Our last MATH TEAM meeting is tomorrow.

Last as in following all others in a sequence.  

Last as in savoring an event and “making it last” as long as possible

Last as in this will be the last MATH TEAM meeting for seniors for the rest of their lives.

… and in a crazy circle of life, we will start our math team meeting by proof-reading the junior high math contest questions that we wrote together.  It is how many of our seniors started their SHS MATH TEAM careers.  

Random food potluck! Let’s have some snacks. =). Please bring some snacks to share at our meeting!  Not required that you bring anything, but we will have a food table where you can drop off some food and grab some food!  =). Extra box of girl scout cookies?  Bring them!  You have a new sleeve of crackers?  Bring them!  Fruit?  Drinks?  Bananas?  Not-expired-halloween-candy?  Ummm yeah, you know we’d gobble it up.  =)

We will also have some awards to pass out.  

NSML awards, math modeling awards, ictm awards, amc/aime awards, and even “best question” for each junior high event award!

We will also announce our e-board for next year!

We will also take a moment to recognize our seniors… 

It should be super fun!  Math!  Random food!  And a time to celebrate each other. 

1500-1502 

all grade levels

3:31 – 4:32

Now go and stuff some food in your backpack!

daMathTeam

Mathamos!!!

April 15 is Tax Day.  Besides voting, Tax Day is one of the most intimate interactions Americans have with their government. 

April 15 is MATH TEAM.  Besides math class, MATH TEAM is one of the most intimate interactions students have with mathematics.

Many of your teachers (and parents) are hoping to collect a nice return.  In MATH TEAM, we are preparing for a nice return to the podium as we get ready for the state tournament. 

This Tuesday will (very likely) be our second-to-last MATH TEAM Tuesday of the year!  Don’t write this one off!  Come ready to itemize your strategies and audit your accuracy.  We will spend most of our time grinding through the fine print of the state math code to squeeze out all the value we can for the 2025 annual year.

More deadlines!  As we announced this week in our Tuesday MATH TEAM, our applications are open for both eboard and modeling teams.  Applications are due Monday night – April 14 at 11:59 pm.  
• eboard application
• modeling team application
Be sure to get your paperwork in on time to avoid late payment penalties!

No exemptions from effort.  No loopholes out of hard work.  No withholding your brilliance.  Success is dependent on the gains you are making through your independent work and corporate earnings.

Yes, you heard it right.  This week is our second to last meeting.  Next week we are off due to the ACT.  Then we anticipate April 29 to be our last MATH TEAM Tuesday of the year.  We will use that time to proof the junior high contest, pass out awards, announce the new e-board, celebrate seniors, … and share some snacks. =)

You’ve invested your time and effort all year… let’s maximize our yield in these final days.

See you on Tax Day, April 15

1500/1502 Soph/Sr
1506 Jr
1508/1510 Frosh

daMathTeam

fineprint: yes, I filed my taxes just now

We stars!  Great we are. Dare we be sweet! Career we be fast!!! Fear creed be great!  Defy fear!  We get great reward!  We serve great. We better!  Weeeee!!!!!

Ok… there’s actually a lot of info we need to get out.  I’ll take the sling off and type the rest of this email with two hands.

1.   Believe it or not there are only 2 more Tuesdays before state!  This week, next week, and then we lose a week because of ACT testing.  In that light, we will likely sit for a full-length exam this Tuesday (some grade levels will be doing other things).  It is helpful to sit for a full length exam with peers around you in a pseudo-stressful environment as we prepare for state.  Whether or not you sit for the competition, it will be good to do rigorous math for 50 minutes… or as close as we can get.  It is the same reason why practicing the WHOLE ACT in one sitting is better than practicing just a little here and there.  Good luck to those taking the ACT this week… max out that math section!!!

2.   Believe it or not, we will have fewer MATH TEAM Tuesdays than there are fingers on your left hand!

3.   Believe it or not, we will be looking for new e-board members for MATH TEAM!  That’s right.  We decided that ALL of our senior leaders: Jaden Audrey, Diana, and Lillian, will no longer be fit to lead us next year.  They will not be asked back.  Yup.  We’re cutting them lose.  So long!  Adios!  Bu-bye!   We will describe the process to apply for our e-board in our meeting this week.

4.   Believe it or not, our math modeling season is done.  Our Junior team of Richard, Jonathan, Angela, Tanav, and Kritik made it as semi-finalists in the Modeling the Future Challenge and through the triage round of the M3Challenge.  Super achievements!  Congrats to our juniors!  Our senior modeling team of Lillian, Audrey, Diana, Jaden, and Catherine finished as semi-finalists in the M3Challenge and scooped up a tidy $1500 in scholarship money.  Congrats to our seniors!  This means we will be looking for the next generation of modeling teams.  We will describe the process to apply as a modeling team in our meeting this week.

See you Tuesday!
1508/1510 to start for all!
3:32-4:35

daMathTeam

Dear Mathletes,

After much reflection, I have decided it is time to let you know some  big news.  Some of you have already heard, but I will be retiring from Stevenson after this year.  I have treasured my time as a MATH TEAM coach, treasured your successes in service and competition, treasured our many conversations about math, life, and learning.  But good things must come to an end, and it is time for me to step away.

I have accepted a position at a local university (my old stomping grounds in Evanston) where I’ll be focusing on educational research as it relates to high school mathematics.  While I’m excited for this next chapter, I’m going to miss my Tuesday afternoons with all of you.

The coaches and I have decided that there is no reason to wait for the end of the school year to make this announcement.  Tomorrow, we’ll be gathering in 1508/1510 for a final farewell as I will be transitioning into the new position immediately. Yup.  This will be my last MATH TEAM meeting.  =(. 

We’ll share some photos, a few coaches will give speeches, but then we will have to move on and engage in a quick mini-qualifying exam as we prepare for state competition.  After all, what better way to end my years of coaching than by taking a math contest with our peers.

Before you start drafting emotional farewell emails or organizing a fun surprise for me…. April Fools!!!

I’m not actually retiring… Well, that’s not true either.  I’ve been trying to retire every year for the past five years, but I never seem to be able to pull it off.

What is true is that we will be having a mini-qualifying exam at various grade levels, and we will be doing some competition math together with our peers. =)

April 1, 2025
All levels in room 1508/1510
3:31 – 4:29

daMathTeam

P.S. If you already started planning a farewell gift, we accept snacks.

Free snacks!

Tomorrow in MATH TEAM, we take a break from our heavy competition season and pivot into service to our community again.  First, members of our esteemed e-board will lead a talk on question writing for mathematics competitions.  Then we will all try our hand at writing questions for the Consortium Math Competition.  Many of you probably competed in this junior high competition.  In those years, you were the beneficiary of (sometimes brutally difficult) questions written by members of the MATH TEAM.  Tomorrow we will begin creating a stockpile of questions that we will use for the 2025 Consortium Math Competition.

As we write, we will have some snacks, and all together sign our trophy from NSML.  =)

We are going to bring all four grade levels together into room 1508-1510.

Come by, listen to a talk on how to write high level math team questions, then contribute to the future MATH TEAM by writing questions for the next generation.

Tuesday, March 11
1508-1510
3:33 – 4:31

daMathTeam