Do the math and you’ll realize the deadline is looming for the Okanagan’s mathematically-inclined Grade 8 to 12 students (including those being home-schooled) to register for the preliminary round of the 2013 edition of the British Columbia Secondary School Mathematics Contest (BCSSMC) for the region.
The preliminary round takes place on April 3, but the deadline for schools to register is March 8.
Co-sponsored by Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan, the contest was created in 1990 to promote an interest in mathematics at the junior and senior secondary school level in the Okanagan Region. Today, 10 identical regional math competitions occur each spring through the BCSSMC.
The contest is divided into two categories: juniors (Grade 8-10) and seniors (Grade 11-12). A standardized set of questions for each category, prepared by a province-wide committee of college and university mathematicians, will be administered to students at their school by participating teachers.
Sponsor teachers will grade the contest papers with the help of an answer key provided by the BCSSMC committee. The top three to six finishers from each school will be invited to attend the final round of the competition on May 3 at the Kelowna campus of Okanagan College. Finalists will compete for top honours, cash prizes, and, for the top senior, a cash prize of $200 and a one-semester tuition scholarship to either Okanagan College or UBCO, to a maximum value of $3,000.
For more information about the contest, contact organizer Clint Lee at clee@okanagan.bc.ca. Copies of the contests from the last several years, with solutions, are available on the British Columbia Secondary School Mathematics Contest website at http://people.okanagan.bc.ca/clee/bcssmc/.