CAML testing benefits students

By Elissa Koh,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

The next iteration of the monthly California Mathematics League test, widely known as the CAML, will be held on Feb. 9. The League hosts monthly statewide math competitions in which schools compete against each other for the best score; the winning school is awarded a plaque.

This year, math teacher James Johnson volunteered to run the CAML testing at Davis High, which occurs every second Tuesday of the month. Johnson is one of the many teachers who offer benefits such as extra credit to their students to encourage them to participate in CAML testing.

“The kind of questions on the [CAML tests] are a little bit different [than] what we do in our normal classes,” Johnson said. “And I think it’s good for students to try those kind of questions and kind of think outside the box, think differently, stuff like that. So I encourage my students to do them.”

Senior Sehyun Hwang is one of Johnson’s students and enjoys taking the monthly tests.

“The main motivation would have to be the extra credit that I get for taking it, but it’s also fun to challenge myself and see how many questions I can actually solve,” Hwang said.

Sophomore Madeline Price is another student who seizes the opportunity every month to earn extra points offered by her math teacher Derik Birdsall. Price describes the CAML test as “doable but tricky.”