79R17156 KO-D

By:  Howard                                                       H.R. No. 1761



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Four middle school students from Sugar Land 
represented the Lone Star State at the National MATHCOUNTS 
competition in Detroit on May 6, 2005, and became the first Texas 
team in the 22-year history of the program to win first place; and
	WHEREAS, Team member Mark Zhang, an eighth-grader from Fort 
Settlement Middle School, further distinguished himself by winning 
second place in the individual category among more than 20,000 
competitors from across the country; a participant in last year's 
contest as well, this gifted young man had achieved a perfect score 
on the written exam and placed first in the individual rounds at the 
state competition before progressing to the national event; and
	WHEREAS, The other talented members of the Texas team are 
Jeffrey Chan, a seventh-grader at Fort Settlement Middle School who 
ranked third at the state competition and scored a perfect 800 on 
the math portion of the 2005 SAT, Kevin Chen from First Colony 
Middle School, the first sixth-grader in Texas MATHCOUNTS history 
to make it to nationals and the second-place winner at the state 
event, and Dennis Mou, a Fort Settlement eighth-grader and 
accomplished violinist who garnered the only perfect score in Texas 
on the AMC-10 competition; and
	WHEREAS, These exceptional young "mathletes" from the Fort 
Bend Independent School District have benefited from the guidance 
of their coach, Jeff Boyd, who has been coaching MATHCOUNTS teams at 
three different schools over the past 13 years; he and his team have 
been invited to visit the White House and meet with President George 
W. Bush in honor of their academic achievements; and
	WHEREAS, MATHCOUNTS is a prestigious annual national 
competition that promotes math excellence for sixth-, seventh-, and 
eighth-grade students and brings together youth, educators, 
industry sponsors, and volunteers to ensure that students develop 
the mathematical skills needed for their future; more than 2,000 
students from across the state participate each year in the Texas 
MATHCOUNTS program, which is sponsored by the Texas Society of 
Professional Engineers, and since the national program's inception 
in 1983, more than six million students from around the country have 
participated; and
	WHEREAS, The members of the 2005 Texas MATHCOUNTS team have 
brought tremendous pride not only to their families, their schools, 
and their community, but also to the State of Texas, and it is 
indeed appropriate to join in commending these remarkable young men 
on their national championship; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature hereby congratulate Mark Zhang, Jeffrey Chan, Kevin 
Chen, Dennis Mou, and Coach Jeff Boyd for their outstanding success 
at the 2005 National MATHCOUNTS competition and extend to them 
sincere best wishes for continued achievement; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for the team as an expression of high regard by the Texas 
House of Representatives.