On Saturday, June 13, a trio of second-graders from Glenmont Elementary School finished second in New York State at the First in Math tournament held at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Only 10 second-grade teams from across the state qualified for the math tournament.
Congratulations to Oliver Ducharme, Breanna Liang and Zephyra Messer on their stellar NYS tourney performance. The students — who were accompanied by their families and Principal Laura Heffernan — won the right to compete at the state level by winning a regional tournament held online in March.
Two of the three students, Breanna and Zephyra, were part of a winning regional team in 2025 that advanced to the state level as first graders. Glenmont School has had a team participate in the First in Math competition since it started four years ago.
First in Math is intended to increase students’ confidence in their mental-math abilities.
The regional First in Math competition uses an online game series to test fact fluency, automaticity, problem solving, procedural fluency and other critical math skills. Oliver, Breanna and Zephyra all received trophies for their 2026 regional victory. As home to the regional First in Math winners, Glenmont received a plaque and a $1,000 prize.
At the statewide tournament, where they captured second place, the students competed offline, using game cards that mimicked the online game setup. They competed in a group setting and were required to demonstrate their conceptual understanding of the mental math challenges.
Congratulations to these outstanding Glenmont math students!