FREEPORT — Three Freeport Middle School students recently earned top awards in the state for their performance in the national American Mathematics Competition.

More than 150,000 students from more than 2,000 schools participated in the competition on Nov. 16, 2010.

Conner Cameron, an eighth-grade student, had the second-highest score in the state. Seventh-grader Kyle Rosado of Freeport tied for third place with Sam Reed, an eighth-grader from Falmouth and an eighth-grader from Bar Harbor. The highest score in the state went to a seventh-grade student from Bangor.

Cameron and Rosado’s scores placed them in the top five percent in the country. Freeport sixth-grader Wilson Moore received the second-highest score for his class, which puts him in the top 40 percent in the country.

According to Eva Szillery, director for Maine of the Mathematical Association of America, the Freeport team’s average scored placed it first in the state.

Szillery said the competition is a 45-minute, 25-question multiple-choice test with logic and problem-solving equations. Top students are invited to participate in the next round, the AMC 10 competition. That test is for high school freshmen and sophomores and is scheduled for Feb. 8 at Bowdoin College, Colby College, Husson University, and University of Maine campuses in Machias, Presque Isle and Portland.

“Starting at this age gives them the time to practice and get acquainted with the test,” Szillery said. “They will improve over time.”

As more students participate in the competition, the program will grow stronger each year, she said.

“When students take this challenge they are pushing themselves to succeed,” Szillery said.

Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net

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