Photo provided to the Times Observer Jackson Warner, a fifth-grader at Beaty-Warren Middle School, was the sole county student to make the National Honor Roll in a recent edition of the Noetic Learning Contest math challenge.

Students from throughout the district – Eisenhower, Youngsville, Warren Area Elementary Center and Beaty – participated in the Noetic Learning Contest last fall.

These aren’t just run-of-the-mill math problems.

“Students had to apply their problem-solving skills and math concepts learned in the classroom to solve 20 creative math problems independently,” Meggi Brown, gifted support/STEM instructor at Beaty, said.

There were nearly 28,000 students that participated across the country.

Three students in fourth grade at Eisenhower made honorable mention in the Noetic math challenge - Grant Criswell, Ceci Wallace and Derek Leach.

Awards were presented to the top 10 percent – National Honor Roll – and the top 50 percent – National Honorable Mention.

Jackson Warner, a fifth-grader at Beaty, was the only WCSD student in the top 10 percent.

“I like taking the Noetic Math Test because the questions are more difficult,” he said.

Derek Leach, a fourth-grader at Eisenhower, agreed.

“It was just like a normal test,” he said, “just more challenging.”

“It was a really surprising experience,” Razzlin Pratz, a WAEC fourth grader added. “I didn’t think I was going to win, but I knew I might place high because after the test I thought in my head for a while about the questions and realized I got a lot of them right.”

Both Symphony Weber, a WAEC second-grader, and Bo Winkele, a WAEC third-grader, acknowledged some nerves.

“The test was scary. I was happy I won 1st place,” Weber said.

“The Noetic contest was really good,” Winkels added. “I felt a little nervous, but it was fun working through the problems.”

Here’s a look at each student that received one of the special recognitions for their performance in the contest:

Beaty: Fifth grade, Jackson Warner, team winner and National Honor Roll. National Honorable Mention included Riley Anderson, Chloe VanOrd and Aiden Zawacki; sixth grade, Delaney Moore and Ashley Carringin were team winners and honorable mention along with Owen Damcott, Rory McBriar and Ellise Wilson; seventh grade, Isaac Zapel was team winner and Zapel and Mason Warner were national honorable mention; eighth grade, Evan Tidrick was team winner and honorable mention along with Broc Bryan.

Eisenhower: Fifth grade honorable mention included Valen Honsberger, Bodie Tome and Elizabeth Waite; fourth grade honorable mention included Grant Criswell, Ceci Wallace and Derek Leach, who was also team winner.

Warren Area Elementary Center: Honorable mention Razzlin Pratz (team winner), Daxter Irons, Grayson Zapel, Sidney Arnold, Aria Carlson, Symphony Weber (team winner), Griffin Brinkley, Bo Winkels, Aaron Harris, Adam Mayor, Dylan Anderson and Adelaide Anthony.

Youngsville Elementary: Fourth grade, honorable mention included Clayton Perrin and, fifth grade, Wesley Hornstrom and Ian Lewis, who was also team winner.

“We want to congratulate all of the students who participated,” Brown said. “This is a challenging math contest and every problem solved by our students represents an accomplishment.”