamwork, tenacity, and performance of our students at this competition. They had a wonderful time competing against talented peers from all over the city. And I can't thank our parents, coaches, and Power of One volunteers enough for investing so much time and energy all year long.”

Natalie's Team won an award

Team Awards earned by Echo Lake mathletes:

Fourth grade had team finishes in:

5th place: Grace Park, Kaizer Lee, Songkweun Lee, and Sophia Rice

4th place: Anthony Truong, Charlie Miller, Heyab Daniel, and Kathleen Nguyen

3rd place: Jack Hamilton, Natalie Kahn, Reece Fiala, and Ronan Carter

Fifth grade had a team finish in:

4th place: Anthony Park, Leuel Bekele, Max Kelton, and Saad Mahmood

Sixth grade had a team finish in:

3rd place: Alex Holguin, Art Anderson, Greg Ayers, and Luke Hudson

Charlie's Team won an award

Individual awards earned by Echo Lake Mathletes:

4th grade:

• 6th place to Reece Fiala
• 5th place to Jack Hamilton
• 4th place to Ronan Carter
• 4th place to Kaizer Lee
• 3rd place to Natalie Kahn
• 2nd place to Charlie Miller

5th grade:

• 8th place to Melinda Tran
• 8th place to Max Kelton
• 2nd place to Anthony Park

6th grade:

• 8th place to Shah Yousuf
• 5th place to Luke Hudson
• 4th place to Art Anderson
• 4th place to Will Smith