SANDPOINT — Whispers and the sound of calculator buttons being pressed filled the hallways of Sandpoint High School on Tuesday evening. 

Fifth- and sixth-graders from across the Lake Pend Oreille School District gathered for the annual Math Olympiad, putting their arithmetic skills to the test against their peers. The students were divided into groups of four, complete with punny nicknames, and tasked with working their way through four different types of math problems, SHS math teacher and event coordinator Doug Fry said. 

"They’re challenging problems that we’ve come up with,” Fry said. “They are multi-step problems, not just like what’s three plus three or something. They’ve got to think deep and go down two or three steps to figure out what’s happening.

Whether they were tackling a measurement or algebra problem, the students were first tasked with working together. That cooperation and competition create one of Fry’s favorite moments of the whole event: the math arguments. 

While Fry said this year’s competitors were quieter than last year, there was still plenty of debate throughout the two-hour event. 

"I could hear a lot of good conversations going on, when kids argue about math... they're really thinking,” Fry said. “I’m just real happy to see that; I love when they argue a little bit.” 

The Olympiad has been a district tradition for the last 15 years, creating a full-circle moment for high school students who had the chance to participate in the event when they were in elementary school. Fry said those moments of reflection from his students are another one of his favorite moments.  

"A lot of the kids who are proctoring had done it themselves when they were in fifth or sixth grade,” Fry said. "They love to proctor because they were here... so, when these kids get to high school, they want to proctor because they remember when they did it.” 

This year, students from Northside Elementary and Washington Elementary took home all the medals. From Washington, fifth graders Anders Budensiek, Nash Oliver, Quincy Sparks and Peyton Staggs joined together to form the “Pie-rates of the Quesadilla” and win first place in the fifth-grade competition. 

A team of Huskies, Eirnin Dunn, Gunnar Rawlings, Fisher Ross and Ian Sprecher earned second place as "The Algebros” in the fifth-grade competition. Third place in the fifth-grade competition belonged to Andrew Kramer, DJ Gillett, Declan Hanks and Ezra Booth, or the “ProTractors.”  

Hailing from Northside, the “Pie-payas,” made up of sixth graders Scarlett Vevang, Olivia Watson, Hunter Price and Max Hansen, won the sixth-grade competition. 

“Feed Me Pie” made up of McKinley Storebo, Finley Williams, Kal’El Halversen took home second place in the sixth-grade competition, while “We’ll Obtuse You,” comprised of Ruhl Upton and Jace Trempert, Katia Tadic, Libby Piehl and Jonah Baroni won third place. 

    (L-R) Sixth-grade champions from Northside Scarlett Vevang, Olivia Watson, Hunter Price and Max Hansen.
  

    (L-R) McKinley Storebo, Finley Williams, Kal’El Halversen and Ruhl Upton earned silver medals in the sixth-grade competition.
  

    (L-R) Bronze medalists from Washington Elementary: Jace Trempert, Katia Tadic, Libby Piehl and Jonah Baroni.
  

    (L-R) Fifth-grade champions Anders Budensiek, Nash Oliver, Quincy Sparks and Peyton Staggs from Washington Elementary.
  

    (L-R) Northside's fifth-grade Algebros Eirnin Dunn, Gunnar Rawlings, Fisher Ross and Ian Sprecher hold up their silver medals from the LPOSD Math Olympiad.
  

    (L-R) Washington Elementary students hold their third-place medals Andrew Kramer, DJ Gillett, Declan Hanks, Ezra Booth.