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THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
 
Monday, May 11, 1987
 
Section: METRO
 
Edition: ONE-SIX
 
Page: 1B
 
 
 UNCC TUTOR, 13, MAKES MATH COUNT
 
 
By MARIA DOUGLAS, Staff Writer
 
Ashley Reiter tutors three of her classmates in math at UNCC.
 
That`s not unusual - unless you consider that Ashley is 13 years old and in the eighth grade
at Charlotte Latin School.
 
``They were embarrassed at first that they were having problems and I
wasn`t,`` Ashley said. ``But they got used to it.
 
``One told me there were other things she did better than I did.``
 
But when it comes to math, not many people are better than Ashley.
 
She is the 1987 Mathcounts champion in North Carolina. Last month she
finished first in the individual and oral categories. Her Charlotte Latin team also finished first in the
annual math competition - sponsored by professional engineers - for seventh and eighth graders.
 
On Thursday, Ashley leaves for the national competition in Washington,
where she will face about 200 competitors from other states.
 
Math is a family affair for the Reiters. Ashley`s parents, Harold and Betty Reiter are math
professors at UNCC.
 
``I like math because it`s precise,`` Ashley said. ``You can always learn
some more.``
 
Learning more is precisely what Ashley does. In addition to her finite math and business calculus
courses at UNCC, she is two years ahead of her math
class at Charlotte Latin.
 
Ashley became interested in competing when she was a fifth grader taking
seventh grade math.
 
``She became aware of the competition and was anxious to participate,``
said Ashley`s mother. But being only in fifth grade, she was too young to
participate.
 
Ashley said she practiced with the team but didn`t start competing until
seventh grade.
 
``Ashley is very mature and very hardworking,`` said her coach, Caroline
Huggins.
 
Ashley estimates that she`s worked an average of 10 hours a week for three years to prepare for
competitions.
 
Still, she has time for other interests.
 
``I like a lot of different subjects, especially science and Latin,``
Ashley said.
 
She plays the glockenspiel in the school band and is a member of the
National Junior Honor Society. She also is a student council representative
and belongs to a group that teaches sixth graders about drug abuse.
 
Thinking of the future, Ashley said, ``I would like to go to a small
college like Davidson, or maybe Duke or Clemson.`` She said she is interested in food science as
a career because she likes to cook and it involves
chemistry and math.
 
Meanwhile, she earns money tutoring students in freshman level math at
UNCC.
 
``It`s better money than baby-sitting,`` Ashley said.
 
Illustration: PHOTO
 
 
 
Staff photo by DIEDRA LAIRD:An eighth grader at Charlotte Latin
School, Ashley Reiter already is tutoring students in math at
UNCC.
 
Published on 04/17/1987, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
 

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THE CHARLOTTE

OBSERVER

N.C. GIRL WINS 3RD PLACE IN

NATIONAL MATH CONTEST

Saturday, May 16, 1987

Section: METRO

Page: 1B

By RICKI MORELL, Staff Writer

Memo: Story shorter in edition 2

Illustration: PHOTO

 

Caption: Associated Press: Russell Mann of Clarksville,

Tenn., and Ashley Reiter (center) of Charlotte receive congratulations Friday in

Washington from Vice President George Bush.

 

Charlotte Latin School eighth grader Ashley Reiter on Friday

became the first girl to win a medal in the national Mathcounts Competition

in Washington.

Ashley, 13, who is so good in math she tutors college students

at UNCC, won a third-place bronze medal presented to her by

Vice President George Bush.

``I`m thrilled,`` Ashley said Friday from Washington. ``I`ve

been working hard and I expected to be in the top 10. But I really didn`t

expect to be in the top three.``

Four students from each state and U.S. territory - 216 students

in all - competed in the contest sponsored by the National

Professional Society of Engineers. They answered written and oral questions on such

subjects as probability, statistics, linear algebra and polynomials.

Only 24 were girls, and only one of them - Ashley - made it to

the top 10.

``I think it`s quite a tribute to her and all of the hard work she`s

done,`` said Charlotte Latin headmaster Edward Fox.

For Ashley, math runs in the family. Her father, Harold Reiter,

Teaches math at UNCC and her mother, Betty Reiter, teaches computer

science at UNCC.

``We`re very pleased,`` Harold Reiter said. ``We weren`t

expecting such a high finish, but we`re not totally surprised. Still, this is much

better than we thought she would do.``

This is the fourth year of the national competition, which is

designed to show that ``math can be exciting and fun,`` said Mario

Baldessari, a Mathcounts spokesman in Washington.

The N.C. team - composed of four students and an alternate -

came in eighth out of 54 teams. The S.C. team came in 23rd.

``North Carolina has traditionally had a strong team,``

Baldessari said.

The other N.C. team members were Stephen London of Grey

Culbreth Junior High in Chapel Hill, Tim Ross of Lowes Grove Junior High in

Durham and Ghene Faulcon of Ligon Middle School in Raleigh. Spencer Mar of

Grey Culbreth Junior High was the alternate.

To become a member of the state team, they competed against

more than 1,300 students in regional and state competitions.

Ashley is the 1987 state champion.

In the national competition, girls have made it to the top 10, but

never to the top three, Baldessari said.

First- and second-place winners in the national competition

also were from the South: Russell Mann from Clarksville, Tenn., and Jason

Hughes of Montevallo, Ala.

``There were a lot of jokes up here about the South rising

again,`` Baldessari said.

All content © 1987 THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

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"Take a look at Asian Americans," she said. "The girls do just as well as the boys. But our society doesn't think that way. I think society puts pressure on girls not to do well in math. I don't think that my sex has anything to do with my winning or not winning this prize. I won it because I worked 10 hours a week for three years."