38th annual math contest multiplies student successes

For the past 38 years, junior and senior high school math whizzes from across Calgary have sharpened their pens in the spring to compete in the Annual Calgary Junior Mathematics Contest hosted by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Calgary. The highly competitive 2014 contest culminated on May 28 with an awards banquet held on campus to recognize the top 50 students and their teachers.

Completed last April in the students’ home schools, the 2014 contest consisted of a section of short answers plus a section dedicated to argued solutions. In total, 532 students participated, representing 32 schools from the Calgary region.

The top four individuals recognized at the banquet were Richard Kang (Grade 8, John Ware Junior High School), Ruiming Xiong (Grade 9, Queen Elizabeth Junior/Senior High School), Brian Kehrig (Grade 9, Renert School), and Kevin Chu (Grade 8, John Ware Junior High School).

The team awards were presented to Queen Elizabeth Junior/Senior High School, John Ware Junior High School and Westmount Charter School for the high combined scores of their respective top three students.

A rich tradition of math excellence and outreach

Launched in 1976, the Annual Calgary Junior Mathematics Contest was originally organized by Professor Emeritus A. A. Gibb. Prof. Robert Woodrow from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics assumed the role of organizer for the contest in the early 1980s — a job that has stuck ever since.

“Being involved with teachers and bright young students is a pleasure that keeps me coming back,” says Woodrow, who has encountered thousands of talented mathematics students throughout the contest’s rich history.

“From the standpoint of the students, our contest is quite unique,” says Woodrow. “Unlike standard multiple-choice contests, our format puts added emphasis on reasoning and communication. These two skills are extremely important in mathematics,” he adds.

• Above: 2014 Annual Calgary Junior Mathematics Contest top team award winners, from left: Nicholas Kwan, Stephen Shi and Jeffrey Zhou from Westmount Charter School (third); Richard Kang and Kevin Chu from John Ware Junior High School (second); and Jack Zhang, Ruiming Xiong, and Zachary Lau from Queen Elizabeth Junior/Senior High School (first).

Contest a stepping stone for gifted young minds

Over the years, the contest has become a springboard for many outstanding students including Alex Fink, whose record still stands for placing in the top three in three consecutive years (1997-1999).

The talented Fink took part in his first contest in Grade six and later went on to complete a BSc Honours at the University of Calgary in Mathematics in 2006 and a PhD at Berkeley in 2010 in the same discipline. Today, Fink is a lecturer in pure mathematics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.

“This contest, along with others like it, was instrumental in keeping me stimulated in junior high and giving me something to aspire to,” shared Fink.

“The event whetted my appetite for more, eventually inspiring me to reach the International Math Olympiad team — something I achieved in my last year of high school,” he adds. “The contest was also my way into the social network of like-minded individuals in Calgary and beyond, which provided invaluable support.”

This year’s winner — Richard Kang, who also took the top honours in last year’s contest — has a chance at breaking Fink’s winning streak if he takes the top spot again in 2015.

In addition to the signature Annual Calgary Junior High School Mathematics contest, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics also hosts ongoing outreach activities such as Math Nite as well as the Junior Mathematics Contest. Both activities offer an outlet for students whose mathematical abilities are not challenged by the standard school curriculum.

The 2014 Calgary Junior High School Mathematics Contest was sponsored by ConocoPhillips Canada, the Mathematics Council of the ATA, the Calgary Catholic Board of Education, Calgary Board of Education, the University of Calgary’s faculties of Science and Education, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Test your math: Sample questions from this year’s contest 

1. Alex, Betty and Chi have a total of 87 candies altogether. If Chi gives four candies to Betty and three candies to Alex, each person then has the same number of candies. How many candies did Chi start with?
2. A book has 200 pages. How many times does the digit 5 appear in the page numbers?
3. A truck is delivering heavy goods from city A to city B. When travelling from A to B the average speed of the truck is 45 km/h. On the return trip, the empty truck has an average speed of 90 km/h. The total time spent travelling from A to B and returning from B to A is 4 hours. Find the distance in km from A to B.