J. P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs finished first in the sweepstakes at the 1998 Mu Alpha Theta convention held in Grenelefe. It was Taravella's first win at a state convention.Vero Beach High School in Vero Beach finished second, Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa finished third, Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland finished fourth, and Lincoln High School in Tallahassee finished fifth.
Penny Swant, the math club sponsor at J. P. Taravella, said that four years ago the school finished 15th at the state convention. The next year, Taravella finished seventh, then third, second, and, this year, first.
She and Mu Alpha Theta sponsor Jim Meier work together with the students at J. P. Taravella.
Vero Beach won both the Alpha and Theta divisions, and for each first place finish received $1000 to help cover expenses for attending the national convention. Stoneman Douglas won the Calculus division, and also received a $1000 check from FAMAT Treasurer Tony DeVarona.
Jason Gershman of Stoneman Douglas High School had the highest score in the Calculus division.
Andrew Curtis of Hillsborough High School and Devlyn Brown of Vero Beach High School both scored perfect 120s in the Alpha division.
There was a five-way tie for first place in the Theta division, with perfect 120s by Darrin Gershman of Stoneman Douglas, Adam Shukovsky of Community School of Naples, and Katie Powell, Brittany Dees, and Greg Leigh of Vero Beach High School.
Darrin Gershman's score in the Theta division was corrected to 120 after the convention was over. He had disputed question 12, which was thrown out, but he was not given credit for the question.
Another correction made after the convention changes the score of Adam Siegel of H. B. Plant High School to 120 on the Theta Applications topic test, giving him first place.
Adam Siegel's score on the Functions topic test was also changed to 120, creating a three-way tie. It was determined that the scanner misread his answer sheet because of an incomplete erasure.
The number of students registered at this year's convention was 1039. There were about 1215 persons attending, including sponsors and other adults.
The list of schools attending (with the number of students from each) is as follows: A C Mosley 18, Armwood 10, Atlantic 21, Barbara Goleman 18, Barron Collier 15, Berkeley Prep 60, Bloomingdale 15, Bolles 12, Boyd Anderson 7, Braddock 12, Brandon 4, Canterbury 11, Cape Coral 20, Chamberlain 12, Choctaw 12, Community School 32, Coral Gables 8, Coral Springs 26, Cypress Lake 22, Deerfield Beach 11, Dr. Phillips 4, Durant 3, Flagler Palm Coast 24, Fort Myers 23, Gaither 15, Gulf 4, H B Plant 22, Hillsborough 22, Jefferson 4, J. P. Taravella 42, King 16, La Salle 17, Lake Mary 24, Largo 4, Leon 8, Leto 13, Lincoln 29, Miami Killian 11, Miami Springs 33, Miami Sunset 22, Naples 33, North Miami Beach 10, Nova Center 22, Palm Harbor Univ 43, Pensacola 22, Pine Crest 9, Plant City 10, Plantation 10, Rickards 40, River Ridge 10, Robinson 5, St. Edwards 12, Shorecrest Prep 15, Sickles 6, South Miami 3, South Plantation 3, St Petersburg 7, Stanton College Prep 1, Stoneman Douglas 37, Suncoast 15, Tampa Bay Technical 8, Vero Beach 32.