By Angela Price
for MATHCOUNTS
Charleston — Middle school students from Kanawha, Putnam, Wayne, and Wood County schools will compete in the MATHCOUNTS® Competition Series, the nation’s premier math competition, on February 21, 2026 at the University of Charleston. The University of Charleston has generously donated space for this year’s competition. The Charleston Chapter competition is made possible through the leadership of the West Virginia Society of Professional Engineers.
A total of 41 Mathletes from 5 schools will compete. Schools represented are: Horace Mann Middle School, John Adams Middle School, Wayne Middle School, Williamstown Middle School, and Winfield Middle School.
Teachers and students have been preparing for this prestigious competition since fall. Students will compete individually and in teams on both written and oral matches. Winners will advance to the State Competition in Flatwoods, WV on March 28, 2026.
MATHCOUNTS is a national program with the mission to build confidence and improve attitudes about math and problem solving. The program focuses on middle school students, who are at a crucial stage for cultivating their interests and math skills. Without developing strong problem-solving skills, students face an uphill battle in pursuing science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) careers of the future.
The Competition Series will consist of over 100,000 students, representing more than 5,200 schools from every U.S. state and territory, plus schools affiliated with the Department of Defense and State Department.
The Charleston Chapter Competition program is sponsored by the University of Charleston and the West Virginia Society of Professional Engineers.
The National Sponsors of MATHCOUNTS Foundation are RTX, U.S. Department of Defense STEM, Northrop Grumman Foundation, the National Society of Professional Engineers, 3Mgives, and Art of Problem Solving. MATHCOUNTS was founded in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and CNA Insurance. The program is made possible locally through the leadership of the West Virginia Society of Professional Engineers.
MATHCOUNTS is a nonprofit organization that strives to engage middle school students of all ability and interest levels in fun, challenging math programs, in order to expand their academic and professional opportunities. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear of mathematics must be overcome. For more than 30 years, MATHCOUNTS has provided free, high-quality resources to educators and enriching, extracurricular opportunities to students to lay a foundation for future success. Materials and information are available at www.mathcounts.org. Follow @MATHCOUNTS on Twitter.
