By Letty Fernandez

Milton Hernandez, program coordinator in the UTRGV Office of Community Relations, here is seen accepting the Texas MATHCOUNTS Coordinator of the Year Award for 2017-2018, from Maryella Begley, P.E.(DOW) and state MATHCOUNTS committee chair.

Dedication and hard work to the MATHCOUNTS state program has garnered a top award for Milton Hernandez, program coordinator in the UTRGV Office of Community Relations.

Hernandez was named the Texas MATHCOUNTS Coordinator of the Year for 2017-2018. He accepted the award at the Texas State MATHCOUNTS competition in March in Austin.

“It’s really an honor to be awarded. I started with this program three years ago, and I’m happy that all the hard work and dedication my team and I did these past few years is being recognized by the state,” Hernandez said.

The MATHCOUNTS national program offers four levels of competition featuring both a rigorous written competition and a fast-paced oral competition. This national program provides students the opportunity to compete in live, in-person contests against and alongside their peers.

In February, UTRGV hosted a regional MATHCOUNTS competition, with more than 100 middle school students from across the Rio Grande Valley competing at the UTRGV Edinburg Campus. The event was made possible with support from the Texas Society of Professionals Engineers of the Rio Grande Valley and AEP Texas. Hernandez is lead organizer of the regional competition.

“Milton is very deserving of the recognition and works hard to brand UTRGV to students,” said Velinda Reyes, assistant vice president for Community Programs and Operations. “He has really demonstrated his abilities to manage programs and projects with a high level of confidence and a “can-do” attitude. He has built relationships and trust in many of the educators we work with.”

UTRGV events and programs organized by the Office of Community Relations include MATHCOUNTS, HESTEC Week, the Rio Grande Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair, the Regional Science Bowl, and most recently the HESTEC GreenPowerUSA Electric Car Competition – all geared toward science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and career awareness for students of all ages.

For more information about these events, visit utrgv.edu/gcr.