New Math Initiative launched for Black and Indigenous students by Canadian Mathematical Society

BY PAUL JUNOR

The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) has been around since June 1945. It was originally called the Canadian Mathematical Congress but changed its name in 1978. The goal of CMS is to “Promote and advance the discovery, learning and application of mathematics”( cms.math.ca). As a non-profit, charitable organization its vision for the future is,

“To reach out and form new partnerships with the users of Mathematics in business, governments and universities, educators in the school and College systems as well as other mathematical associations; and in doing so, share experiences, work on collaborative projects and generally enhance the perception and strengthen the profile of Mathematics in Canada.”

The CMS envisioned a community of mathematicians, where the voices of black and indigenous mathematicians and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are acknowledged. It launched a Closing the Gap-CMS Inclusion Initiative in which it invited 400 black and indigenous students to participate in the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC), and the Canadian Mathematical Gray Jay Competition (CMGC).

To the organization, this is, “An opportunity for students to engage with Mathematics and STEM activities and have their mathematical talent recognized.”

The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge is open to Canadians citizens or permanent residents in all locations, at all grade levels. Students must fulfil the following eligibility requirements:

• The student must be under 19 years of age as of June 30^th, 2021
• The student must be attending school full-time (elementary, secondary, Cegep, or home-schooled) at least since September 15^th, 2021
• The student must not have written the Putnam competition. This is a held the first Saturday in December and is administered by the Mathematical Association of America

The CMGC is relatively new as a competition and is open to students in grades K-8. We want to focus on work that students covered in their grade 5-8 curriculum. Mathematicians from all over Canada worked collaboratively to develop it.

Students who identify as black or indigenous are able to write the 2021 CMGC for free. The competition will be held on Thursday, October 8^th, 2021 in North and South America. It will be held on October 9^th, 2021 in different parts of the world. The eligibility requirements are the following:

• The student must be under 15 years of age as of June 30^th, 3021
• The students must be attending school full-time (elementary, secondary, or home-schooled) at least since September 15^th, 2021
• The students must be in Grades K-8

The topics that students need to know include the following: probability, geometry and symmetry, exponents and order of operations, algebra, sequences and series, patterns, simple counting problems, elementary number theory, ratio, rate per cent, data analysis (interpreting bar and pie graphs), integers and fractions.

There is a Frequently Asked Questions page that answers questions about eligibility and registration inquiries, modes of writing (print or virtual), exam format and procedures, payment and shipment inquiries, login and account inquiries and how results are communicated.

Students can access practice questions on the website as well as solutions. The 2020 Exam Paper written in October 2020 can be accessed as a pdf file as well as the solutions.

In order to help black and indigenous students and their parents prepare for this innovative  Math initiative free webinars are offered.  The first one titled “Raising Kids who aren’t scared of Math: The 5 most valuable things you can teach your students,” was offered on October 13^th, 2020. The second one “Math the Elders knew,” was offered on October 14^th, 2020. There were two webinars offered on October 22^nd, 2020 titled, “Math and Mindset for the Competition and beyond,” and “Preparing for the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge( CMC).”

Parents and students can assess these webinars anytime at the Ontario Association for Mathematics Educators website: oame.on.ca. They provide practical ideas and knowledge that are useful.