Welcome to the 2021-2022 Math Contest Season!

Rule Updates

• We will be eliminating the "none of these" option on Elementary School Sprint tests. "none of these" will remain an option on the High School Sprint.
• Registering adults no longer need to ask permission to enroll more than 24 students at one of our contests. We removed this restriction last year but want to make sure everyone is aware of the change.
• Students from different schools may now take the team test together on an unofficial basis. Scores from these multi-school teams will be discarded, so students should only join with students from other schools if they do not want a team test score and just want to take the test for fun.

• Our website currently lists several hundred math contests this fall ensuring two different dates per contest release cycle for students to choose from to compete in an online contest at the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels. Additional contests will be added as they are confirmed, including in-person contests as circumstances allow. Remember that although students have a choice of contest dates, they may still only register for one contest per release number.
• We continue to offer a weekly Number Sense Challenge each quarter for math enthusiasts of all ages to hone their mental math skills.

• Our online contest instructions have been updated to include instructions for students taking the tests in their home as well as in a classroom at school. Students and teachers are encouraged to discuss which of these options makes the most sense for each school.
• Once a month during the qualifying rounds, we will organize a live demo of our online contest platform prior to the first contest of the month. Participants are encouraged to attend this demo to see how the contest will be run, test the login process, and ask any questions they have.
• Zoom links for online contests will now be sent approximately one hour prior to check-in rather than 15 minutes in advance.
• At in-person contests proctors will be pre-assigned, and chaperones who are selected as proctors will receive pre-contest training and a thank-you gift to express our gratitude.
• At in-person contests chaperones will no longer be required to assist in grading; contest organizers will assemble an independent team of graders.

• We just updated our website with a completely new set of free sample tests.
• For those of you who sign up for a relay subscription by August 31, you will receive a bonus relay emailed to you each week during September.
• Our list of online classes includes AMC classes starting in September, and more classes will be added to the schedule as the year progresses.
• Teachers, please see below for more detail on our workshop for teachers that is basically free and will give you tips for how to coach your team.

• We will continue to conduct a random prize drawing for all online contests that have more than 100 students participating, and we will also extend this to in-person contests as well.
• We will begin awarding a prize to the winner of each countdown at our contests. The prize selection will be the same as that for the random prize drawing.
• We are making scholarships a permanent part of our US National Championships. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the scholarship fund or select a scholarship fund donation as a prize if you earn a prize at one of our contests.
• The option to select from a list of prizes will continue at our online contests and will also be offered to prize winners at in-person contests. Students who fail to claim a prize will have a donation to the scholarship fund assigned as their prize.
• Our prize choice of a donation of contest entries will be extended to schools in Africa AND schools on a US Indian Reservation.
• Our team will begin proactively sending certificates and prize selection reminders to prize winners at each contest.

• In addition to offering one full team of free in-school contest registrations to all Title I schools in the US and all schools in Africa, we will extend this free offer to all schools located on a US Indian Reservation.
• All of our contest listings, both online and in-person, now include information about the prize we offer to school sponsors who bring at least 50 students to our qualifying contests. Unlike last year, we will reach out to you when the qualifying season is over rather than requiring you to send us an email asking for your prize.
• As mentioned above, our online contest instructions have been updated to include instructions for students taking the tests in their home as well as in a classroom at school. Sign up for the workshop in the next bullet point for tips on how to implement each of these options.
• Check out our online classes for an exciting new workshop to help you start or restart your math team this fall. Participants will receive four free online contest entries to allocate to students this year, the value of which offsets 100% of the cost of the workshop. That's right, as long as you plan to bring at least four students to our contests this year, this workshop is effectively free!