On Thursday 25th October, 28 girls, representing 15 local elementary schools, public and private, took part in OMC’s first ever annual Girls’ Math Competition! Like the Math Scavenger hunt, the Girls’ Math Competition was a product of our summer internship and aimed to encourage mathematical curiosity amongst 3rd and 4th grade girls outside of their usual curriculum.
The two and a half hour event began with a 1 hour contest that comprised of 20 questions. Designed to be difficult, the questions aimed to encourage the girls to experience the discomfort associated with not knowing the answer. The fear of not knowing can often result in a lack of perseverance; the perfectionist mindset – common amongst girls – often exacerbates this behaviour and prohibits young girls building the confidence necessary to tackle tricky maths problems heads on. The competition was designed with this in mind and by encouraging girls to not be fearful, but excited, we hope to break the cycle. Whilst the contest took place, parents were able to attend a talk centred around math circles and competitions and how they can act as a perfect platform to encourage exploration of math. This talk generated more interest than expected and it was great to see the parents getting involved!
Picture: Aggressions table activity led by Joseph Thompson, sophomore at Windermere High School
During the second hour of the day the girls got to participate in a number of games, designed to encourage the problem solving process and expose them to the exciting and fun aspect of maths. The activity was set up in a similar fashion to a math festival, tables, each with the own math activity and table leader, were available for the girls to rotate between and participate in. A massive thank you to the OMC volunteers who created and ran these activities. Tami Heletz, a freshman at Lake Highland Preparatory school and a member of the LHPS robotics team, used a table activity created by mathpickle.com which was originally used at the Julia Robinson Math Festivals. She modified it so that it was compatible with the robots she brought and during the activity the girls were able to play the Wiggle Worm game live with robots. This creative modification of the original table activity was a big hit at the event and was another fantastic display of Tami’s creativity. Not only has Tami’s math artwork previously won a prize, she is also the only girl who qualified for round 2 of OMC’s “Who Wants To Be A Mathematician” competition. Tami is an extremely talented and inquisitive mathematician; her innovative modification of a pre-existing activity was a fantastic way to showcase the fun and exciting applications of mathematics.
Picture: Robotics activity led by Tami
Teaching girls that it is OK to be wrong is vital in broadening the standard demographic for enrichment mathematics education. OMC hopes that competitions like this can help narrow the gap in mathematics enrichment available for girls’ and minorities, why is this so important?
Why is it so important?
Math doesn’t discriminate, you don’t need to speak a certain language or have wealth to enjoy the benefits that mathematics can offer. Then why are the statistics of girls’ and other minority groups entering STEM jobs so staggeringly low in comparison to their male counterparts? Why do boys outperform girls in rich, white and suburban districts? Stereotypes and perceptions around what a mathematician “should look like” have been affecting the accessibility of high standard mathematics education available to minority groups for decades; here at OMC we are trying to narrow this gap by encouraging girls and minority groups to explore their inherent mathematical curiosity – that we all have – even if it’s not the norm.
In a speech by Professor Francis Su “Mathematic for Human Flourishing”, he goes into detail about how the ideal mathematician has no one face, ethnicity, background or wealth status. When asked to think about notable mathematicians in history, male mathematician come to mind. With our historical mathematical role models being white men, changing perceptions around who “should” and “can” do mathematics plays a key role in ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need to explore mathematics, as well as build the confidence to do so.
With a technology and data boom, being able to understand and analyse data is going to become vital for most jobs. Toni Airaksinen – a professor at CUNY – talks about how many students, especially minority students, “lack the quantitative skills needed for personal and professional success”. Disparities in mathematical literacy are “linked to inequalities in our education system”, balancing these inequalities and ensuring girls and other minority groups are stimulated to participate and appreciate the importance of gaining these skills is vital for ensuring that they are prepared for the future career market. The Girls’ Math Competition acted as a perfect platform for young girls to explore their mathematical curiosity, showing them that “competition” can be fun regardless of the outcome. When giving a talk at OMC, Po Shen Loh from Carnegie Mellon said that the “The high score at Putnam Math Competitions in Carnegie Mellon is one correct answer”. The Girls’ Math Competition tried to cultivate an environment where the girls felt like they had succeeded, whether they got 0,1 or 20 questions right.
The outcome
The event was a fantastic success, girls did a brilliant job at displaying resilience during the contest part of the day and during the games activity they were able to develop their problem solving skills in a set of activities designed to be fun and engaging. The support for the event exceeded our initial expectations, 5 teachers from Audubon Park K-8 Public school came along to support the girls, with 1 of the teachers volunteering to help with the event.
After the contest and games activity we held a large raffle prize, which was a bundle of math books, games and colouring books, as well as individual raffles where the winner of each table activity got to pick out a book. Winners were announced at the end, we had 4 winners at 3rd grade level and 4 winners at 4th grade level. A student from Dr. Phillips Elementary received the third place 3rd grade award and another student from Sandlake Elementary received the third place 4th grade award. We had two second place winners at both grade levels from Sandlake Elementary school, tied with a student from Bay Meadows Elementary and Blankner K-8 Elementary. Seminole Science Charter school’s 3rd grade student, Prachi K., received the first place award, and the highest overall score and first place 4th grade award was won by Alli.T, from Lake Highland Preparatory. Click here to view the winners slideshow.
Winners were able to pick a book and will be mailed a small cash prize. A massive congratulations to all the students who participated in the event, every single girl displayed outstanding perseverance and enthusiasm and deserves to be celebrated for their effort. With the help of company sponsors, we hope to be able to increase these prizes next year!
A massive thank you the Rosen JCC, without the kind donation of your beautiful venue our big events would not be possible. Not only is the location great with convenient parking, the renovated facility is beautiful and perfect for running our events. Thank you to the maintenance team at the Rosen JCC who helped set up the tables, chairs and the projector. The Rosen JCC also put together a lovely banner for us and the director of events, Lorri Levine, has always been very prompt and accommodating. Thank you!!
As we continue to pursue our mission at OMC – making maths enrichment accessible to all – we hope this competition not only acts as an example to others, showcasing the benefit of creating events of this type, but to remind us all here at OMC why narrowing the gap in maths enrichment education, especially for girls, is not only important, but vital in cultivating an inclusive environment accessible to everyone.
Competitions like OMC’S Girls’ Math Competition are a perfect way to show the world that maths isn’t for one, but for all.
Picture: Girls who attended the competition
Sources used in this post (and super interesting reads!)
“Mathematics for Human Flourishing” – Professor’s Francis Su Speech
https://mathyawp.wordpress.com/2017/01/08/mathematics-for-human-flourishing/
“Math skills are ‘essential for social justice’” – Toni Airaksinen
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9385
“Where Boys Outperform Girls in Math: Rich, White and Suburban Districts” – Claire Cian Miller
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/13/upshot/boys-girls-math-reading-tests.html
