How to Implement the Math Challenge Program at Your School

Once your school registration is complete and your school’s page has been set up, please review the Tips and Guidelines below.

Tips and Guidelines

About One Month Prior

• ​Work with your school office to establish how and where to collect submissions from students.
• Review your school's MCP page for accuracy and make sure the participation instructions are clear for students and parents.
• Create a flyer to include in the school’s “First Day Packet.”  A colorful half sheet flyer works well to introduce the program to students/parents (optional but recommended).
• Add the link of your school's Math Challenge page to your school's website and PTSA website and/or Facebook.

Two Weeks Prior

• Write a short article for the school newsletter introducing the program. The basic What, When, Who, and How/Where to submit format works well. Include the Math Challenge link in the newsletter, school website, and PTSA/PTA/PTO website.​
• ​Send a brief email to teachers and staff introducing yourself, the program, and ways they can help promote the program and collect submissions.​
• Plan and order your prizes (optional).​
• ​Make posters to create awareness.

2026-2027 MATH CHALLENGE SCHEDULE (TEMPLATE)

sample article for the school's newsletter

sample email to teachers

One Week Prior

• Send a brief announcement to the school office, teachers, newsletter editor, and PTSA/PTA/PTO website coordinator about the first Math Challenge, its due dates, and information to students on how to submit their solutions. Provide the link to your school's MCP page.

The Week of Publication

• Request that the school office include a morning announcement informing students that the Math Challenge is available online for download and printing.​​ ​Remind students of the Math Challenge's due date. 
• Make sure you have a blurb ready for the school's newsletter. 

Ongoing

• One Week Prior to Each Challenge 
  • Send a short article to the newsletter editor with the challenge due date and submission link.
  • Submit a brief blurb for the school’s morning announcements.
• After due date:
  • Collect and record submissions.
  • Correct papers and return them to students (optional).
  • Announce winners and distribute prizes (optional).

Sample of bi-weekly announcement

End of the year - two weeks after the last Math Challenge

Below are several ways schools can recognize students who participated in the program:

• ​Recognize students who participated consistently throughout the school year.
  • You may give certificates or medals to students who complete 10 or 12 sets of math challenge.
• Display the names of students who consistently participated in the program on the 'FAMOUS WALL OF MATH CHALLENGE MATHLETES'
  • Simply create a big wall where you can display all students' names (by grade). Decorate it with math symbols.
• Recognize participating students during the school’s end-of-year assembly.

sample of certificate

This can be used as a template

Other Tips

• ​Get PTSA/PTA/PTO​ Support.  It’s helpful to have PTSA support, especially if you want to have an incentive program as recognition to students who participate in the program. PTSA/PTA/PTO support may help fund prizes and student recognition incentives.
• Host the Math Challenge Tournament at your school. Schools that host the Math Challenge Tournament receive 20% back through the Give Back Program, which can help fund student recognition prizes.
• Prizes and recognition are optional but recommended, as they often encourage continued student participation throughout the year.
• ​You can also simply print certificates for students who completed a set number of challenges.
  • While printed submissions are recommended, it might be easier for the chairperson to use google form to collect submissions. However, since questions are not allowed to be copied or reproduced, please provide answer-entry fields only.
  • Other schools have parents/volunteers to correct the student's paper and report to the chairperson.

Ways to recognize students - implemented by different schools

While most schools give end of the year awards (medals or trophies or certificates). Not all schools give prizes for each challenge. The following are ideas that came up from different schools:

• Some schools recognize students during morning announcements or special assemblies.
• Some schools offer small raffle prizes for qualified submissions.
• Several schools use parent volunteers to help grade papers.
• Some schools track cumulative points across all 15 challenges.
• Other schools allow online answer submission through Google Forms.
• Monthly random-draw prizes and end-of-year certificates have also been successful participation incentives. 

Examples from schools:

• For each Math Challenge, students get shout-out from principal during morning announcement, lunch with the principals, famous mathlete picture (photo taken with 'math bear' or 'math beagle'). 
• Norman Rockwell Elementary had a lottery system for each challenge. 12 qualified entries are picked (for each challenge). I believe they did this so that at least 180 students will get a small prize in the rotation (12 x 15 challenges). Prizes are budgeted and set at the beginning of the school year.
• Rosa Parks and Smith Elementary both graded the students' solutions. It took them sometimes, but they have a couple of volunteers to grade the papers. Rosa Parks gave back each math challenge to students. Smith gave papers back at the end of the program.
• Rosa Parks had point system in place instead of asking students to do the minimum requirements of solutions. Students collected points throughout the 15 challenges and the chairperson recorded these points.
• Alcott Elementary and Wilder Elementary give options to students to submit solutions online using google doc to capture students' answers. Other schools also provide online reporting for parents to report the number of correct answers their student did for each challenge.
• Rachel Carson Elementary provides monthly ice cream coupon prize that is randomly selected from qualified submission. End-year certificate emailed to parents to recognize students who completed 10 sets or more.
• Schools purchased prizes (medals or small trophies) using the Give Back program earned from Math Challenge Tournament.
• A school creatively placing a huge math mascot to be placed in the classroom that has the largest turnouts.