After school on Nov. 16, students in grades 9-12 will have the opportunity to participate in the AMC 10/12 math exam, hosted by the American Math Association. The 75-minute test consists of 25 multiple choice questions and will be held at the Pine Octavia campus. 

“This is the first year I’ve really heard about the AMC exam,” junior Kate Richardson said. “It seems like a great opportunity to improve your test-taking abilities and show your skill,” 

The mission of the AMC exam is to benefit and foster an appreciation for arithmetic, striving to help students understand the world through a lens of mathematics, according to the American Math Association, 

There are a plethora of resources for students to study beforehand, including YouTube videos and other independent study resources, according to the American Math Association.

“The AMC is an exam that not only assesses a student’s mathematical knowledge, but their problem solving skills,” Mathematics Department Chair Lindsay MacGarva said. “When students ask me ‘why is this important’ I always try to reframe that question by explaining that math is a way of thinking and problem solving,”

If students would like to participate in the competition, they should email MacGarva before Friday, Nov. 4. 

“The test is a really cool experience for students that the school offers,” sophomore Ella Andrzejek said. “Problem solving based math can be used in the real world which can help us later in life,”

The AMC is a precursor for the Putnam exam in college, which is a great experience for any student looking to major in a mathematical field, according to MacGarva. The problems are different from what they might see in a regular math class to help illustrate that there are other areas of math they can study, such as Number Theory, Combinatorics, and Graph Theory.

If students show outstanding performance on their AMC exam, they will be allowed to participate in the following exams leading up to the USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad or The United States Mathematical Olympiad.

“I’m not taking the test this year, but I wish good luck to anyone who is,” Richardson said. “I’ll definitely think about taking the opportunity next year.”