A Winning Formula: New Trier student adds math club to Evanston

New Trier High School senior Aren Emrikian is making his high school years count. 

Emrikian, who is dedicated to sharing his passion for math with others, founded the MATHCOUNTS club at Evanston’s Chute Middle School ahead of the 2025-26 school year. Now, Emrikian is in talks with the school’s administration to continue the club in the 2026-’27 school year.

The club was formed under the umbrella of the MATHCOUNTS Foundation, a nonprofit that provides math programs to students from sixth to eighth grade to “build confidence and improve attitudes about math and problem solving,” according to the organization’s official website.

When he was a student at Wilmette Junior High School, Emrikian himself participated in the school’s MATHCOUNTS club, describing it as part of what made his middle school experience “so enjoyable.”

One day, Emrikian said he was speaking with his mother, Ani, about her own middle school experience at her alma mater, Chute. 

“I was actually curious if they’d had some kind of MATHCOUNTS Club themselves at Chute,” Emrikian said. “My mom told me, ‘Well, they probably don’t have it.’ And so I figured that’s something I could rectify because I know, in every school, there’s a lot of bright kids, right?

“In my opinion, every child has potential. And so some kids really enjoy doing math, but they don’t have that access to resources like I did because I had the privilege of going to Wilmette Junior High.”

After careful conversations and coordination with Chute administrators, Emrikian brought the club to fruition.

In an email to The Record, Ani Emrikian said MATHCOUNTS is Chute’s first math club in more than 15 years. 

“It’s been really gratifying to hear that the students have been really enjoying themselves,” Aren Emrikian said of feedback he has received about the club, which he also hosts. “It’s also great to see them becoming closer friends with other kids who are going to this MATHCOUNTS club because these are the kids who are pushing themselves to learn new math and to try new things to improve their problem solving skills. So, … it’s great to see them find each other and make friends.”

MATHCOUNTS also hosts a competition series, geared toward problem-solving, for which Emrikian helped prepare club attendees. Sometimes, Emrikian said he would give students practice competition problems, see how they performed, and then go over any commonly missed questions in detail.

Four of the club attendees participated in the official MATHCOUNTS Competition Series.

On a personal level, too, Emrikian has found spearheading the club to be incredibly rewarding.

“It can be a bit nerve-wracking, talking in front of a bunch of students and trying to explain problems, but I think it’s great in terms of, not just math, but also building people skills,” he said. “I’ve become a lot more confident in terms of public speaking, and presenting slash teaching other students. And it’s been very rewarding overall. I’m very happy to be doing it.”

While the club is free to attend, Emrikian has been fundraising for the MATHCOUNTS Foundation. He raised just under $1,500 last year and has set a goal of $5,000 for this year.

When The Record last caught up with Emrikian in 2024, he had formed a math circle, Kids Inspire Kids, to teach problem-solving math skills to local middle schoolers. Emrikian is still running the math circle weekly, or sometimes biweekly, from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wilmette with approximately 11 to 12 participants in attendance every time.

Emrikian is working to encourage and increase female participation in the club.

“This summer I went to the Ross [Mathematics Program], and part of what made that experience great is that 50% of the students were girls, so that’s something my mom and I have been trying to encourage — more female participation in the club,” he said.

As Emrikian delves into his senior year of high school, he plans to continue with the math circle and MATHCOUNTS Club for as long as he can, at least until he graduates, at which point he hopes someone else can carry the torch forward. 

“I think it’s been a great experience and, going to college, I would like to continue giving back in a similar way,” he said, “even if I might not be able to maintain the exact same format, but this has been really a great part of my life over these last couple of years running these programs, and I think it was a really great choice to start both of them.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.