First annual Mathematical Showdown outreach held at Norwich

The first ever Norwich University Mathematical Showdown was held on campus on Monday, March 23, from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Eight students from schools around Vermont won $5,000 scholarships to attend Norwich University based on their performance on a morning contest. Notably, students in the eighth and ninth grades won scholarships, as they prepare for future opportunities to study at Norwich University.

The morning contest was designed to be accessible to students at many levels. It provided questions which allowed students to show their sophistication, cleverness, and willingness to persist. One thing that was unusual about the event itself, was that the questions formed the basis for an afternoon mathematics talk, given by Professor McQuillan, based on the questions. For example, one of the contest questions asked for the last digit of a sum of factorials. A willingness to try the question would lead to students quickly realizing that most of the factorials would not contribute to the answer, and so a difficult calculation quickly became a simple one. Another question described two distances that appeared to be the same (but were not) prompting the contestants to compare the two.

After the morning contest, students were led on a campus tour and had lunch, and they participated in admissions events. The admissions team was instrumental to the organization and execution of the events. After these events, the mathematics talk and awarding of prizes took place in the Todd Multipurpose room of the Kreitzberg Library. Special thanks to Director of Admissions Shannon Tighe, as well as Celeste Bailey and Megan Gingras, and Vice President of Enrollment Management Kim Reilly. Also, special thanks to the students, their teachers and mentors and chaperons for making the day go so well. We look forward to expanding and building on this event next year!