The National Math Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, re-opened this year and held its first meeting Nov. 10. The club plans to hold meetings every month starting 2023.

“I have taken a lot of advanced math classes, and so have my friends,” co-founder and co-president senior Esha Gajula said. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to start a chapter and focus not only on community service, but also [on] academic excellence in the math field, especially since so many students at Hebron are really good at math. This year, [there are more students in calculus than previous years] so when you have demand, you might as well [start] a Math Honors Society.”

An invitation from Mu Alpha Theta was required to join the club. The students who received invitations had at least a 3.0 GPA weighted and high grades in two or more math classes. There are currently 80 members in the chapter. 

“I definitely do see [the club] growing,” Gajula said. “This year we already have a lot of members, but next year we hope to build. A big challenge we had this year was getting members because Mu Alpha Theta has a lot of requirements about GPA and which math classes members must have taken.”

The co-presidents both researched about Mu Alpha Theta in the summer. Once the school year began, they started reaching out to different math teachers looking for a sponsor. The club will consist of three aspects: volunteering, competitions and scholarships. They plan on holding peer math tutoring sessions in the library in the mornings starting in 2023.

“Math is one of those things where you either love it or just don’t think you’re good at [it],”  co-founder and co-president junior Hiya Chakraborty said. “It would be beneficial for both the club members and for people who aren’t in the club that need help [to use] peer tutoring, [so they’re both on a] level of enjoying and understanding math.” 

Head of the math department Cameron Casalini said that around eight years ago the school had a Mu Alpha Theta chapter; however, it shut down due to lack of interest.

“I’m hopeful [the club won’t shut down],” Casalini said. “The way it started this time was, instead of teachers, we had students that pushed for it. When they pushed for it we responded, [and] they kept [talking about the club] and bringing more people into it. As long as we can gain trust and exposure [and] get more people into it, then I think it’s something that we can continue to grow and evolve.”

The new chapter still has chapter applications that need to be approved. The club has started to fill out applications since all of their members are finalized and have begun to collect dues. The club also plans on holding officer elections in 2023. 

“I am excited the club is up and running,” Chakraborty said. “I feel like a lot of [the club was] an added thing [on] my to-do list for a while, even though it started as a passion project. I’m excited for the to-do list portion to be done, so we can get started on activities and competitions.”