Mathletes

Mathletes is North Shore High School’s mathematics competition team, led by captain Kevin Gnapoor. It competes against high schools around the state, and its funding is tied to female participation: Kevin tells Cady Heron that the team receives twice as much money if it has a girl. The invitation presents Mathletes as both an academic activity and a possible alternative to the social identity Cady has acquired as the “Africa Girl.”

Purpose and Recruitment

Kevin approaches Cady in class and introduces himself as the team’s captain, explaining its statewide competitions and the funding advantage of having a girl on the roster. Ms. Norbury, who is erasing the board, endorses the invitation, telling Cady she would be a good fit. Cady finds the prospect appealing and agrees to consider joining, partly because being a Mathlete seems like a step up from being identified only by where she came from.

The Team’s Image

Kevin follows up by handing Cady a business card identifying him as a “Math Enthusiast/Badass MC.” He asks her to think it over and adds that the team would like to get jackets, suggesting that its ambitions include a recognizable group identity as well as competing. Cady’s surprise at Kevin’s card also marks her unfamiliarity with the social customs she encounters at North Shore.

Social Position and Cady

The invitation does not immediately settle Cady’s place in the group: later, Kevin calls to her as “Africa” while passing by, and she thanks him before blushing. She remembers that Mathletes are considered near the bottom of the school’s social ladder, so the recognition brings both the possibility of belonging and embarrassment about the status attached to the team. Gretchen Wieners notices her blush and interprets it as evidence of a crush on Aaron Samuels, illustrating how an interaction connected to Mathletes is drawn into the school’s wider system of social interpretation.