Math Circles
For the past two years, I have been involved in the Colorado State University's Math Circles program. This year I am the primary organizer and last year (Summer 2013) I was the co-organizer. Math Circles is a summer camp for middle school and early high school students. The camp gives the students an opportunity to learn mathematics in a hands-on environment while at the same time engaging in social activities with people who have similar interests.
Organizing a camp can be a challenging task but with the help of a co-organizer I schedule and develop the activities for the week, round up volunteers to help chaperone the students and instructors to lead sessions, create a math treasure hunt, market the camp, recruit any additional speakers such as the head of the Department of Mathematics, organize picnics/meals/snacks, and do all the budgeting for this event.
Organizing a camp can be a challenging task but with the help of a co-organizer I schedule and develop the activities for the week, round up volunteers to help chaperone the students and instructors to lead sessions, create a math treasure hunt, market the camp, recruit any additional speakers such as the head of the Department of Mathematics, organize picnics/meals/snacks, and do all the budgeting for this event.
Math, Science, and Technology Day
Started in 1992 as a partnership with El Centro and the Natural Science Education Outreach Center, this program has seen significant growth over the last 20 years. This program is designed to motivate fourth graders to take mathematics and science classes in middle and high school so that they can enroll and succeed in a STEM major. Math Science and Technology day exposes students to math, science and technology in a fun way, allowing them to recognize that math and science are part of everyday life.
I gave a presentation, along with Liz Lane-Harvard, on the Mayan Counting System in the Fall of 2012 and 2013. It is crucial to engage students that might not otherwise consider mathematics as a career at a young age.
I gave a presentation, along with Liz Lane-Harvard, on the Mayan Counting System in the Fall of 2012 and 2013. It is crucial to engage students that might not otherwise consider mathematics as a career at a young age.
MATHCOUNTS
The MATHCOUNTS Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to engage middle school students of all ability and interest levels in fun, challenging math programs, in order to expand their academic and professional opportunities. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear of mathematics must be overcome. MATHCOUNTS provides students with the kinds of experiences that foster growth and transcend fear to lay a foundation for future success.
Every year MATHCOUNTS holds a competition at Colorado State. I have participated in helping with these competitions by grading competition exams.
Every year MATHCOUNTS holds a competition at Colorado State. I have participated in helping with these competitions by grading competition exams.
Math Day
Each fall the CSU math department hosts Math Day, a mathematics competition between high school math students from Colorado, and the surrounding areas. The students participate in two main activities: the PROBE (Problems Requiring Original and Brilliant Efforts) exam, where the high scores win a CSU mathematics scholarship, and the Team Competition, which is a college-bowl-style, double-elimination tournament. I have had the opportunity to help with the Team Competition as both a reader and a timer/scorer for the speed rounds. Math Day is a terrific and exciting experience for the students, teachers and the CSU math department, where we all come together to promote interest and enthusiasm in mathematics.