Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, (858) 534-7404  
                    or Jan Jennings, (858) 822-1684 

COUNTY STUDENTS TO TEST SKILLS AT HIGH SCHOOL HONORS MATH CONTEST APRIL 27 AT UCSD; AWARDS DINNER WILL FOLLOW ON MAY 9

The answer to this mathematics question is “perfect squares.”

And you may well feel like a perfect square – just hearing the mini-mathematical essay question.

Not these students. High school students from all over San Diego County will compete Saturday, April 27th, in the annual High School Honors Math Contest in Peterson Hall at the University of California, San Diego. More than 180 students from 23 schools are scheduled to participate in the morning long test beginning at 8 a.m.

An Awards Dinner honoring the math whizzes will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. May 9 in the Faculty Club at UCSD. The top 25 students will receive awards and of these, the top five students will each receive a $500 scholarship. School teams also will be honored, as well as the top scorer on each team.

To demonstrate their math savvy, four students will be selected to present their problem solution prowess at the Awards Dinner, according to Richard Pilgrim, chairman of the test writing group for the contest and director of mathematics test placement at UCSD. The students will explain/describe under lights, with chalkboard – and whatever else works to demonstrate their problem/solution scenario.

Oh … the perfect squares problem (a 1998 test question)? “The Lucky Locker Company wants to demonstrate the quality of their lockers. They line up 100 open lockers numbered one through 100 consecutively. One hundred people are lined up to go by the lockers one at a time. The ?th person opens every ?th locker if it is closed or closes it if it is open. For example, the first person closes every locker, the second person opens every other locker, the third person looks at every third locker and opens it if it is closed or vice-versa. After all 100 people have gone by the lockers, which lockers are closed?”

Go figure.

“You see,” Pilgrim says, “the contest is not strictly a matter of knowing mathematics. It’s reasoning.”

In addition to the mini-mathematical essays, the test includes a section devoted to mathematical multiple choice questions.

The High School Honors Math Contest, including the Awards Dinner, trophies and certificates, is sponsored by the Greater San Diego Mathematics Council (GSDMC) representing the County of San Diego, the California Mathematics Council, and UCSD.

According to Daryl Stermon, technology coordinator at the San Diego County Office of Education, the schools scheduled to participate include: La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla High School, Torrey Pines High School, Bishop's School, Coronado High School, Francis Parker School, Helix High School, Hilltop High School, Mt. Carmel High School, Poway High School, Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego High School, Scripps Ranch High School, University City High School, Chula Vista High School, Kearny High School, Marian Catholic High School, Mira Mesa High School, Mission Bay High School, Valley Center High School, Rancho Buena Vista High School, Eastlake High School, and Granite Hills High School.

For further information on the contest and/or awards dinner contact Pilgrim at (858) 534-3298.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Possible PHOTO opportunities include the competing students lining up to register for the test at 7:45 a.m. April 27 (before) and the students elaborating upon their solutions at a blackboard or other props at the Awards Dinner May 9 (after).