FLETCHERS LAKE: A student from Georges P. Vanier Junior High has earned a top award from a Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) competition.
Ana Mihai, of the Fletchers Lake and a Grade 8 student at the Fall River Junior High, earned a Canadian champion gold award for her result. In N.S., she also earned gold and was declared Best in Grade 8.
A fellow GPV student, Shelby Hartt, earned an honourable mention in the Best in Grade 8 category. She was among four students with an honourable mention.
For Grade 6, three students at Maple Grove Education Centre in Hebron took gold silver and bronze, while Alexis Williams from Georges P. Vanier Junior High earned a tie for bronze.
Mihai said she was inspired by her sister, Maria, who has done math competitions before and also won.
She said it feels great to be able to have won gold in her last year to do the competition.
“It’s extremely gratifying for me to be the only student in all of the Atlantic provinces that became a Canadian Champion with a Gold Award,” she told The Laker News. “It’s wonderful to see my name amongst the brightest kids my age in Canada, knowing how many hours of work I put in through the year to get that little spot on their website saying ‘Ana Mihai’.”
Mihai said while it may be a small accomplishment to some, for her it means she’s improving her math skills.
‘I’m not a very competitive person, my race is not to outrun others, but to surpass my past self,” she said. “Sometimes it feels as if my hard-worked practice brought me nothing, but almost every self-improvement in math that I didn’t notice is brought forward in a contest and motivates me to continue enhancing my self in my skills, not only math, but other aspects of my life too.
The competition was known as the 2022 Canada Jay Mathematical Competition (CJMC). This is the third year that the Canadian Mathematical Society has organized this competition for elementary and middle school students.
This year, the CMS observed an almost 50% increase in participation.
Almost 4000 students wrote the CJMC on November 17, 2022.
In a release, the CMS said they are grateful for its sponsors and partners who have helped engage youth in this mathematical activity on a national and international level.
As in prior years, the CJMC was available to be written in two formats, paper and virtual. The virtual platform for the exam makes it accessible regardless of geographic location and allows students to self-register.
“We are very happy to see the number of participants in the contest grow from year to year,” said CMS-CJMC Committee Chair, Shawn Godin. “The Canada Jay Mathematical Competition is quickly becoming an enjoyable Fall tradition for future mathematicians from across Canada and around the world.”
Dorette Pronk, CMS Competitions Committee Chair said she continues to be encouraged by “the wonderful atmosphere and excitement that continue to surround the competition” and looks forward to continuing this competition for young mathematicians for years to come.
The Canada Jay Mathematical Competition (CJMC) is the newest Canadian math competition open to students in grades K-8, with questions based primarily on grade 5-8 curriculum. This competition has been created by mathematicians from across Canada.
It was renamed in 2022 from the original name Canadian Mathematical Gray Jay Competition (CMGC) to match the renaming of the Canada Jay bird.
The problems are meant to be a fun fall activity for students and teachers to complement their math curriculum and build students’ problem solving skills.
The CJMC offers engaging problems that allow for discussion after the competition and get students excited about math.
According to a release, the competition has 15 questions which take place over 90 minutes. It consists of 3 blocks of 5 questions with an increasing level of difficulty from beginning to end.
Mihai said she got to being a Canadian champion with what many call a hockey term—grit. Recently, she also wrote a similar competition (COMC) for grades 9-12 and her score was the median score for the grade 12 kids in Canada. An amazing feat.
“If I make a mistake, I will not move forwards until I know what I did wrong,” said Mihai. “I solve problems and then I check their solutions to correct my mistakes. Daily. “I saw my sister, Maria, doing that and I told myself I can do it too.
“She inspired me. I hope I can inspire others to be a better version of themselves.”
