Bloomington South’s Math League isn’t just for star math students, it is actually a fun and exciting competition between schools in the state of Indiana.

There are six competitions a year, once a month for six months. Each test contains six questions. Students have half an hour to complete the test, and each question gets progressively harder. Math League’s first competition this year will be on Tuesday, Oct. 16 (room A334) after school and lasts for about half an hour. Math teacher Kevin Raney has been running Math League for the past 14 years.

“It’s nice to give kids an option to come in and do math for fun in a competitive way without any pressure [or] a grade attached to it, and see that there are other kids in the building that enjoy [it],” Raney said.

Math League is open to everyone who would like to participate. To join, one can simply  attend a meeting/competition. Students can also show up to as little or as many meetings as they wish.

After joining their first year, many students have decided to participate in this club for the duration of their high school careers.

“My favorite part about Math League is finding creative solutions that are out of the box and aren’t necessarily mathematically correct but still get me to the right answer,” junior Tony Yu said.

Senior Adam Weiler, who joined as an upperclassman, expressed that the club can be beneficial for reasons other than the math itself.

“It’s a fun way to get to know Mr. Raney outside of class. If you do really well on it, you can also put it on college applications,” Weiler said.

“I think Math League really helps improve problem solving skills and critical thinking, which are pretty important in real life. Most of the problems are pretty entertaining, so it’s also enjoyable,” Yu said.

Raney encourages students who enjoy math, meeting new people and a non-hostile competitive environment to consider joining.

“It’s a place to give kids the opportunity to interact with other kids,” Raney said.