Tips for PICOs

PICO stands for Person In Charge of Olympiads. That’s you—the person who will devote time, effort, and energy 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!

Goals of the Olympiads

Developing enthusiasm for problem solving and mathematics
Deepening the understanding of mathematical concepts and strengthen ability to use these concepts
Considering concepts that they might not otherwise encounter
Enriching experiences in intellectually stimulating and significant mental activities
Building a stronger foundation for assessments and for future mathematics studies

Practice Suggestions

Download past Olympiads for practice problems

The sample problems and problems of the week are available to everyone online.
An additional 50 problems with detailed solutions are available with your password.
Additional problems are available in our books which can be purchased from our store.
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.

Practice before the first Olympiad

Since our problems are decidedly not routine problems, it is recommended that you provide students an opportunity to explore the problems before they sit for the contest.

Use cooperative groups for practices

Students must compete individually on Olympiads, but practices are best done in small interactive groups. Assign problems one at a time and allow each group to present its method of solution to the entire group.

Keep the atmosphere gentle and non-threatening

To us the contests are all about improving mathematical thinking and building a stronger foundation for future studies, but to students they’re about winning awards. We recommend that PICOs downplay the computational aspects and promote personal growth instead. The most important thing is that students feel that they know something today that they did not know yesterday.

Uploading Student Roster(s) Online

Team ID

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.
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.

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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 online one week before the beginning date of the contest window.
CONTEST DATES: This year the date for administering each contest will be chosen by the PICO from an approximately 4-week “Administration Window”. There is an “Earliest Date” which is the same for all teams, for both divisions, and for both On Paper and Online formats. There is also a “Latest Date” after which the contest may no longer be administered. Be sure to note the dates.

Contest	Administration Window	Deadline for Score Entry
1	November 14, 2022 – December 9, 2022	March 31, 2023
2	December 5, 2022 – January 6, 2023	March 31, 2023
3	January 9, 2023 – February 3, 2023	March 31, 2023
4	February 6, 2023 – March 3, 2023	March 31, 2023
5	March 6, 2023 – March 17, 2023	March 31, 2023

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.

Review Organization and Procedures and All Other Materials

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 after 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.
Awards packages for late score submissions will be sent after June 1st.