As far as competitions go, this one wasn't even close.
A fourth grade class at Woodbury Elementary School took part in the Times-Republican Super Goals challenge and smoked past the goal it set and then some.
The 20 students shattered the original goal of totaling 10,400 completed math problems on their own as they were able to do 14,261 problems correctly. They had about three weeks to do the challenge with a Super Bowl Sunday deadline, and averaged about 36 problems completed by each student per day for 20 days.
As a reward for completing their challenge, the Times-Republican brought in a pizza party, which was held in the classroom during lunch time Monday.
"They've impressed me and I'm very proud of them," said their teacher Jamie Williams. "I wanted them to be successful."
The students completed the math problems at home and during breaks in class at school. They found out Monday just how far they surpassed their goal, which brought smiles across the classroom.
"It's been neat to see them set a goal and work to make it," Williams said. "They can see hard work pays off."
Williams has also noticed their math skills progress as they moved toward their goal.
"I've been seeing them get more and more math problems correct," she said.
Student Taylor Lyon saw that progression in her own work.
"When you do so many it helps you learn more," she said.
So was Lyon excited Monday to partake in the pizza party?
"More than excited," she said.
The students had so much fun they plan to take on another challenge even though it won't be Super Goals and correspond with the Super Bowl.
"I think they would be excited for something else and set another goal," Williams said.
The class was randomly selected by the school district to take part in this challenge. Last year students from Hoglan Elementary took part in a successful reading challenge in the first-ever Times Republican Super Goals.
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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com
