south jersey innovation center

Math at SJIC

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Its name may sound scary, but SJIC’s “Beast Academy” is nothing to be afraid of and it makes math fun! Beast Academy is a comic book-based math program for children ages 6 through 13. The program uses puzzles, word problems, and, yes, comics, to teach problem solving skills and thinking outside the box. Tatiana Ter-Saakov, SJIC’s popular math coordinator, explains that, instead of just drilling students, “Beast Academy allows for a natural way of conversing about math.”

Beyond intensive math programs like Beast Academy, SJIC is proud to host a number of math competitions for enrichment math students and competitive mathletes alike. These include the Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools, or MOEMS. With monthly competitions during the winter season, MOEMS aims to inspire innovative problem-solving skills among participants. SJIC regular Jake Desmond and Dashiel Lin achieved perfect scores and the Lenchner Award in the 2021 MOEMS “M Division” (for middle schoolers).

SJIC also hosts the once-a-year Math Kangaroo International Math Competition in March, featuring unusual and challenging problems designed to get kids ages 7 to 18 excited about math. The wide age range and variety of problems gives all SJIC students a chance to compete in one place. Use this hyperlink to sign up for the test: https://mathkangaroo.org/mks/ 

Other math competitions hosted by SJIC include the Purple Comet Math Meet, an online math meet for teams of one to six mathematically gifted middle and high school students – this will take place in April 2023. Lastly, the American Mathematics Competition 8 is a popular starter math competition with a less stressful test environment than most.

Finally, SJIC will be hosting its annual math festival on June 3, 2023, with interactive math activities throughout the Center. This event will be open to the community. Stay tuned for more information as the math festival gets closer!

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