Bear Creek School elementary students recently participated in the 24 Challenge Tournament held at Lancaster-Lebanon IU13 on May 12. Competing against students from schools across Lancaster and Lebanon counties, Bear Creek students demonstrated their mental math skills, problem-solving abilities, and sportsmanship throughout the fast-paced competition.

The 24 Challenge is a mental math competition in which students use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to make the number 24 from four numbers shown on a game card. Competitors must use all four numbers in their final solution. The game encourages students to develop critical thinking, pattern recognition, and mental math skills.

Students at the recent event competed in four rounds using singles, doubles, and variable cards, with the top 16 participants advancing to the semifinal round. Marshall Thackara earned a place in the semifinals as one of the tournament's top 16 competitors.

During semifinal competition, students also competed for table winner honors. Henoc Kazadi, Sam Stauffer, and Israel Tema each earned the highest scores at their respective tables.

The Bear Creek team also included Landon Bollana, Brooks Dolan, Sam George, Kingston Leggett, and Myles Reed.