Middle School of Poplarville students faced off against south Mississippi's best and brightest math students recently in a regional MathCounts competition held in Long Beach, MS. Ten students from MSP hand selected by their math teachers, Anna Beth D., Chris C., Clay L., Courtney C., Dustin L., Logan S., Noah G., Richard H., Ryan S., and Zachary C., spent two months preparing for the competition practicing after school and using their own time to study advanced mathematical concepts. Having recently learned of the competition, the MSP students entered the competition with considerably less preparation than many of the competitors who practice all year; nevertheless, MSP placed fourth against the fourteen local competitors demonstrating our students’ commitment to excellence and academics. Top performers in the competition included seventh grader Chris C. and eighth grader Zachary C. These students displayed an unbelievable knowledge of mathematics in the competition and earned the eighth and fourth place spots respectively in the individual competition against more than one hundred of the top math students in the state. Math coaches Mr. Lee Mason and Mrs. Pam Mitchell would like to thank all of these students for their hard work and commitment to the competition. We congratulate them on their excellent performance.