The Branson math team, led by Owen Xu ‘25 and Emmanuel Katz ‘25 and advised by math teacher Mahtab Lak, is a hub for students passionate about math. The team has participated in the California Math League and spends club meetings doing fun math riddles, games and other activities.

Each week, the math team provides students with the opportunity to approach math with an open mind as they welcome peers, faculty and guest speakers to lead “Tuesday Talks.” 

Another exciting event planned for the math team is a screening of a movie about Maryam Mirzakhani, a Persian mathematician and the first woman to win the prestigious Fields Medal. 

Branson’s math team also competes in the California Math League each year. The format of CML is as follows: each participant has 30 minutes to answer six questions, with scores ranging from zero to six. The top five individual scores from each school are combined for an overall team score out of 30. (If the top five student scores are perfect scores, the school would score a 30 and so on).

“This year we got a 25 out of 30, which is generally good for Branson because people don’t typically get a high score,” said Brad Yen ‘28. 

Branson has consistently performed well in CML and other competitions. In previous years, the school has ranked first in the region and 33rd in the state out of 112 participating schools. 

Lak encourages all students — regardless of skill level — to join the math team. 

“[Math is] the foundation of lots of art, beauty, dance — everything,” she said. “If you don’t like math, or if it’s not your cup of tea, just be there as an opportunity to see it in a different lens or open up to it.”