Ormond Beach Middle School math teacher Natalie Demchak has been named the 2020 Florida MATHCOUNTS Coach of the Year by the Florida Engineering Society.
Demchak, a VCS teacher since 2003, was nominated by the Daytona Beach Chapter, which noted her 12 years of dedication to the MATHCOUNTS program – including consistent Top 4 finishes at the chapter level competition. The nomination also recognized Demchak for her passion to mentoring her students that is reflected in her students’ enthusiasm during the competition each year. She received a plaque and a $750 prize.
MATHCOUNTS is a rigorous competition that matches phenomenal math students and coaches from all over the state in a quiz bowl type of competition. The competitive club meets weekly after school. Sixth- through eighth-graders practice algebra and geometry, and then 10 students are selected for the competition teams.
The MATHCOUNTS competition includes a round of questions with no calculator for each player, an individual round using calculators and a team round with four students per team. After a morning of testing, the afternoon is reserved for the fun ciphering competition, where points are awarded based on speed and having the correct answer.
Middle school teams compete at the district, state and national level. Demchak’s OBMS teams are often in the Top 4 at district, and a first- or second-place finish often takes them to the state level. The coronavirus pandemic has moved the state competition online.
“It’s nice to see the students excited about math,” she said. “I want them to be competitive with each other, but also keep it fun.”
Demchak didn’t realize she was good at math growing up, but started to see it as a strength in high school and college. She originally expected to become an elementary teacher, but has always been at the middle school level – and wishes she’d taken more math classes in college!
She’s been coaching the OBMS MATHCOUNTS program for about a dozen years, and the school has hosted the district MATHCOUNTS competition for several years.
“Natalie is a warm, accessible, enthusiastic, and caring MATHCOUNTS coach,” said OBMS Math Chair Kristen Pirkey, co-coach for the school’s MATHCOUNTS team. “She always engages the students in learning in a fun way while encouraging healthy competition. Students feel safe to take risks because she makes her classroom a safe learning environment. I am continuously impressed with the amount of time and energy she puts into making sure all students at Ormond Beach Middle School are successful!”
Demchak reminds people that math is used all the time in life. “Knowledge is power – it gives you choices in life,” she said. “Math helps people with a level of understanding of other subjects. Being able to think that way opens doors for other opportunities.”
