PINEVILLE, La. – Today, students from 25 schools across Louisiana competed against their peers to solve various math problems in hopes of qualifying for the national MATHCOUNTS competition which takes place in May.

Cleco partnered with the Louisiana Engineering Society (LES) to bring the state MATHCOUNTS competition to the Pineville Country Inn & Suites.

MATHCOUNTS, a math enrichment competition for students in grades six through eight, is open to all types of schools – public, private, charter, virtual and home schools.  There are four levels of competition – school, chapter, state and national.  The top four students from each state competition receive an all-expenses paid trip to the national competition. 

“We truly appreciate the generous support from Cleco to host our annual state competition,” said Brenda Gajan, executive director of LES.  “With Cleco’s support, we can continue our efforts to promote math excellence among junior high students, reverse the downward trend of mathematics literacy in our state and help students discover that math can be fun.”

“Cleco is committed to promoting STEM programs like MATCOUNTS because they help bridge gaps in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education,” said Dean Sikes, Cleco vice president of engineering, construction and project management.  “This is a national program that allows middle school students with varying ability levels to build their problem-solving skills in math and expand their academic opportunities.”

To learn about MATHCOUNTS, visit www.mathcounts.org.