Chapter Coordinator Profiles

Arrowhead Chapter

Greg Stoewer is a Project Engineer and Land Surveyor with LHB, Inc. in Duluth, a multi-disciplinary engineering and architectural firm with offices throughout the Midwest. Greg does consulting for municipalities, college campuses, townships, etc., for utilities, roads and storm water in northeast Minnesota.

He has been the Arrowhead chapter coordinator for more than 15 years. Greg finds it rewarding to help the community by offering this opportunity for students. MATHCOUNTS acknowledges and rewards students for their extra efforts in math, Greg says.

City of Lakes Minneapolis

Katie Jamieson not only acts as chapter coordinator for the City of Lakes Minneapolis Chapter, she is also Director of Member Services for the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE), where she is involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization. That includes such activities as MATHCOUNTS at the chapter and state level, planning continuing education programs, networking opportunities for engineers, and outreach to the engineering community and students.
 
What does she like best about being involved in MATHCOUNTS? “Seeing the excitement on the students’ faces when they arrive at a competition.”
 
Katie has been coordinator for this chapter since 2004 and has been working hard to increase participation by Minneapolis schools. “For schools with a math club, MATHCOUNTS is a great addition as it’s a rewarding opportunity for students’ hard work. Coaches can conduct a fun in-school competition to see who can attend the ‘finals’ or chapter competitions.

"For schools without a math club, the MATHCOUNTS Club Program is an easy way to get one started. A school can request a free kit and receive all the necessary materials to begin a club through the national MATHCOUNTS Website. Then a school can register for the competition, which is a great way to recruit students to participate in the club program as they get to compete against students from other schools!”

City of Lakes North

Charlie Melcher has been on the committee for the City of Lakes Chapter since 1993 and coordinator since 1996.

He is head of the construction material testing division and marketing director for the Twin Cities office of Terracon Consultants, Inc., located in White Bear Lake, an employee-owned firm of consulting engineers and scientists.

Charlie thinks MATHCOUNTS is a great math-oriented activity that students can participate in with their friends. “The competitions provide an exiting day of math-oriented competition, involving trophies for the winner. This could also lead to further competition at the state and national levels, with a chance to go to a city like Washington, D.C., or DisneyWorld for the national competition.”

City of Lakes South

Jason McCarty is coordinator for the City of Lakes South Chapter and a state MATHCOUNTS committee member. He is Director of Residential Development for Westwood Professional Services in Eden Prairie and is responsible for the residential market group that works with land developers through the entire neighborhood design, entitlement and construction process.

Jason has been a coordinator since 2005 and a MATHCOUNTS volunteer since 2000.

“I enjoy the excitement that the kids generate during the competition,” Jason explains as to why he’s a volunteer. “It’s great to see students who are genuinely interested in math. If your school isn’t participating in MATHCOUNTS, you’re missing out on an opportunity to increase the mathematics abilities of your students. MATHCOUNTS showcases and celebrates students’ abilities in math, which is pretty unique these days.”

Height of Land

Jon Pratt and Bob Schielman have shared coordinator duties for the Height of Land Chapter for the past three years. Both are engineers with Ulteig Engineers in Detroit Lakes. Ulteig is an employee-owned company providing engineering, planning and surveying services to a public and private clients.

As project manager, Bob’s duties are to provide civil engineering services to various communities throughout Minnesota. Jon works as a municipal engineering consultant which means he provides city engineering services to smaller communities who do not have a staff engineer.

Bob says his favorite thing about working with MATHCOUNTS is interactingwith the coaches and students on competition day. Jon echoes that sentiment and added, "It's enjoyable getting to know some of the team coaches who attend year after year."

Bob feel that schools not involved with MATHCOUNTS are missing a good opportunity for students to showcase their math skills through friendly competition." This also provides students with good experience in working with others as a team, which is an important quality needed to succeed in today’s world.”

"I think MATHCOUNTS is a great alternative extracurricular activity," Jon says, "for those students who are not as interested in sports or other such activities."

