Valor is known for its strong academic program, which provides students with various opportunities to demonstrate their academic skills. This November, our high school will have the chance to host one of the most prestigious math competitions — the American Mathematics Competitions- on campus.
AMC, the American Mathematics Competition, is organized by the Mathematical Association of America. It is a preeminent math competition for all students under 12 grade, including 12th grade, in order to discover the next generation of innovators and strengthen their mathematical capabilities. AMC has a history of over 70 years and a wide range of countries participating. This is a great opportunity for students to demonstrate their problem-solving skills and excellent mathematical thinking.
Eagle Eye reporters, had the honor of interviewing one of the math teachers at Valor, Ms. Erin Albright, who is in charge of this upcoming competition. According to Ms. Albright, Valor has participated in this national competition in the past. For unknown reasons, in 2017, the corporation stopped activities but resumed last year, in 2023, to continue to meet students’ interest in high-level mathematics skills. In contrast to last year, when the opportunity was mostly open to Calculus 3 students, this year, it is available for all Valor students, without any requirements.
AMC is well known for its high demands and standard of mathematical thinking. Ms. Albright points out, the competition is “in a test format,” where “questions are tied to skills in high school class,” but it also requires “more creative thinking” or “out-of-the-box thinking” to form a “bigger picture”. Therefore, the competition is a big challenge to students’ mathematic and problem-solving skills, and “will be easier if students reach a certain level of math”, noted Ms. Albright.
Despite the difficulty of the completion, Ms. Albright still encourages Valor students to join the competition. “It is a great opportunity,” Ms. Albright says, “you can just take it for fun, and [it helps with college application by just simply participating].” AMC also gives students an opportunity for scholarships and to further demonstrate their math skills in higher-level competitions. “It is competitive though” noted Ms. Albright. Students are required to “score well” in order to get a scholarship and move to another level, like “AIME,” and even go up to the “international Olympiad.” Even if students do not get a high score, this is still a great opportunity and experience for math enthusiasts.
Are you interested in joining the competition now?
The way to sign up is by scanning the QR code in the photo below or clicking the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCyLZk7JppEdHLvn4g9V__UQV7ZOCxQy-1FLARgRsuTy3u2A/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0 Be sure to sign up before the deadline which is this week. We encourage everyone from Valor to join the competition and seek joy in the world of Math.
