A slew of youthful grins were visibly present at Piney Chapel Elementary on Wednesday afternoon as the school was crowned mathematic “state champions” — but no grin was bigger than principal Kandye Jones’s beaming smile.

“This is the icing on the cake,” Jones said as she attempted to choke back tears. “No matter what our economic status is, or where we come from, we proved today that we are state champions.”

Although she has been the principal at Piney Chapel for one year, Jones’s emotions authenticated her five-year effort to improve the education at the local elementary school.

“I’m just so proud of these kids and for them to be so excited about math, it just keeps bringing tears to my eyes,” Jones said. “At our little, bitty school, to know that we can win a statewide competition, we really beat all the odds.”

Regional coordinators from the Alabama State Department’s Office of Mathematics Improvement presented the “Overall State Winner” banner for its 2024 Spring Mathematics Challenge Wednesday. Paula Ponders, Region 1 coordinator, and Christy Lockhart, Regin 2 coordinator, specifically honored six Piney Chapel students who helped bring home the win for the school:

— Kindergartener Ella Grace Holland.

— Second-grader Chandler Ayers.

— Third-grader Zayn Pressnell.

— Fourth-grader Kyliegh Jade Ayers.

— Fifth-grader Genesis Mejia.

— Fifth-grader Edelyn Veneros.

“We have regions with much larger K-5 schools, so for a smaller school to win this award is huge,” Ponders said. “For them to have this kind of participation and engagement with math is huge.”

Lockhart, who oversees the region in which Piney Chapel Elementary is in, reciprocated the same sentiment of her fellow coordinator, mentioning the work ethic the young kids showcased throughout the spring challenge.

“Piney Chapel had over 200 social media posts with a very small number of students at that,” Lockhart said. “They posted all day, and late into the midnight hour — so they were very dedicated to get this award for their school.”

Brooke Holland, the K-5 math coach at Piney Chapel Elementary, helped spearhead the challenge for the school, explaining how the kids had to find examples of math outside of the classroom and turn them into the school where the pictures were then posted.

Holland not only mentioned how ecstatic the kids were to win the award — but also the joy it brought to her and her fellow teachers at Piney Chapel.

“Up until the point when we found out, the students were asking me everyday without fail if we had won, so I know this means a lot to them,” Holland said. “It is so heartwarming to see them so excited about math of all things, and it really means the world to know that what we are doing is having a positive effect on them.”