For School - Steps to Implement Math Challenge Program

Once your school registration is completed, take a look at the next steps below:

1.  Coordinate with the school staff on the math challenge submission process. (i.e. how and where students can submit solutions). If you want students to submit their answers and solutions online, you should set up a dedicated email and/or link for parents to send their students' works.

2. Send 2 documents to [email protected], if you have not uploaded them during registration:

• Content of your school's page that includes:  the contact person & email and how to participate (instruction for students on how to participate).  See sample page.
• Due dates list for your students. Use this calendar template: mcp_schedule_2025-2026_template.docx.  Please note that published dates and solution dates are set (non-editable).

We will then set up your school page and provide you with a link to this page that you can share with your students, parents, and teachers.

3. Promote the program.

• Share the availability of the program to teachers, parents, students through various venues such as newsletter, announcements, email reminders, etc.  ​​​
• Purchase and advertise prizes (medals, small trophies) for students who complete 10+ sets of Math Challenge (using funds earned from the Math Challenge Tournament's 20% Give Back program).

Tips and Guidelines

About One Month Prior

• ​Work with your school office to establish how and where to collect submissions from students.
• Send us content of your school's page and the schedule with due dates (please see template).
• Create a flyer to be include to 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 an article for your newsletter introducing this new program. The basic What, When, Who, and How/Where to submit format works well. Provide the Math Challenge's link for your newsletter, school's website, PTSA/PTO website.
• ​Send a brief email to teachers & school staff introducing yourself, the program, and how they can help collecting submissions.
• Plan and order your prizes (optional).​
• ​Make posters to create awareness.

2025-2026 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, to teachers, to newsletter, to PTSA website) 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 page.

The Week of Publication

• Send a request to school office to be included in the morning announcement that the Math Challenge is available online to print/download.​ ​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: 
  • Send to your newsletter editor a short article for every math challenge published. Include due date and the link.
  • Send a brief blurb to the school office for morning announcement.
• After due date:
  • Collect submissions. Record on spreadsheet.
  • Correct papers and give back 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 options for school to recognize students who participated at the program:

• ​Award students who continued to participate throughout the school year.
  • You may give certificates or medals to students who complete 10 or 12 sets of math challenge.
• List students' names who continuously participate at 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.
• Call out names during end of the year's school assembly.

sample of certificate

Other Tips

• ​Get PTSA 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 may be able to provide funds to purchase these prizes. 
• Host the Math Challenge Tournament at your school. Your school will receive 20% give back program fund that can be used to purchase small prizes.
  
• Prizes and recognitions are optional but recommended as they will help entice students to do ALL challenges.
• ​You can also simply print certificates for students who completed a set number of challenges.
  • While we recommend students/parents to print the challenges, 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 only provide Answer Fields.
  • Other schools have parents/volunteers to correct the student's paper and report to the chairperson.

Prizes - awarded to students 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:

• 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.