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The International Mathematics Competition Math Kangaroo 2004

On March 18th, the international mathematics competition Math Kangaroo 2004 took place in the United States for the seventh time. Every year, about 3 million students in over 30 countries take part in the competition. On the third Thursday in March, students around the world solve the same problems as chosen by Kangaroo’s International Committee. The competition is held on ten levels, from 3rd to 12th grade. Worldwide, the competition is overseen by the French organization La Kangourou sans Frontiers. However, each country organizes the competition at the local level, and is responsible for the financial resources necessary for conducting the event and for awarding the participants. The goal is to encourage children and youth to study math, and to promote the knowledge of mathematics among them. The quality of the prizes is designed to help reach this goal.

This year, 448 American students in four states, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, and Ohio, participated in Math Kangaroo 2004. The competition was organized by the charity organization Math Kangaroo in USA, NFP, Inc., which is located in Lisle, Il. Volunteers working with the organization helped to prepare and supervise the event in 13 locations. On the afternoon of March 18th, each student received a sealed envelope with the set of problems. In the Polish centers, which were mainly Saturday Polish Language schools, the problems were given both in Polish and English. In the American locations, they were only in English.

The awards ceremony took place on May 2nd in the Polish Museum in Chicago, and the results were posted on Math Kangaroo’s web page, www.mathkangaroo.com. For the participants in other states, the prizes and diplomas were mailed.

As every year, the scores achieved by the students varied greatly. There are no preliminary qualifying competitions before the main event, so that some of the students were encountering these types of math problems for the first time and were simply not prepared to solve them. However, the goal of holding the Math Kangaroo competition is to make the students aware that there are many issues in mathematics beyond what they see in school, and that there is always much more to learn. By awarding every participant, we gain their trust, and encourage them to take part in the competition again.

Many of the students received higher scores than they had the previous year. Those who scored highest were already familiar with the competition, by having participated in previous years, solving problems found on our - and other - web pages, and being part of math teams. During the awards ceremony at the Polish Museum of America, the teachers from the Jan III Sobieski School were especially proud, because their students had received many of the highest scores. This school has been solving Kangaroo problems for the past eight years during their meetings on Fridays and Saturdays. The school also hosts math team meetings during the week for students who do not attend on the weekends. In a similar way, those who helped organize the competition at the Trinity and Jan Matejko Schools were very pleased with their students’ achievements. Of course, many of the parents were also very proud of their children.

The prizes awarded for participation in Math Kangaroo in USA were made possible because of the participation fee and the help of sponsors. Without the enthusiastic support of several Polish businesses, Math Kangaroo would not have been able to rent the rooms needed to hold the competition and the awards ceremony, to pay the state and federal fees, to print flyers, or to make T-shirts with its logo. Every participant received a diploma, a T-shirt and a pen. Those who placed 1st through 10th were awarded with a gift certificate to Best Buy or Target. Those who scored at the 11th through 15th place in 3rd grades and 11th through 20th place in 4th grades and were present at the awards ceremony received mugs donated by Mr. Jan Krynski from Polish Hardware, Inc. The full selection of Polish Hardware’s products can been seen on their web page, www.domitp.com.

- Mr. Krynski provided a special prize of $225 for Bartek Bak from 6th grade for the highest number of points among elementary and junior high students, 112 points.

- Mr. Edward Lis, a poet, engineer and inventor, provided a special prize of $625 for Nicole Kravis for the highest number of points among high school students in Illinois, 96 points.

Math Kangaroo in USA, NFP, Inc. provided two college grants:

- $1000 for Dominika Kozera, who has participated in Math Kangaroo seven times with excellent results, and earned 2nd place in 12th grade this year.

- $500 for Dariusz Gorczowski, who has participated in Math Kangaroo four times with excellent results, and earned 1st place in 12th grade this year.

Both these students will begin their college studies this year. We would like to provide special prizes each year to 12th-graders who had regularly participated in Math Kangaroo and had earned very good results. All the prizes are listed on the web page www.mathkangaroo.com. Letters were also sent to American schools informing of the students’ participation and achievements in Math Kangaroo. Because of insufficient resources, letters were not sent to Polish schools, but they are listed on the web page. We are all very proud of the fact that Polish students scored very well in this year’s competition.

Unfortunately, not all the hopes for awarding the winners of Math Kangaroo 2004 were able to be realized. The students will not be going to the international camp in Europe. Math Kangaroo in USA, NFP, Inc. had asked several banks and large businesses for help, but was denied. Air lines were also unable to provide discounts on air travel. When the options for prizes became either purchasing airplane tickets for five students and a guardian for a 10-day camp in Zakopane in August or awarding every participant with diplomas, T-shirts, and gift certificates, the second was clearly the better choice. Next year, Math Kangaroo will again attempt to provide for a meeting between our winners and those from other countries. The hope is that by that time, we will have built up the trust and generosity of possible sponsors, or the number of participants will double so that Math Kangaroo will be able to afford all that it planes.

The goal of Math Kangaroo is to make students interested in mathematics and to overcome the timidity which even their parents often experienced when confronted with this realm of study. Knowledge of mathematics helps with improved results on school tests, and on the ACT and SAT. Successful participation in an international competition also increases the students’ confidence. A favorable attitude towards solving problems will soon evolve into a love of learning in general, and we agree that a good education makes life more worthwhile.

Sign-ups for Math Kangaroo 2005 begin in the fall. Our web page, www.mathkangaroo.com, contains all that an individual or group might need to prepare for participating in the competition. We hope that you will join us.

mo

contact@mathkangaroo.com

translation: ao

Lisle, May 2004