More access to the Belize Math Olympiad, that is what the Social Security Board is promising this year as the third annual competition gets ready to kick off next month. It starts on February twelfth in the north with competitions taking place in Corozal and Orange Walk and as explained by the programme manager Leticia Vega there are good reasons why everyone should be excited about this year’s series of competitions.
Leticia Vega, Programme Manager
“Everyone should, especially the high school students, they are looking forward for this important event. It is an annual event so it is the third time we are having it here in Belize.”
Jules Vasquez,
Now the Olympiad, certainly has developed a reputation for good marketing, excellent production of the event itself, with the big screens and really ground breaking, and also it has gained a reputation for having students just hype and really creating a lot of contagious school spirit. How do you all hope to build on your success this year, how do you all hope to take it to another level or are you just satisfied with it as good as it currently is?
Leticia Vega,
“We definitely going bigger and better this year. We have more high schools participating, that’s 42 schools total and each high school has a maximum of four students participating, giving four hundred and sixty eight persons preparing for the Belize Math Olympiad 2009. Apart from that, we are going to the regions now. Before it was just centralized in Belmopan but now we’re going to all the different regions so we expect bigger audiences. People will have more access to the Belize Math Olympiad.”
Jules Vasquez,
You all are creating an appetite for excellence in math which is a hallmark of any advanced society because math in inevitably leads to engineering and the mastery of high functioning skills that are synonymous with a developed society. I know when Social Security started this, or my recollection, was that it was a public relations comeback because they had taken a pounding, it was an idea to say at least we’re trying to do something good. But now all that is behind Social Security and I see that you all have really latched onto the program. Is this that something at Social Security has really taken a belief that if we encourage excellence in math we can build a better society?
Leticia Vega,
“Definitely Jules, SSB strongly believes that math is key and breaking the attitudes, the negative attitudes towards math will help and changing these attitudes will add to the kids learning math and wanting to learn more, developing the society itself in the future.”
The competition starts on Thursday, February twelfth tat the Orange Walk Multipurpose Building where high school students from Corozal and Orange Walk will vye for a regional championship. The central champs will be determined on February 18th in Belize City when the competition takes place at the Belize City Centre.
Then on February twenty fourth the western champs will be decided at the UB Gymnasium in Belmopan and then the southern champs will be determined on February twenty sixth. Two weeks later, the six regional champions will meet at the Belize City centre when the national champ will be chosen on March twelfth.
