Greenwich Academy Math Team Wins State Middle School Competition, 8th Grader Places First Overall

Greenwich Academy’s official team of four—Satya Daftuar (7th grade),  Abby Kesmodel (8th grade), Emma Mao (8th grade), and Tamilore Tobun (7th grade)—won the Mathcounts state level competition at the University of Hartford last weekend.

Greenwich Academy MS Math Team (from left): Tamilore Tobun (7), Emma Mao (8), Satya Daftuar (7), Abby Kesmodel (8). Contributed photo

Kesmodel also took first place overall in the individual competition and fourth in the countdown round, the highly selective mental math speed round.

Kesmodel will head to Orlando, FL, in May to compete in Mathcounts’ national event as part of Connecticut’s four-student squad; GA’s coach, middle school math teacher Will Roble, will coach. 

“While their achievements are incredible feats on their own, an all-girls sweep of the top spot in the individual and team competitions is truly a rare occurrence in the world of co-ed competitive math,” Roble said. 

“This is a team of superb mathematicians who also love to participate in theater, sports, Latin conversational tables, and robotics in their free time, but they put in the extra time to practice, and it clearly paid off,” he added.

GA MS Math Team (from left): Tamilore Tobun (7), Satya Daftuar (7), Emma Mao (8), Abby Kesmodel (8), coach Will Roble Contributed photo

“GA girls show up for competition in every field of endeavor and these exceptional students are no different. It says so much about them as individuals, and GA’s program, that they performed so well both individually and as a team. I couldn’t be more proud,” Head of School Molly King said.

Greenwich Academy’s middle school has a history of achievement in math, and this year’s team builds upon the legacy of alumnae Natalie Shell (’22) and Jenny Hoffman (’96), who both qualified for the national competition. Now a Harvard professor, Hoffman Zoomed with this year’s team just two weeks prior to the competition to share words of wisdom and encouragement. 

While GA’s STEM curriculum is long established, with robust programs in all three divisions in computer science, design, engineering, math, and science, the school is also a STEM leader and advocate at the national level. GA founded the Girls Advancing in STEM Network, known as GAINS, and runs an annual three-day conference for high school girls interested in STEM fields. GAINS partners with research institutions across the country to host the event, where  girls have the opportunity to explore STEM careers, meet STEM professionals, connect with other high school girls interested in STEM, tour STEM facilities at partner institutions, and hear about cutting-edge research being conducted by women in STEM fields. This year’s conference took place in the fall at Yale University.

Greenwich Academy is a college preparatory day school for girls pre-K through 12 located in Greenwich, CT. Founded in 1827, GA’s mission is to develop girls and young women of exceptional character and achievement who demonstrate independence, resilience, courage, integrity, and compassion.

Mathcounts is a nationwide nonprofit devoted to furthering middle school math. As part of its mission to foster participation and engagement in mathematics Mathcounts runs state and national math competitions.