The Battle for Mathematical Supremacy in the Western Suburbs
In 1981, the first ICTM Class AA State Math Contest was held. The State Champion was New Trier High School in Winnetka. The following year the Trevians repeated. And they won again, and again. The Trevians made it an inaugural eight straight championships before the Wildkits of Evanston Township High School took top honors in 1989 and 1990. In New Trier's final championship run in 1988, they set a record for the highest team score ever at ICTM State: a score of 992.
In 1981, Robert W. Martin, Jr. was still the head boys' tennis coach at Naperville North High School. That year, the Huskies won their third straight DuPage Valley Conference Math Meet, beating out the Panthers of Glenbard North, the Raiders of Glenbard South, the Wildcats of West Chicago, the Falcons of Wheaton North, the Tigers of Wheaton Central, the Wolverines of Wheaton-Warrenville, and the Redskins of Naperville Central, the 1978 DVC champ and the only team other than Naperville North to win DVC (once since the contest began in 1977).
In 1981, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy did not exist. It opened its doors for the first time in 1986 as a three-year high school for the state's brightest students in the fields of math and science. "A Pioneering Educational Community", its purpose was "to serve students of exceptional talent in mathematics and science (grades 10-12) in a residential setting" and "to promote the improvement of mathematics and science education for other schools and students from throughout Illinois through outreach activities and educational partnerships."