The annual South Auckland Maths Challenge (SAMC) for Pasifika students welcomed Rutherford students to participate in a showdown competition between local schools around South Auckland. This was the third competition in the SAMC and was held at De La Salle College in Māngere.

The Year 9 competition was first. We started with 20 minutes on the clock and there were fourteen other teams competing. We were off to a good start with having taken second place early. There were 20 questions and only three of us. The further we got into the questions, the more intense and difficult it got. We had many opportunities but the question asking us about a certain “happy number” blew us off our game and pushed us back. After the 20 minutes were up we sat and watched the Year 10 competition. We finally ended up coming fourth out of fourteen, which was pretty good for our first time trying with no practice.

Overall it was an excellent experience and we found numerous questions difficult but were able to answer them. We left with a high five from Mr Tagaloa and look forward to the next competition!