Matt Wyneken (UM-Flint) reports that state participation in the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) continues to grow. Over 20,000 Michigan students participated in the American Junior High School and High School Mathematics Examinations (AJHSME and AHSME). The Michigan AMC winners were honored on September 4 at a reception in Lansing hosted by Governor John Engler.
A total of 15,051 students from 228 Michigan schools participated in the 1996-97 AJHSME on November 21, 1996, again ranking Michigan first in the national registration figures. National Honor Roll recognition went to 132 Michigan students, and 964 received Michigan Honor Roll certificates. Two Michigan students tied with perfect scores: Mike Asmar of Boulan Park Middle School in Troy, and Manish Bidasaria of the CMU Accelerated Mathematics Program. In addition, the following teachers were honored as Edith May Sliffe AJHSME award winners: Mike Curtis of Carleton Middle School in Sterling Heights, Rose Nickodemus of the Center for the Arts and Sciences in Saginaw, and Jennifer Taylor of Boulan Park Middle School. Wyneken and Kristina Hansen (UM-Flint) serve as state AJHSME coordinators.
At the senior high level a total of 5710 students from 107 Michigan schools participated in the 1996-97 AHSME. This year's Michigan winner was Michael Khoury of Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills. School Honor Roll distinction went to Detroit Country Day School and Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland. National Distinguished Honor Roll status was earned by 69 Michigan students, and 98 others achieved the National Honor Roll. Gold Medal Recipientsparticipants who placed first in their respective schools for four consecutive yearswere Charles Deziel of the Escanaba Area Public School and Jason McCullough of the Mecosta-Osceola Mathematics/Science/Technology Center. The state coordinator for AHSME is David Laverell (Calvin College).
On another front, Michigan's team of all-star high school mathematics students placed 15th in Division A and tied for 40th place in Division B of the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) Competition. Ninety-four teams of 15 students participated in the competition held last May on the campuses of the University of Iowa, Penn State, and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Robert Messer (Albion College), John Fink (Kalamazoo College), and Ruth Favro (LTU), along with William Harris, chair of the Mathematics Department at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, recruited MMPC award recipients to represent Michigan in this national competition. Support for the three practice sessions and travel to Iowa was provided by the Michigan Section of the MAA through a grant from the Matilda Wilson Foundation, with additional funding from the Charles M. Bauervic Foundation.
One of the ingenious problems on the team round involved a polynomial P(n) of degree 1996. The participants had to compute the value of P(1998), given that P(n) = 1/n for n = 1, 2, ...,1997.
The coaches look forward to next spring to see how the
Michigan All-Stars will stack up against teams from Minnesota and New
York City, the two top teams in the 1997 competition. Visit the Web
site
(http://www.albion.edu/fac/math/ram/arml/arml.htm)
for photos and additional information.
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