Deadlines

Often students who are excellent problem solvers are not the top students in math class. A way to discover these mathematically gifted students is to have mini competitions in your school beginning in September. These mini-competitions could be given with a 10-minute time limit to every student once a week for 4 – 5 weeks. Typical contest word problems could be used but only 4 to 5 problems per contest. All math topics could be covered during this time and the often invisible but gifted students would not be excluded from the team. Letters could then be sent home to the parents with an invitation for their child to participate in the training of the school’s mathematics team. The letter would emphasize commitment to the meeting time and the advantages for the student because of the extra practice in mathematics.