Math was cool - at least for a few hours during the MATHCOUNTS Lehigh Valley Regional 35th annual Competition held recently at Lower Macungie Middle School.

The Saturday event had a bunch of kids out of bed and away from televisions and social media, while being excited about math.

Kevin Campbell of the Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, sponsor of the event spoke with The Press.

“Math is the foundation to being a good engineer ... therefore, since engineers make all the good things that make life easier, all engineers go to heaven,” Campbell said.

Springhouse Middle School students took top honors for their team. Springhouse eighth grader, Brandon Cai, took top individual honors.

“His brother, Victor, won the event last year,” Francee Fuller of the Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, told The Press.

She said Springhouse Middle School also took top overall honors last year.

Springhouse teacher Kevin Hallman coached the team.

Orefield Middle School students took home a special prize as being the most improved from last year. Teacher Craig Waters was their coach.

Campbell, competition coordinator, welcomed the participants on behalf of the Lehigh Valley Chapter Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers.

“MATHCOUNTS is a national math coaching and competition program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, that promotes interest and ability in math by making math excellence as challenging, exciting and prestigious as achievement in sports,” Campbell said. “MATHCOUNTS has reached more than 4,000,000 students in its thirty-year history. It works because it is a partnership of the education, business and technological communities.”

The winning team will advance to the state-level competition in Harrisburg March 15-16.

The four highest ranking individuals from the count down round and the two highest-ranking individuals who were not on the winning team will also compete in Harrisburg.

Top students from Pennsylvania will compete for national honors May 11-14 in Orlando, Fla.