Conduct A

Mini-MathFest

Let us bring the excitement of MathFest to your District

1.  Why conduct a Mini-Fest?

    This is a chance for your district, city, or several schools to organize to have the challenge and excitement of MathFest in your own district.  Each year we conduct a state-wide MathFest in Atlanta and next year we are preparing for a National K-8 Competition.  We do understand that it may not always be possible for districts to send hundreds of students to another city due to the mounting expense.  Therefore, we are loading our materials and bringing the excitement to you.  Our goal is to improve math achievement in this country.  We believe that if we don't change the focus that our children have for math and science that the best jobs of the future will be out of their reach.  We are willing to go on the road to help students across the country. Our Team has conducted MathFest Programs for ten years and our experience can help your students.

2.  How does the program work:

   The hosting organizations split the responsibilities with our team which allows MathFest Competition to take place.  MathFest has five major components that must be present in each of our programs.  Each of the components are listed below:

•      MathFest Competition Level 1 Area.  This is the larger area where students from each grade level compete in math.  In MathFest students compete by grade levels which allows us an opportunity to align our testing to the state standards by grade level.

•     MathFest Competition Level 2 Area.  A portion of the students from the Level 1 Area are permitted to go to the next level of competition where the math rigor increases. 

•     MathFest Game Area.  We want to provide as many opportunities to extend the experience and excitement for math.  In the Game Area, we take ordinary games that have math content and we staff these games so that students can play.  We provide tickets for students who win these games and allow them to trade-in their tickets for prizes.

•     MathFest Speakers and Special Presentations.  This component allows us again to extend the experience.  Math oriented professionals, AP Math students, and faculty create small 30-45 minute presentations that we be conducted throughout the day for students and parents.

•     MathFest visual presence.  We recognize the people are moved by what they see therefore we work to create the image of MathFest.  We require the students to have MathFest shirts (our organization can provide these shirts for $7 each) and there are banners and decorations that must be in the area to establish and facilitate the excitement of MathFest.

3.  What are the responsibilities of the hosting organization?

     The Hosting organization must provide the appropriate facility space, tables, chairs, volunteers and the Mini-Fest Fee.  The facility must provide for a Level 1 Competition area large enough to seat the largest grade level of students in one seating.  The facility must also provide a game area to handle the students who are being invited and classrooms/breakout session rooms.  Large high schools could be used or multiple schools in close proximately could serve as a site.  Remember that your site must be able to handle the students and the parents who will come in support of their child in competition.  The Level 1 and Level 2 Area must have the seating and table working space for students from each grade level.  The Level 2 Area is generally 100 students or less.  The hosting organization is responsible for the volunteers who will staff the games, assist with the competition, supervise the students and conduct the breakout sessions.  Parents and community organizations make great volunteers.  Typically you will need approximately 50 to 100 volunteers to conduct the Mini-Fest.  The fees are covered in the cost section below.

4.  When can our organization schedule a Mini-Fest?  

     We are currently booking dates for Mini-Fest.  Our Team is available beginning April 12, 2008 and we will book dates into the future as needed.  If your district or organization already has another big event, you can add a Fest to it to provide a deep focus in math.  Please book your dates as soon as possible.  Our Team is also available during summers.  We prefer to conduct the Mini-Fest on Saturdays to allow for maximum participation of parents, but we can also conduct weekday programs

5.  Who can host a Mini-Fest?

    Any organization to include schools, churches, city municipalities, or districts can host MathFest.  Any organization that is able to provide for the Mini-Fest responsibilities can be host.

6.  What are the hours of a Mini-Fest? 

   The hours are determined by the host, however, a strong typical program will take approximately 8-9 hours. 

7.  What is the cost of a Mini-Fest?

   The cost to conduct a Mini-Fest ranges from $3,980- $4,400 plus the expenses. Our team will normally arrive the day before the Mini-Fest and will depart the day after the event.  For a Saturday event, our team arrives on Friday and departs on Sunday. There is also an expense associated with the freight shipping cost for the materials that are needed in support of MathFest.

8.  How will the competition take place during MathFest and how should schools prepare?

    The opportunity to compete against other schools will provide a tremendous incentive/motivation for your students to study and prepare for excellence in math at a level that would truly prepare them for a high level of success on their standardized assessment.  Below is a description of how the competition will occur:

1.    Once your students arrive they will be signed in and will receive a detailed schedule of the day. Each grade level will compete for approximately 2 hours.  This sounds like a lot of time, but it will be fun for your students.  The group competition will be separated into two Rounds.  All students from each grade level will compete at the same time.  The top 100 students from each grade level would go to Round 2 (immediately following Round 1).

2.    The Team portion of the competition place groups of 5 members on teams that compete against other teams.  The Team competition is composed of critical thinking questions which provide students and opportunity to discuss the math.  Students will only compete against other teams from the same grade level.

3.     Each student will be given approximately 6 colored cards.  Each time the student answers incorrectly he/she will be asked to surrender a card. Students will be given Script with math problems on them.  They will be directed by the Moderator to answer a specific problem within a given time limit.  Once time is called, each student will present his/her answer by writing it on a small dry erase board.  The judges will review the answers.  Again, any student with an incorrect answer will be asked to surrender a  card.  Once the student has surrendered all of his/her cards,   he/she will leave the competition area and return to the game area.

     The problems that we will use will be similar to the problems that students will experience on their State assessment.  As you prepare for your State test, you will also be preparing your students for MathFest. 

Do you have a question?  Are you ready to schedule your Mini-MathFest

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