The Oahu Mathematics League (OML) season started on Sept. 17, hosted by Kailua High School. Sacred Hearts Academy competes against high schools island- wide including Iolani, McKinley, Kamehameha and Punahou.
OML is a mathematics competition league open to students in grades 9 through 12. There are seven competitions every year. Meets are on Saturday mornings and start at 9 a.m. The meets usually end between 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
There are two divisions: Leibniz (Division A) and Newton (Division B). Each school can send up to 20 students to the competition, 10 per division. Competitors are tested on math problems from Algebra I and Geometry to Algebra II and Trigonometry/ Analytic Geometry. The events that students compete in changes for every meet.
Besides the math events, there is also a team event open to all schools. It only lasts 15 minutes. Schools are only allowed to enter three students, who work together to solve one problem.
OML also features a junior varsity division. Schools that participate in the regular competition have the choice of also sending a junior varsity team which has a maximum of four students in grades 9 and 10. They are only allowed to compete in Algebra I and Geometry events. They cannot participate in the team event.Deborah Kula and Tim Cantley are advisers for the OML team. Kula is the head of the Mathematics department. She also teaches courses including AP Calculus and Pre-Calculus Honors. Cantley teaches Geometry Honors, Calculus I and Pre-Calculus.
“Sacred Hearts Academy has participated in OML for at least 30 years. This past weekend, we came in fifth place out of 16 teams that participated.” Kula said.
The Sacred Hearts OML team practices on Tuesdays and Thursday at lunch and Thursdays and Fridays in the afternoons and they are looking for people to join.
