Created in 1982 by Dr. Mary Ann Conners and Jack Cody, the Williston Math Team has consistently provided an opportunity for students to challenge themselves and take joy in mathematics.

The Team, now in its 34^th year, is led by Math Department Head Mr. Joshua Seamon. The Math Team’s policy to accept “anyone at any level of math” has encouraged many Williston students to join and participate.

Mr. Seamon says that the benefits of being a member of the team are “Having lots of fun and working through amazing challenges.”

Math Team meetings, held on Green Tuesdays after classes, often coincides with the NEML, the New England Math League.

Formed in 1977, the NEML has an overlapping history with the Williston Math Team. The Williston Math Team has placed very well in this competition, finishing in the top 30 out of all New England Math Teams for the past two years. Mr. Seamon labels that as “our greatest achievement.”

Besides the frequently held NEML, The Math Team also participates in a variety of other inter school math competitions, the most recent one being the MMaths tournament held at Yale on April 2nd. After this experience, Mr. Seamon says he now plans to engage the Math Team in more off-campus competitions, ideally 3 per year, along with the NEML and American Mathematics Competitions (AMC).

Mr. Seamon has encouraged many students who have distanced themselves from numbers and equations to embrace and enjoy the world of math. Williston freshman Richard Xie ’19 says, “I have always thought math was boring and inapplicable; however, the interesting facts regarding math that [Mr. Seamon] always brings to the assembly has constantly challenged this notion.”

Mr. Seamon wishes that everyone who is still reluctant to join the team should “give it a try,” for “math is everywhere, can be applied to anything, and is all about logic.” It is his firm belief that math “helps you understand the world, and is gorgeous.”