Mathematics Tournament honors legacy of Dr. Dale Graham

Mar. 31—THOMASVILLE — Late educator and lifelong learner Dr. Dale Graham was honored last week as Thomas County Central hosted an inaugural mathematics tournament in her honor, boasting 200 competitors across several school districts.

According to Director of Secondary Curriculum and Digital Learning Lindsay Thompson, education was not just a hobby to Graham, but a lifelong passion. Graham had previously served as the math coordinator at Thomas County Central and taught every possible age group.

"It was not uncommon for her to tutor students in her home or over the phone, even after she was no longer her teacher," Thompson said.

When Graham passed away, Thompson wanted to find a way to honor Graham's legacy in a way that promoted education. After tossing around various ideas, Thompson founded the Dr. Dale Graham Mathematics Tournament.

The tournament requires participants to complete a 60-minute test based on their division, either eighth grade or JV (ninth and 10th grade). Participating teams consist of 5 to 10 students. The scoring is based on the five highest individual scores on the team, with the five highest individual scorers in each division also awarded.

Thompson admitted she was nervous since she has never hosted a math tournament.

"I was scared no one would come," she said. "But we had over 200 students."

The students completed a test written by a faculty member at Thomas County Central, who did not have any students competing.

Students in eighth grade were limited to algebra questions only, while JV team members had questions on both algebra and geometry.

Thompson said she was thrilled with the results of the test, not only for TCC but also for the district as a whole.

TCC's JV team took home 1st place, with Scholars Academy placing 2nd and Cairo High School placing 3rd.

"Hosting this tournament was already an accomplishment, but it was the cherry on top to win," Thompson said. "I'm really proud of our whole area, though. We were shining at this competition."

The area continued to dominate in the eighth grade competition with Whigham Elementary School placing 2nd and Scholars Academy placing 3rd.

Eighth-grade individual winners from the area included Xavier Graves from the Scholars Academy in 1st; Emma Nelson from Whigham Elementary in 3rd; and Celia Perry from Thomas County Middle School in 4th.

Scholars Academy student Dhrukat Patel dominated in the JV individuals, taking 1st, with Clark Briguglio from TCC taking 2nd. Cairo's Kody Brinson placed 3rd and TCC's Rudra Patel placed 5th.

Both Scholars' Mathletes sponsor Elaina Johnson and Thompson were proud of how well the students did.

"Everyone was excited to come and wanted to compete," Thompson said.

Johnson agreed, sharing that her team members were excited to engage in the competition and show off their academic prowess.

With the competition a success, Thompson said she plans to host it again next year and she would like to expand the tournament, opening it to sixth- through 12th-graders.

"I would love more districts to come and participate," she concluded. "I just want to see it get bigger and better every year."