Allison Matus, a student at West Babylon High School in the West Babylon School District, recently took home first place in the New York Math League state competition. Matus was one of only three students in the state to receive a perfect score on the competi­tion.

The New York Math League is open to all high school students from accred­ited schools. The competition consists of six contests each year, with six math problems per contest. Questions draw from a wide range of high school math topics, such as geometry, trigonometry, logarithms, integers, probability and coordinate geometry. The difficulty of problems increases as the contest pro­gresses,

with the final math problem intending to challenge the very best mathematic students. Students may use a calculator to solve these problems, but are only given 30 minutes to com­plete the test. Students in each league compete for the highest scores, while schools compete for the highest team score. A score report is issued after each contest, showing each participating school's team scores, high-scoring schools and students, and students with a perfect score. Each score report includes a newsletter, which offers comments and alternative solutions from teachers and students. The New York Math League's High School Contests are the best in high school mathematics competi­tion. Matus will be recognized for her achievement and presented with a plaque at the West Babylon senior awards ceremony.