Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2011 - (Page 11)

California American Regions Math League (ARML) Team, which trains top math students for the national ARML contest. For the next three years, my weekends often involved driving 120 miles round trip to the San Diego Math Circle, or 110 miles round trip to the Long Beach Math Circle—and sometimes both in a single day. Basic Training By the time I entered high school in 2007, I was thinking seriously about bringing the math circle experience to my hometown in Orange County. I envisioned creating a studentrun community-service organization where math enthusiasts could both explore advanced problem-solving topics and bring the math circle experience to underserved students in Southern California. By integrating learning and teaching, Orange County Math Circle (OCMC) members would work together to serve our community, strengthen math culture, and make math resources accessible to all. my mentors and teachers to join the OCMC Advisory Board. As my training progressed, I began offering monthly lectures on topics such as number theory, probability, and geometry to about 20 students from seven different schools. My first class, held at Concordia University in Irvine in October 2008, was designed to prepare students for the upcoming AMC 8 exam. As time went on, my program began to attract a group of loyal students who then invited their friends to the Math Circle, and I spread the word through my networks in math communities. By the end of the school year, my classes were regularly filled with about 40 students. Expanding Opportunities After running OCMC myself for two years, I focused on building it into a community-service organization that would attract more student volunteers. I asked my ARML team members to help and posted calls for volunteers on the team forum at ArtofProblemSolving.com. At the end of September 2009, with The OCMC is unique in that it is run by students. Here, Johnny teaches a math circle class. With no facilities, no volunteers, no students, no money, and no experience in running a math circle, the idea of starting one seemed daunting. But what I did have was my passion for math, enthusiasm to serve, and determination to work hard. While researching how to start a community service organization, I learned that the Davidson Institute was launching its Davidson Young Scholars Ambassador Program. I had been named a Davidson Young Scholar in sixth grade, so I was eligible to apply. I submitted a proposal outlining my vision for OCMC and was accepted into the program. Through online seminars, discussion forums, and individualized mentoring, I spent 14 months learning skills such as goal setting and proposal writing, leadership, advocacy, fundraising, and public relations. Step by step, I applied what I learned to get OCMC started. I created a mission statement, wrote a business plan, and invited some of 11 volunteers from seven local high schools, we held our first organization meeting, where we decided to organize a math tournament: the Thanksgiving Math Tournament for students in grades three to six. We decided to use MATHCOUNTS as our model, but added a few fun activities to make math a cool activity for younger students to enjoy. For example, we planned a Math Relay where teams of students would solve math problems in an outdoor relay format: a student from each team would run a 50-meter dash to a problem station to solve a problem and then return to tag the next student in line to continue. The first team to solve all 10 problems correctly would win the relay. I organized subcommittees for problem writing, grading, registration, promotion, and fundraising so volunteers could select activities that interested them. As more people learned about the tournament, www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine http://www.ArtofProblemSolving.com http://www.cty.jhu.edu/imagine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2011

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2011
Contents
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Problem Solving
Orange County Math Circle
Number Theory
Count Me In
National Mathematics Competitions
Math at the Science Fair
Just My Speed
MathPath
When Origami Meets Rocket Science
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Making a Difference
High School Options for Gifted Students
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2011