Top math students compete at Malaspina

Some of Vancouver Island’s brightest young minds recently competed in the 2007 BC Colleges High School Math Contest (mid-island region) at Malaspina University-College on May 4.

This was the thirteenth time Malaspina has hosted the contest, which is organized by a committee made up of math faculty from eleven colleges in BC, each of whom is responsible for planning the contest in their local school districts.

This annual contest consists of two rounds – a preliminary round written at local high schools every March and a final round written at the local colleges in late April or early May. Each round is divided into two sections – the junior section for grades 8 to 10 and the senior section for grades 11 and 12.

62 top math students (30 juniors and 32 seniors from Dover Bay, John Barsby, Kwalikum, Ladysmith, NDSS, Wellington, Woodlands and the Malaspina International High School) in districts 68 and 69 attended the final round of the contest. Each student had to answer 10 multiple choice questions and five written questions in two hours. The top three students from each section received a $100 prize.

The preliminary round of this year's contest (12 multiple choice questions with a 45 minute time limit) was written at local high schools on March 7. Over 500 students participated and the top nine students from each school were invited to participate in the final round.

Winners in this year’s contest included Nick Zouev from Dover Bay (first place, junior category, individual), Davis Sun from Dover Bay (second place, junior category, individual) and Trevor Burton from Ladysmith Secondary (third place, junior category, individual). In the junior team category, Dover Bay placed first with Ladysmith taking second.

In the senior category, Robert Legassicke and Siwei Qu of Dover Bay tied for first place, while Daniel Fortin of Dover received third place. In the senior team category, Dover Bay received first prize, while Kwalikum won second prize.

The day's activities included the contest in the morning, followed by lunch and a presentation by Dr. David Bigelow, a professor in Malaspina’s math department, before awards were presented to the contest’s winners.

This event was generously sponsored by School district 68, the Mid-Island Science, Technology and Innovation Council, the National Science and Engineering Research Council and Malaspina University-College.

For more information on this event, please contact Patrick Ng at 753-3245, local 2311 or ng@viu.ca