DEAR PICO,

Welcome to our 34th year of competition. Many leading teachers believe that solving problems is the best way to teach and learn mathematics. The Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) is built upon this foundation.

PICO stands for Person In Charge of Olympiads. That's you - the person who will devote time, effort, and energy regularly to help your Olympians grow as problem solvers. We salute your commitment to help your students "be all that they can be" and extend our best wishes for an exciting, challenging, enjoyable, and mathematically worthwhile year.

To help you become aware of some details of MOEMS and to help you prepare your students for the Olympiad Contests, HERE ARE THREE BASIC POINTS TO START:

1. COMMUNICATIONS: It is important that you study the following information carefully, since you will receive all materials (including practice materials and the contests) and submit all student data (including the scoring) via the Online Scoring System. For every team there are three critical pieces of information. All are needed before our computers can accept a student's scores.

• Every team enrolled in Math Olympiads has a unique four-digit Team ID number. Schools with more than one team will have a different Team ID for each team. Use the Team ID only for the team to which it was assigned.
• Each PICO will receive a password to the Online Scoring System. (It is recommended that this be changed to something more memorable immediately.) For PICOs with more than one team, the password for the highest numbered team will give access to all teams.
• The line number (1 - 35) assigned to each student tells our computers which line of the team's file is reserved for a given student.

To identify a specific student in a communication to MOEMS, both the team ID and line number must be used.

2. CONTEST DATES:

3. CONTESTS: All contests will be posted to our website about two weeks before the scheduled Olympiad date. We will send you an email reminder at that time. Print out enough copies of the first two pages (the problems) for all participants. Print out one copy of the next two pages (the solutions) for grading the Olympiad. Keep the questions secret until you give the Olympiad; keep the solutions secret until you collect the student papers. IMPORTANT! These are copyrighted materials. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES may the actual contests or the individual problems and/or solutions be published in any form, including the internet.

 

1. Organization and Procedures (the Olympiad contest rules).
2. Message to Parents (to help build support for the Olympiads).
3. "What Every Young Mathlete Should Know" (definitions of terms used in the contests).
4. Additional Study Resources:
   • Book: Math Olympiads Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools (vol 1).
   • Book: Math Olympiads Contest Problems (vol 2).
   • Book: Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics 2nd edition.
   • Game: Math-Tac-Toe (A game of strategy that builds multiplication skills).
5. Enthusiasm builders:
   • Team T-shirts, caps, MOe Bendy Pens, and "Stress Ball" Pencils.
   • Extra trophies (for end of the year. NOTE one trophy is included in entry fee).
   • "Honorable Mention" trophies (to give special recognition to special students).