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The vital importance of mathematics, while generally acknowledged, may not necessarily be appreciated. Math is often misunderstood and maligned, especially by students. Math is dull and boring. Math is way too hard. Math is anything but cool. At the same time, math can be fun and rewarding. Math can be beautiful and creative. And perhaps more importantly, math can nurture strong analytical and problem-solving skills, key ingredients to career success. One of the tools in the arsenal to bridge the discord between general perceptions and critical reality is the math competition.
Since 1969, the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) has been staging national math competitions to encourage students to explore, discover, and learn more about mathematics and problem solving. Along the way, thousands of students have become a bit more comfortable with math and a bit more confident in what they can achieve.
Why Math Competitions?
Math competitions are a primary extracurricular activity that can both stimulate and cultivate student interests. Like sport, whether for recreation or competition, math competitions require some basic knowledge and understanding. Coupled with discipline and practice, math exercise will lead to improved self-confidence, enjoyment, and personal success. And math competitions are much more than just an intellectual pursuit for gifted students. A good math competition provides opportunities for "Hey, I can do that!" self-discovery and nurtures a bit of "Now, maybe I can try that!"
Teachers play a critical role in math education, and competitions represent much more than another opportunity to organize! Most math competitions provide a plethora of supplementary resource materials, from sample and past problem sets to current weekly or monthly problems, as well as other resources. In the case of the CMS, those resources range from access to the A Taste of Mathematics (ATOM) series of books, to math camps, to other competitions, and even to CRUX, the international problem-solving journal. All these resources can be valuable and rich tools in their own right, and the selection, adaption, and combination of these resources allows tailoring to individual classroom or student interests.
Teachers can choose from many math contests and competitions. Some...