Jan. 9, 2020 marked the first Integration Bee in Boulder High School history. Hosted in the math department by Ms. Bousany and Ms. Speckl during Advisory, students and teachers from all levels of math (Calculus BC, AB, and even Pre-calculus and Algebra) came out to support the fearless Calc BC integration contestants. Students in Ms. Bousany and Ms. Speckl’s Calculus BC classes have been practicing integration for the past couple months. An integral is the area under the curve of a graph of the function, and this competition tested their understanding of the integrals and related concepts in a competitive environment. 

The Integration Bee was inspired by M.I.T.’s Integration Bee, an annual integral calculus competition that started in 1981. The winners of the M.I.T. bee win a quirky Integration Hat, and the BHS bee is no different. Situated in a tight semicircle of desks, the battle for BHS fame and the desired Integration Hat began. Wielding whiteboards and dry erase markers, contestants grappled with challenging integral problems as time ticked away on the screen. Each competitor got three strikes before elimination. Mr. O’Block, a physics teacher by day and BHS referee after hours, facilitated the competition. “Honestly, it was an honor to be picked to officiate such an important historic event,” he said. “I mean, the first annual Integration Bee is a big deal.” When asked about his experience, O’Block joked, “I had a couple of my favorite [contestants], but when you put the stripes on, it’s all about maintaining professionalism.” During the first round, every contestant solved the integral correctly, earning riotous cheers from the audience, which was comprised of some 30 BHS fans. Junior Luke Kreidl had a particularly strong fan base, who created not only a banner with his name but also distributed pieces of paper with photoshopped pictures of his face to show support. But as the rounds continued, students earned strikes and began to drop out. 

With a mere five minutes left in Advisory, only three students remained: juniors Eliza Anderson, Josh Kamphuis, and Luke Leiden. The room buzzed with excitement as the trio furiously integrated the daunting final problem. Despite her obvious distress at the integral, Eliza was the only contestant to answer the question correctly, marking her as the winner of the first annual Integration Bee. 

In the 40 years of the M.I.T. Integration Bee’s existence, the winners have all been male. Boulder High School’s Bee is especially noteworthy because its first winner was a woman. “I’m shocked,” she declared when interviewed after her big win. “I don’t know how it happened! Going into the bee, I just hoped that I wouldn’t get out first. It was really nerve-wracking. There were way too many people watching!”

This new tradition seems to be here to stay. Make sure to come out to support—or participate—next year! Find out about the buzz in next year’s BHS Integration Bee.