MSCC To Host Math Contest March 7; Registration Deadline Set for Feb. 27

Suppose that $7,500 is invested in an account that pays 3% compounded continuously. Find the amount in the account after 5 years.

Junior and senior high students who think they can answer that question will want to participate in the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Mathematics Contest at Mid-South Community College on Saturday, March 7.

MSCC is serving as a competition site for the ninth consecutive year.

“We are pleased to provide this academically-stimulating opportunity and look forward to great participation from the students of our region,” said Regional Director Anthony Wilkinson, lead faculty for Mathematics at MSCC. “Hosting some of the best mathematical minds in the region is always an exciting event for Mid-South Community College.”

More than 140 students from Earle, East Junior High, Marion, West Memphis High, West Junior High, and West Memphis Christian School participated in the 2014 regional event at MSCC.

Students in public, private, and charter schools are eligible to participate in the contest, as are home-schooled students.

The subject-area tests will reflect the vision set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the Arkansas Department of Education adopted frameworks. Questions will generally reflect problem solving and conceptual understanding rather than routine manipulation.

High school students currently enrolled in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus, Statistics, and Calculus are eligible to take the corresponding exam. The competition fee is $2 per student, and the registration deadline is February 27. For more information on the local contest, please contact Wilkinson at (870) 733-6862 or awilkinson@midsouthcc.edu.

Participants will sign in between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in the Wilson Conference Center in Magruder Hall on MSCC’s South Campus, and subject exams will be conducted at 10 a.m. in the Southland Greyhound Science Center.

After the tests and before the results are announced, students will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on educational activity coordinated by students from the Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Following the exercise, at approximately 11:00 a.m., math contest awards will be presented.

First-, second- and third-place finishers in the regional competition will receive trophies and will qualify to participate in the state competition, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Top finishers from the contest at MSCC have often performed well in the state competition. In 2013, David Zhong of West Memphis High School earned an honorable mention in Geometry competition. In 2012, Rachel Reece of WMHS did the same in the statewide Statistics contest.

Other top finishers from the MSCC contest may also have the opportunity to advance, depending on how their scores compare with students in other regions throughout the state.

Winners in the state competitions in Algebra I and Geometry will receive graphing calculators. The top three finishers in the state competition in Algebra II, Trigonometry/Pre-calculus, Statistics, and Calculus will be awarded scholarships for $600, $400, and $300, respectively, to the colleges or universities of their choice. The winners of the state contests receive scholarships totaling $5,200.

Honorable mention certificates will be given to participants eliminated from the top three positions by tie-breaker items.

All of MSCC’s full-time mathematics faculty will be involved in the regional event, and adjunct instructors have also been encouraged to participate.

ACTM is a professional association that supports and encourages good mathematics teaching. The organization’s mission is to provide vision and leadership in improving the teaching and learning of mathematics so that every student is ensured of an equitable, standards-based mathematics education, and every mathematics teacher is ensured the opportunity to grow professionally.

The answer to the investment/interest problem? All competition-ready math students know it’s $87,734.90 (ACTM 2014 Algebra II contest).