The national finals of the Social Security Board's first National Math Olympiad were held this morning. With an infectious jingle and months of advance promotion, the competition was held to make math interesting to high school students and in no small part to repair the SSB's tattered image. Well we don't know about the image but at today's finals there was definitely the interest. Here's the story from Belmopan.
Keith Swift Reporting,
With a marching band, a steel orchestra, and mascots - this morning the University of Belize's gym in Belmopan carried the festive air of a party which is why you'd be surprised to know that this was a math competition. It was the national finals of the Social Security Board's Math Olympiad.
There were six teams of two - from high schools which won the chance to be here by finishing first and second in regional eliminations. The game was played
jeopardy style and so on a big screen TV, as well as on flat screen monitors in front of the teams, the students were given a field of questions to choose from.
And once the questions were asked, whoever pressed their buzzer first got a shot at the answer. The teams had 30 seconds to respond. They were allowed only three things: blank paper, calculators, and pencils - nothing else.
Each right answer was a plus to their score and each wrong answer was a minus. That was the rule that would spell doom for Coral and Catarino Pop Jr. from Julian Cho technical in Toledo. At the end of round one they were in the gutter. The team had to re-strategize with their math coach Catarino Pop Sr.
Catarino Pop Sr, Coach
"I am just encouraging him to stay focus, don't care about his credits. We will make sure he brings it down and he makes points but he needs to just stay focused."
But staying focused was harder after SJC let loose their marching band and mascot. It made their presence known.
But the boys from Landivar were making more than just noise, at the end of round two SJC was at 1900 and their nearest competitor was 1400 points away with Bishop Martin at 500. And you wouldn't know it by SJC's Chris Waight doing a victory lap with his school flag draped over his back, but the competition was far from over. The schools had one more chance at victory in round three. They were given one question, one wager and three minutes.
We'll show you the question and the answer but don't feel bad if you don't know the answer because none of these math heads did. Not the Pop family from Julian Cho who waged no points and wrote no answer. And not even frontrunner
SJC got it right.
Quiz Master,
"Their answer is 'a really big number.'"
But Chris Waight and Eric Alamina still clinched the victory for SJC.
Chris who is in fourth form and Eric who is in second form were both overwhelmed.
Chris Waight, SJC Student
"It feels very relaxed that we won but at the same time I feel excited because we won."
Eric Alamina, SJC Student
"I am just really excited to get the prizes right now."
Chris Waight,
"Most of the work got done even before we were selected. They trained a group of like ten of us and then we selected the best two who just happened to be us. Afterwards we were confident enough to know we don't really need to practice as much for this competition. So it was a little bit of practice in the night, you know like reviewing the math but otherwise not much practice."
Eric Alamina,
"Just what he said, we just like during the night we would go over the work for different problems like probability and statistics, sets and so from the past Math Olympiads competitions."
Keith Swift,
Did you ever think math could be fun?
Chris Waight,
"Math isn't exactly fun but I'm good at it so I am happy about that."
Eric Alamina,
"For me from when I was small, I liked math so like I developed my skills in math. I like math."
The winners sharing their victory with their teacher Ofema Castillo who says it was well earned by her students.
Ofema Castillo, Teacher - SJC
"The boys have worked very hard and they have been working privately together. This has got to be positive, totally positive. I think it is a wonderful idea and I believe that the Social Security Board should be congratulated and we look forward to much more of this next year and in the years to come. I've worked with the senior boys for two years really."
But beyond the big prizes Chris and Eric will be taking home, Social Security held the Olympiad to re-energize interest and spur proficiency in math and not least of all transform SSB's battered image from corporate cash cow to community care-giver. SSB's Chief Executive Officer Rolando Zetina says it is mission accomplished.
Rolando Zetina, CEO - SSB
"It is to encourage students to do better in math, to increase the grades, to create that enthusiasm that there should be for a subject such as maths."
Chris Waight and Eric Alamina both took home new computers, a thousand dollars each, and trophies. Saint John's College won a plaque and projector. Belize Christian Academy placed second and Orange Walk Technical High School placed third. The six schools that participated were chosen out of a pool of forty schools and survived weeks of regional eliminations.
