MATHCON 2015: A Huge Success Building excitement about mathematics around the country 42 States, 330 Schools, and 43,000 Students On April 25, 2015, Concept Schools organized another successful event, MATHCON 2015, hosting 700 finalists from around the country at the University of Illinois at Chicago. These phenomenal students, ranging from grades 5 to 12, were the top performers out of the 43,000 who had taken the online test back in March 2015. With its goal of promoting math education, MATHCON received unprecedented participation this year. 43,000 students from 330 schools in 42 different states participated. At UIC more than 1,500 people consisting of finalist, parents, family members, and teachers gathered for an exciting day filled with mathematics. The excitement was nothing less than what one witnesses at a sports event. Best schools of MATHCON 2015 Best Elementary School Mount Eerie Elementary, WA Best Middle School MATHEMAGICIAN Before the award ceremony, Arthur Benjamin, a math professor of 25 years, aka the mathemagician, enthralled the audience with numbers. It was amazing to see him beat a calculator to find the square root of a five-digit number. East Middle School, MI Best High School Middlesex County Academy, NJ First place winners of MATHCON 2015 by grade Grade 5-Ashwin Rajan Grade 9-Shubham Singh Country Lane Elementary School, CA Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict, CT Grade 6-Srivasudha Ramanujam Grade 10-Singh Kush East Middle School, MI GAME 24 FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS While students took their test, parents took the stage for an exciting math game, Game 24. After a fierce competition between parents, students took the stage to come up with number 24 by using randomly given four numbers and four operations Grade 7-Justin Ha Leonia Middle School, NJ Grade 8-Prastik Mohanraj ESUMS, CT Middlesex County Academy, NJ Grade 11-Sam Inman Middleton High School, WI Grade 12-Grant Simmons Byron Center Public Schools, MI Bringing ART into Mathematics What did participants think of MATHCON 2015? MATHCON was such an inspirational event for my son and his peers. What a great opportunity for each student to be energized by math challenges that strengthen their thinking around problem solving. Parents and students both enjoyed captivating speakers like Arthur Benjamin, and fun math games like Game24. We hope to be back next year.” Deborah Schildkraut, parent Stemmed from the idea that Mathematics is all around us, part of MATHCON 2015 was a photo contest. We received hundreds of photos from around the country ranging from the Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio to various objects in nature. Then the top ten photos were voted for by a large group of participants and the top three were awarded at MATHCON 2015. Above are six of the finalists. To see more photos please visit www.mathcon.org "MATHCON did a great job in energizing students, creating an excellent competitive environment, and recognizing best students and best schools. Your competition builds excitement about mathematics. Every one at our school wants to participate in MathCON next year." Sofia Vaksman, Teacher & Math Club Advisor Middlesex County Academy, Edison NJ A Glimpse into MATHCON 2015 We applaud all students who participated this year, no matter what their scores, for taking an interest in mathematics and all the wonders it has to offer. And, we thank all the teachers and administrators for allowing their students the chance to compete and strengthen their math skills outside the classroom on a national scale. Please visit our website, www.mathcon.org and watch a video of the event to get a taste of the excitment at MATHCON2 2015 www.conceptschools.org