On the morning of Tuesday December 15, the Mt. Greylock sophomore class traveled to Williams College to take part in Williams’ annual Mathblast. Mathblast is an event that brings sophomores from around the area to take part in mathematics-related presentations by Williams mathematics professors. This year, Buxton, BArT, Deerfield Academy, and Mt.Greylock attended the event. Tuesday’s topics included: “Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Ratio” with professor Allison Pacelli, “Geometry Constructions with Compass and Straightedge,” with professor Lori Pedersen, “Mathematical Card Tricks” with professor Mihai Stoiciu, “Patterns and Algorithms” with professor Eyvi Palsson, “Soap Bubbles and Mathematics” with professor Frank Morgan, and “Why Knot?” with professor Colin Adams. Mt. Greylock math teacher Crystal Williams, who led the trip along with Mt. Greylock math teachers Nolan Pratt and Lucas Polidoro, was impressed by the Williams professors’ presentations. “I think that this year’s presentations were very successful; they broke down a bunch of nice, high-level math theories for high school students,” she said. Many students enjoyed the presentations but some found the complex subjects tedious. Alexis Moran, who heard the Why Knot?, Mathematical Card Tricks, and Soap Bubbles presentations, said, “it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exciting, it was kind of boring.” Sam Dils, who attended the same talks, was more enthusiastic: “it was pretty interesting, we got to learn about different types of math that we don’t do at Greylock.”