The Ekal Math Bee had its stunning second run last Saturday, March 24. From 2 to 5 PM at Tufts University, over 80 kids answered math questions for a cause. All the proceeds went to Ekal Vidyalaya, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing education to children in rural and tribal India.

The math bee was split into four levels: level 1 for grades 1 and 2, level 2 for grades 3 and 4, level 3 for grades 5 and 6, and level 4 for grades 7 and 8. Ekal Youth Leader Karthik Seetharaman wrote all the questions, which were then proofread by Dr. Anil Saigal, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. There was a speed round with 15 questions to be answered in 20 minutes, and then a challenge round with 10 questions to be answered in 30 minutes.

Karthik has been extremely creative and driven in raising money as an Ekal Youth Leader. After running the math bee for the first time last year, he carefully analyzed the process and reorganized it. This year’s competition was double the size, and raised four times the money! Enough money was raised to fund nine schools for a year. Ekal Vidyalaya runs with a “dollar-a-day” philosophy, so it only costs $365 to run one school for a year.

Half of the funds came from kids registered to compete, and the other half was raised at the venue. Eight new children also decided to become Ekal Youth Leaders themselves, to use their ideas and passions to raise money for the cause.

The second annual Ekal Math Bee was extremely successful, and all the kids had a lot of fun. “I’m excited that I can use my passion in math to support a cause I care a lot about,” Karthik Seetharaman was reported as saying.

Sharing the winners from the competition:

Level 1:

1.     Aru Sharma

2.     Nisarg Joshi

3.     Vidyut Kartik

Level 2:

1.     Srilasya Mallajosyula

2.     Akshaya Kolluri

3.     Neil Dutta

Level 3: 

1.     Akhilsai Damera and Vamsi Krishna Ankalu

2.     Vibhush Sivakumar

3.     Advait Bhowmik

Level 4:

1.     Karthir Meyyappan

2.     Srikar Mallajosyula

3.     Maxwell Tang

Congratulations to all participants for putting their all into this competition.

Congratulations Karthik Seetharaman for another successful Ekal Math Bee! Thank you to all the kids and their parents for participating in this charitable event. Thank you to the volunteers who made this possible! We hope to see you again next year!

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