Washington Mathematics Official Publication of the Washington State Mathematics Council
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Looking Forward to the Math Olympiad (Saturday, May 1, 1999)
Diane Asim, Middle School Contest Coordinator
Eastern Washington University
http://www.csmt.ewu.edu/wsmc/
The Fall announcement for the 1999 middle school Math Olympiad has been sent out. Interested teachers, parents, and volunteers can find a copy of this announcement at the web site for the Math Olympiad. (See address above.)
The date for the 1999 Olympiad is Saturday, May 1. All interested fifth through eighth grade students are invited to participate at one of the seven sites across the state: Bellingham, Cheney, Ellensburg, Gig Harbor, Hoquiam, Sequim, and Vancouver. (The Hoquiam and Sequim sites are new sites for 1999; thank you to Eileen Sterling and Brian Berg for coordinating these new sites.) Registration packets for the Olympiad will be mailed out near the end of January for a February 20 registration deadline. Registration packets will be mailed only to those individuals who brought teams to the 1998 Olympiad and/or who request to receive a packet either by returning a portion of the announcement that just went out or by providing their name and address to Diane Azim at the address at the end of this article.
The Math Olympiad committee has made some changes for the upcoming Olympiad. The format of the Olympiad will remain the same. Session I will be a one-hour Problem-Solving event, and Session II will include five 20-minute content area tests: number sense, measurement, geometric sense, probability and statistics, and algebraic sense. The Session I problem-solving problem, this year, will be scored using a newly-developed rubric that is based on the rubrics used to score the Washington state 4th, 7th, and 10th grade assessments. The rubric is posted at the web site (address above). The rubric will be adapted to reflect the particular details in the assigned Session I problems for scoring the 1999 and subsequent Olympiads. Copies of the 1999 adaptations of the rubric will be provided to coaches following the awards assembly on the day of the Olympiad.
Another change for the 1999 Olympiad will be that registration for the Olympiad will be done at the state level. with all registration forms being mailed to one location in the state. The state registrar, Jerre McQuinn, will process the registration forms for each site, and the site coordinators will then contact the coaches to confirm their registrations and provide instructions for that particular site. On the 1999 registration form, therefore, coaches will be asked to list their first and second choices for an Olympiad site to attend. Registrations will be processed in order by their date of postmark. As sites fill, teams will be registered at their site of second choice. (More specific information about registration will be mailed out in the January registration packet and posted on the web site.)
The team cost for the 1999 Olympiad remains $35. It is important that coaches process their requests for payment for the Olympiad as early as possible and that they do not delay registering their teams while they await the printing of checks. All sites may close this year, even before the postmark deadline, if their limit numbers are reached. Coaches who delay mailing their registration forms because they are awaiting checks may not find room at either of the sites of their choice. It is much safer to photocopy the registration form, giving one copy to the district for processing and mailing the other copy to the state registrar, to reserve space until the check arrives. No teams will be permitted to participate in an Olympiad site, however, if payment has not been received prior to the date of the Olympiad. The registration period is one month earlier this year in order to help coaches secure the funds in good time.
Coaches bringing four or more teams to the Math Olympiad this year are requested to bring one parent/chaperone volunteer for every four teams to assist in the proctoring of the Olympiad events in the classrooms during the Olympiad. The Math Olympiad is completely created and sponsored each year by volunteers. At a site hosting over 150 teams, over 150 volunteers are needed to assist with proctoring the events, scoring the events, running tests or errands during the events, or preparing certificates for the awards ceremony. At least one parent/chaperone volunteer is needed as a proctor for every 4 teams a school sends to the Olympiad. At least one parent/chaperone volunteer is needed as a volunteer to assist with other tasks for every 2 teams a school sends. (A school sending 4 teams, for example, should plan on providing two parent/chaperone volunteers, one to work as a proctor and one to work as a runner, certificate preparer, scorer, etc.) It should be noted that the site coordinator at each site is responsible for choosing where each volunteer will work. Volunteers who work during the Olympiad will receive an Olympiad t-shirt as a thank-you for their work. Volunteers who work through the lunch hour (e.g., certificate preparers) will be provided a lunch during this time.
Community Service recognition will again be part of the 1999 Math Olympiad ceremonies across the state. All coaches interested in recommending fifth through eighth grade students for a Community Service commendation at the 1999 Olympiad are advised to plan to make this recommendation by Friday, March 26, 1999. Fifth through eighth grade students who contribute to their school or local community through tutoring, helping a teacher teach, working as a teacher's aide, or providing some other form of service within their school or local community on a regular basis or for an extended period of time are eligible for a Community Service commendation.
Math Olympiad t-shirts will also be available this year. (It is possible that they will only be available by advance order, however.) The cost will be $12 or under, and the design will be created by a fifth through eighth grade student. All fifth through eighth grade students are invited to design a t-shirt for the 1999 Math Olympiad. This design must be submitted to Diane Azim at the address at the end of this article by Wednesday, January 6, in order to be judged before the mid-January mail-out of the registration packet. (A copy of the design will be included with the t-shirt order forms.)
Answers to further questions about the Olympiad may be found on the web site (address above) or may be addressed to Diane Azim, state coordinator (address below), or one of the site coordinators listed on the web site. There is a need each year for new Math Olympiad sites to open. Should you or another educator in your area be interested in coordinating a WSMC Math Olympiad in your school or district, please contact Diane Azim or the site coordinator nearest you. We are hoping that individuals hoping to open new sites will work closely with the site coordinator at the site of their choice during the 1999 Olympiad to learn how to run an Olympiad for next year or future years. Information about what is involved in running an Olympiad site is also available at the Math Olympiad web site.
To coaches, students, and parents planning to attend the 1999 Olympiad, may your study sessions be productive and may your sense of your own mathematical understanding and expertise grow as you work together this year. May your ability to work in cooperative teams develop, too, as you prepare for the teamwork you must do on Saturday, May 1!
Diane Azim, Math Olympiad coordinator
Math Dept. MS#32
EWU, 526 5th St.
Cheney, WA 99004-2431
(509) 3592876
dazim@ewu.edu
© 1999 WSMC and Richard T. Edgerton