Do you enjoy math? We don't mean doing repetitive problems over and over, or problems that you have to do in a specific manner to receive a good grade. We mean do you enjoy being given a challenging problem that requires you to think and be creative? And do you enjoy working with others who like thinking and being creative as well?
If yes, check out NNVMath’s Competition Team. Our Competition Team goes to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) each year to participate in ARML. Going to ARML is a fun and rewarding experience.
Q & A:
Who can join NNVMath’s Competition Team?
Any student in grades 7-12 who lives in Northern Nevada is welcome to apply to join the competition team. If you live in California or Southern Nevada, please contact Tim Sanders at tim@mathleague.org If you live elsewhere, contact us and we will find out who you need to contact.
You must be a good teammate. That includes being willing to learn from your teammates and share your knowledge. You must also be able to listen to your teammates and problem solve with them. A lot of emphasis is placed on being a good teammate because a bad teammate can throw the entire team under the bus.
You must want to learn more math concepts, ideas, approaches, etc. If you’re done learning, this is not the place for you.
You must participate in NNVMath MathRocks contests.
You should be on track to take Calculus in 12th This isn’t a hard line but it is a good guideline.
You must be able to be okay with being wrong – it’s going to happen and melting down, isn’t going to change it.
What is ARML?
ARML stands for the American Regions Mathematics League. It is a team based competition that started in New York over 40 years ago and is now a national contest with an international division. It takes place in 4 locations around the US at the same time, always the weekend after Memorial Weekend. Our test location is the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Here is their website for more information:
A team for ARML purposes is 15 students. It is our goal to eventually take 3 teams.
How much is it to be on the Competition Team?
The minimum yearly fee is $50 and the maximum is $300. All students are required to contribute 5 hours of service to approved math related activities. Students who wish to pay less than the $300 team fee, need to contribute more hours.
Our family is undergoing serious financial hardships and even these minimal fees are more than we can afford. Are there any options?
We work with the belief that math opportunities should not be withheld from a student whose family is truly unable to afford them. If this is your situation, please contact our president, Sherry, at Sherry@NNVMath.org and explain your situation. Understand that we don’t give handouts, we give opportunities. That means you will be expected to provide additional help, write a thank you note, or something else similar in exchange for someone else paying your expenses.
Are there practices?
We practice the Sunday after each MathRocks contests plus another 1-2 times per month from October until April with every Sunday in May except Mother’s Day and Memorial Weekend. Practice time is from 1-3 at Evelyn Mount Northeast Community Center in Reno. Each year we find a business who donates a training room space to us for this purpose. We are working on finding our 2016-17 school year space.
What if I can’t make all practices or MathRocks contest?
That’s fine. We like kids being whole kids with other interests. Most of our kids are involved in other activities such as Cross Country, Swim Team, Dance, Tennis, DECA (a business related program), etc. What we ask is that team members be at practice when the can and plan their schedules early to make as many MathRocks contests as possible. Understand that if you are too busy to make more than a couple practices or to participate at all in MathRocks, you won’t be prepared for ARML and that isn’t being a good teammate. Students are asked to communicate their plans regarding contests they will attend and practices they will miss.
How do I join the Competition Team?
Send an email to Sherry@NNVMath.org letting us know you want to apply to the Competition Team
Fill out our Competition Team application
Attend 3 practices (to let us evaluate how you interact with the team)
Attend 2 MathRocks contests (this lets you see what we do)
NOTE: Students who make the team are on the team condition to their paying their fees, contributing their volunteer hours, and continued good teammate behavior.
I have a question not listed here. How do I get it answered?
If you have other questions, please email them to Sherry@NNVMath.org