Lake Agassiz

Graig Gilbertson is a materials engineer with the Minnesota Transportation Department and works out of MnDOT’s Bemidji office. Part of his duties involve using the pavement management system to determine when and how to repair roads and managing the Materials Lab for testing of aggregate, bituminous and concrete.

Graig has been a coordinator 22 years, a good share of MATHCOUNTS' 26 years.

As for his favorite part of being involved with MATHCOUNTS, Graig says he really enjoys the enthusiasm the kids bring to math. “Students not participating are missing an opportunity to work with a team of students trying to improve their math skills and learning and sharing the skills in a group setting which makes the learning more fun and in many cases more efficient.”

Lake Region

Wayne Stark is a project manager with Midwest Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers and works in Anoka. He does marketing, writes proposals and manages projects for commercial, institutional, and residential projects. MIDWEST is a land surveying, civil engineering and site planning/land development firm.

Wayne has been involved with MATHCOUNTS at the chapter level since 1997 and has been the Lake Region coordinator since 2006.

“MATHCOUNTS is a way for me to give back to the community,” he says, “and to bring positive exposure to the engineering profession through my interaction with student and teachers. I’m continually amazed at how smart these middle school students are.”

MATHCOUNTS is a great opportunity to increase math fun, teamwork and achievement in schools, Wayne feels, as well as showcasing the math excellence of students.

North Capitol

Chad Davison has been the North Capitol Coordinator for three years.

He is a project manager with Bonestroo and works out of their headquarters on Highway 36 in St. Paul. Bonestroo is one of the Midwest’s largest engineering and planning firms.

Chad likes helping the students experience mathematics in a fun and competitive setting.

South Capitol

Steve Dodge manages the storm water requirements and maintenance andstreet maintenance, and reconstruction programs for the city if Inver Grove Heights. In addition, he works with developers to negotiate agreements, and review plans submitted on residential and commercial developments. He also works with residents to facilitate responses to their calls and concerns.

Steve has been a volunteer for the chapter for three years but 2009 was his first year of coordinating a Chapter Competition when he replaced long-time coordinator Gary Johnson

Being an Engineer, Gary says, "I believe in helping promote a Mathlete competition because it is important for these kids to have a venue to express their talents just like any athlete would.

Steve encourages schools not to miss out on a great afternoon (the chapter competition), the camaraderie of other people and students who are interested in math, and to have a place for those kids that enjoy math to compete. "It is especially rewarding to see first hand the bright future we have of talented kids."

Southeast Chapter

Angela Kolz is a project manager with WHKS & Co. and has been a chapter coordinator for three years.

At WHKS & Co., she works on water and wastewater design projects and infrastructure inspection projects and works in the firm’s Rochester office. WHKS & Co. provides professional services for civil engineering, planning and land surveying projects.

Angie likes the excitement the students have with the competition. “Schools that don’t participate are missing a fun and challenging program that can further their interests in math studies.”

Southwest Chapter

Susann Karnowski has been a coordinator for the Southwest Chapter for three years. She works as a project manager and pre-design engineer also for MnDOT in Willmar, managing transportation projects, including preparation of environmental documentation and geometric layouts and coordination with local “partners.”

Susann like working with the math students. “I like showing students that math can be fun,” Susann says. “It’s also great to see how smart these students are and to give them a first look at engineering as a possible future career choice.”

“MATHCOUNTS is great opportunity to get kids excited about math,” she adds, “and have access to tools and resources to help students. In addition, students could miss out on the opportunity to be recognized and rewarded for doing well at math at local and state levels.”

Traverse Des Sioux

Teresa Burgess is coordinator for the Traverse Des Sioux Chapter, which consistently has the most schools participating. Teresa took over this year as coordinator from Emily Javens, who moved from the area.

Teresa is a project engineer in Mankato with Bolton and Menk. At work she does municipal and private civil engineering design. Bolton and Menk provides engineering services to communities and agencies in Minnesota and Iowa, in addition to surveying, land development and environmental services for public and private clients.

So many kids have a fear of being different, Teresa says. “MATHCOUNTS is a great chance for them to see that being good at math is a good thing and that’s it’s okay to have fun doing math.”