Getting groups of students from different schools together for inter-school
events can be difficult even on the mainland. Add in unpredictable ferry
schedules and other island issues, and you’ve got a potential nightmare of
complications. But two determined island math teachers — Tom Tutor from
Islesboro and Pete Pedersen from Vinalhaven — have surmounted these
obstacles to realize a shared vision of excellence in math for middle school
students from Penobscot Bay islands. Since its inception in 1997, the Inter-
Island Math League has grown to encompass participation by Islesboro, North
Haven, Vinalhaven and Swan’s Island.

Pedersen initially conceived the Inter-Island Math League as a way of
encouraging students to apply themselves to everything from basic computation
to solving more challenging math problems — while achieving academic
success. A series of three meets, in which high scorers gain points for
themselves and their school team, are held at each island school throughout the
school year. The final, culminating meet is held at a different island school site
each year to determine that year’s top scorers. Trophies are awarded to the
individuals as well as the schools that have accumulated the most points during
the year.

Pedersen has been teaching on Vinalhaven for 25 years, and teaching high
school math since 1986. He’s a 13th-generation Maine islander — both his
mother’s and father’s families came from Monhegan — who, after growing up on
Peaks Island, found himself settling on Vinalhaven. Evidence of the high regard
in which Pederson is held by his educator peers is his being named Maine’s
1999 Teacher of the Year and the 2002 National Secondary Math Teacher of the
Year. Since 1990, Vinalhaven has placed at least one student on Maine’s all-
state math team each year, and this year Pedersen’s high school math team
placed sixth out of Maine’s 133 schools.

Tutor, this year’s coordinator of the Inter-Island Math League, received the
2002 Radio Shack Corporation National Teacher award for his commitment to
academic excellence in mathematics. Tutor (along with the other 109 recipients
of the award) was recognized at the 80th National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics convention held in Las Vegas in April. Tutor received a $3,000
cash award and Islesboro Central School was awarded a $500 Tech Tool grant.
Tutor received grants from MBNA and the Island Institute to attend the event.
Pedersen, a past recipient of the award, was also in attendance at the
convention in support of his colleague and friend.

A native of Mississippi, Tutor has been living with his family on Islesboro for
25 years. Previously a ship’s carpenter and furniture maker, he turned his hand
toward teaching in 1990, and now teaches math at both the high school and
middle level. Tutor is also chair of the school’s Teacher’s Scholarship Fund, and
is involved in training math teachers in the supporting use of technology during
summer sessions at Taft Education Center in Watertown, Connecticut. He has
also received several grants for his work with graphic calculators.

The final event in this year’s Inter-Island Math League was held on Islesboro.
Top sixth grade winners were Islesboro’s Erika Hatch and Leila Pike, and overall
high scorer was Ian Hopkins from North Haven. At the seventh grade level,
Vinalhaven’s Cassie Bennard and Flora Drury placed fourth and second,
respectively, North Haven’s Emmett Hodder placed third, and first place went to
T.L. Tutor of Islesboro (Tom’s son), top scorer for the year of all grades
combined. In the eighth grade competition, North Haven’s Ben Lovell placed
first, with Islesboro’s Haruka Fujimaki running a close second. Vinalhaven’s
Alaina Martin, Annie Gross and Jessica Carrol were also top scorers for that
grade. This year’s winning school was Vinalhaven.

At this year’s awards ceremony, Pedersen — who has just resigned his
Vinalhaven position to accept a job teaching high school math at the Maine
School of Science and Math in Limestone — was presented with a plaque
reading “Pete Pedersen, 1997-2002: Heart and Soul of Inter-Island Math
League.” Fitting praise for a man who originated this competition that utilizes
mathematics as one more way to draw island communities closer to one another
— just ask his close friend and fellow math mentor, Tom Tutor.