Welcome to our 44th year of competition. This will be a challenging and unpredictable year for us all. Many years of experience in the classroom has shown that solving problems is the best way to teach and learn mathematics. MOEMS® (the Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools ) 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 Math 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, enjoyable, and mathematically worthwhile year
To help you become aware of some details of MOEMS® and to help you prepare your students for the contests, here are three basic points:
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 seven-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 immediately changed to something more memorable.) For PICOs with more than one team, the password will give access to all teams coached by that PICO at that school.
The list 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: This year the date for administering each contest will be chosen by the PICO from an approximatley 4-week “Administration Window”. There is an “Earliest Date” which is the same for all teams, for both divisions, and for both OnPaper and OnLine formats. There is also a “Latest Date” after which the contest may no longer be administered. Also new this year is a Score Entry Deadline for each contest. Late score entry forms will be available for PICOs who need to enter or edit scores following that contest’s deadline.
3. CONTESTS: The printable form of all contests will be posted to our website approximately one week before the beginning date of the contest window. You will recieve an email reminder at that time. In addition we will send an email notice to OnLine teams which includes a link to the OnLine document which your team will use with the testing platform. For a more detailed description of test PREPARATION for our contests, refer to our rulebook. Keep the contest questions secure until you give the Olympiad, keep the answers secure until you collect the student papers, and wait until the first practice following the contest to share our solutions to the problems. 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.
Every team enrolled in Math Olympiads has a unique 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.
Registering Students
Students need not be registered when the team is enrolled, but they must be registered before any contest results can be entered.
Accuracy of Awards
Every registered mathlete receives a Certificate of Participation. Half of all students nationally earn at least one award – a patch, pin, medallion, and/or trophy. We do not want to cheat any student out of an earned award. Thus, our records must maintain perfect correctness. It is critical that your recordkeeping be careful and correct.
We have developed the following procedure to guarantee such accuracy:
List all students online before Olympiad 1. This list will become your scorekeeping record for the year. It allows you to keep accurate records as a check on our records and it allows us to reconstruct the list if needed.
Do not change the ID for any student during the year. Add the names of new students who join later at the bottom of the list. Print out a copy after every entry for your records.
Adding a student online: Use “Edit Student List” button. Add the name of a new student on the bottom of your list. If the student has been competing under test conditions, but unofficially, include which problems he or she had correct on prior contests.
If a student is dropped from the team, no change needs to be made. Mark that student as ABS for all following contests. Only if the roster is full (35 mathletes) and a new student replaces one who left, contact MOEMS and let us make the change.
Administering the Olympiad Contests
Download the Contests
The printable form of your contests will be available on line one week before the beginning date of the contest window.
If yours is a MOEMS® OnLine team, an email will be sent containing a link to the OnLine document that your team will use with the testing platform.
You will need your password to access the contests.
Print out enough copies of the questions for all the students.
An answer sheet is provided for your convenience.
If the two sheets are printed single-sided, student will be able to use the reverse sides for scrap. You may provide additional scrap paper if needed.
Print Out One Copy of the Solutions
Only YOU should see the solutions until after the contest is given.
The contests must be given under strict test conditions.
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.
Preparing for Awards
The final results of all contests must be entered online on or before March 31st
The Online Scoring System will close on that date.
Score changes received ater that date will have to be entered manually by the MOEMS office at an additional charge.Results and initial awards will be processed based on the results submitted up until March 31.
Simply stated, Supplemental awards packages for those teams will not be sent out until after June 1.
You will receive your awards during May and early June.
Individual Awards and Highest Team Achievement plaques will be sent based on the state closing date, earlier closing dates being sent first. Other team awards will be sent sometime in June.
Please allow time for delivery before scheduling your awards ceremony.
