The Competitive Contest Team is an exclusive program for the top students who will compete nationally and internationally, representing Spirit of Math Schools.

This is a series of intensive high-level coaching sessions for students looking for an extreme challenge.

Students must submit an application and participate in an entrance competition.

Only the top 6 - 12 students per level will be selected for the Competitive Contest Team. Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance.

Application Phase 1: Document Submission

The deadline to submit the following documents is June 9, 2024.

• For Grades 3 and 4, at least two math contest certificates with honour roll.*
• For Grades 5 to 12, at least three math contest certificates with honour roll.*
• A recommendation letter from your math teacher at day school or SoM.
• A written paragraph on a mathematics topic which you would like to learn about in no less than 200 words. Explain why you choose the topic and what aspects interest you the most.
• For grades 9 – 12, a recent day school report card with a minimum of 92% or A+ in mathematics.

* Honour roll scores are 80% or above. Honour roll certificates for contests taken with SoM this year will only be handed out at the end of the school year. Therefore, please include screenshots of the contest scores and highlight the applicant's name. For students registered in SoM grades 1-6, BrightSpace screenshots of the CNML, SOMC, or Mathematica results are accepted. Please see the following links to find your name on the honour roll of some common contests: Math Kangaroo, Mathematica, COMC 

* We encourage all students who are interested and motivated to apply. Students who upload less than the required number of certificates will be considered for acceptance. The selection is made after assessing the entrance competition only.

Application Phase 2: Entrance Competition

All applicants will be invited to compete for the top 6-12 positions within their level. The entrance competition focuses on reasoning and problem solving and has a total of ten questions.

We suggest the following material to practice for the entrance competition:

• Grades 3 and 4: Spirit of Math Contest Grades 3 to 6, WMO Level 1 Resources
• Grades 5 and 6: Spirit of Math Contest Grades 5 to 6, WMO Level 2 Resources
• Grades 7 and 8: WMO Level 2 Resources, Purple Comet MS, Gauss
• Grades 9 and 10: Purple Comet HS, Pascal, Cayley, Fryer, Galois
• Grades 11 and 12: Harvard MIT Math Tournament, Purple Comet HS, Hypatia, Euclid, Canadian Senior Math Contests
• All grades: Mathematica, Math Kangaroo

Details

** We do not offer any virtual sessions for grade 9-12 this year.

*** Timings can change. Competition dates and additional discovery topic meetings will be scheduled at a later stage.

Contests 2024-2025

We are aiming to offer our students the chance to participate in multiple national and international competitions, with a focus on team competitions. We are planning to participate in some of the following contests during the 2024-25 session.

• Grades 3-8: Noetic, MOEMS, Mustang Math Tournament, Purple Comet, Canadian Innovation Math Contest
• Grades 9-12: Purple Comet, Harvard MIT Math Tournament in Boston, John Hopkins Math Tournament in Baltimore, The Western Mathematics Exposition Competition

Expectations

To stay in the program, students need to be active participants and contribute to the learning of other members which will give them the full benefit from the coaching experience. As members of the club, students are expected to:

• Attend Competitive Contest Team sessions.
• For grades 3 to 10, a maximum absence of two sessions is accepted.
• For grades 11 and 12, a maximum absence of three sessions is accepted.
• Compete in at least three prestigious math competitions during the school year.
• Participate in team competitions, as organized by the coach.
• Complete one group discovery project and presentation. 
• Organize and attend additional discover topic meetings.
• Participate in your coaching sessions and be engaged in out of classroom activities, such as commenting on online posts and discussions between sessions.

Discovery Topics

Besides the regular coaching sessions students will be completing one independent research project - the Discovery Topic. The purpose of the Discovery Topic is for students to explore advanced math concepts through collaborative research. Students will develop a great understanding of this math topic and will be able to present their learning.

Guest Speaker

One guest speaker visits the Competitive Contest Team every year to engage students through interactive presentations on an advanced math topics or research project.

Costs

Application Fee: $30   

Program Fee: FREE 

Travel to Competitions

Students participating in the Competitive Contest Team Grades 9 to 12 must be able to travel to national and international math competitions. To ensure the safety and guidance of our students, they need to be accompanied by one parent/guardian to all out of town events. Furthermore, expenses for food, accommodation, and travel will not be covered by Spirit of Math. We are actively exploring options for financial aid to assist with the expenses, but please note that there is no certainty in securing such aid.

Contact

Email: [email protected]

FAQ

Q: My child is not yet in grade 3 next year. Can they join the Grade 3/4 Competitive Contest Team?

A: Yes, they are welcome to apply if they are up for an extreme challenge, but only the top 12 students of all applicants for grade ¾ level will be selected for the team.

Q: My child does not have enough honour roll certificates; can they still apply?

A: We encourage all students who are interested and motivated to apply. Students who upload less than the required number of certificates will be considered for acceptance. The selection is made after assessing the entrance competition only.

Q: Where do I find the honour roll certificates for this year?

A: Honour roll certificates will only be handed out at the end of June. You can upload a Brightspace screen shot or an image of the contest itself.

Q: Does my child need to be enrolled in SoM to join the Contest Team?

A: No, all students can apply to the Contest Team.

Q: My child is in grade 3 next year. Is she expected to compete for a spot with grade 4 students?     

A: All students applying for the grade ¾ Competitive Contest Team will write the identical entrance competition. Our goal is to select the strongest 12 students from both grade 3 and grade 4. Overall, the contest questions are very challenging. They focus on problem solving and critical thinking and not necessarily content learned in school or SoM. In the past several years, we experienced that students from both grades get accepted nearly equally. We have many grades 3 students in this year’s grade 3/4 level, as well as many grades 5 students and in our grade 5/6 level, and so on.

Q: Will a child currently in grade 4, going into grade 5 in September, write the grade 4 or grade 5 contest this June?  

A: Students will write the entrance competition of the Contest Team level they applied for. A student who will be in grade 5 in September, will write the grade 5/6 entrance competition.