Miller County High School

The 29th Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day (SK Day) was held at

Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA, on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. SK Day consists of a

program of hands-on workshops, career speakers, and a contest. The purpose of the day is to

encourage students to continue their study of mathematics. The director of the event was Dr.

Denise Reid, a professor in the Department of Data Science. There were 22 schools in attendance

at this year’s SK Day. There was a total of 157 participants.

This year’s program began with a welcome by Dr. Shaun Ault, Interim Department Head

for the Department of Data Science. The career speaker for the day was Ms. Kristen Varney.

Kristen works as a Community Planner in the Civil Engineering Squadron at Moody Air Force

Base in Valdosta, GA. There was also a math competition during the day. The participants were

treated to a light breakfast in the morning and taken to VSU’s Palm dining hall for lunch. Door

prizes were drawn at the beginning and end of the day.

Three hands-on workshops were held. The first was “Fractals, Sierpiński, and Pascal” and

was led by Dr. Reid. The second workshop was “The Candy Bar Conundrum: A Sweet Take on

Systems of Equations” and was led by Mrs. Leigh Anne Ramsey from Brookwood School in

Thomasville, GA. The third workshop “Some Mathematics Questions to Ponder” consisted of

stations with manipulatives where students solved six different problems. This workshop was

led by Miss Kassidy Hernandez, a VSU senior majoring in Finance and Applied Economics with

a minor in mathematics and a data science certificate. Kassidy is also a member of the multiple

National D2 champion Red Hots Dance team.

Sponsors for the day included VSU Provost Office, VSU Department of Data Science, VSU

College of Science and Mathematics, Publix, VSU Auxiliary Services, Pearson Publishing,

Texas Instruments, VSU Admissions, and Cengage Publishing. Many thanks to these sponsors

for helping us provide a great STEM day for the participants.

Miller County High School participants include: