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The 5th annual Belize Math Olympiad started this morning at 9:00 in the University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan. The Western Regional Competition saw the participation of ten high schools in a boisterous gym.

We were there for the mind benders.

Jules Vasquez
"Are you sometimes surprise at the bright, the smarts of these kids?"

Mrs. Merlene Bailey-Martinez, CEO SSB
"Absolutely, absolutely, and the speed with which they answers these complex questions, I know if I was given ten minutes i could answer it, but not the amount of time that their answering it in, so I am very impress."

Mrs. Merlene Bailey-Martinez, CEO SSB
"It's a focus on young people, it's a focus on a very important subject in school and it's also forward thinking, in terms of national development. We believe that we have to find innovative ways to engage our young people, rewarding ways to engage our young people. The schools and everything, they come out as you can see in rows, so we have to continue, to make it attractive, so people don't say, oh its old heart and it gets boring and the kids don't want to participate. We have to find more and innovative way in this fast paste society that we live in, you know internet age. We have to make sure that what we do really is attractive to the kids."

At the end of the four-hour competition, the Belize Christian Academy successfully defended their title as the 2011 Western Regional Champs with a remarkable 5,601 points, whilst Sacred Heart College placed second.

Belize Christian Academy will now move on to compete in the National Championship being held on March 9, 2011 at the University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan.

The next regional competition will be for the Southern Region which will be held at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall in Dangriga on Wednesday February 9, 2011, starting at 9:00 a.m. Channel 7


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SPHS to defend their championship at the 2011 Math Olympiad

Defending champion, San Pedro High School (SPHS) is in preparation to "do it again" in this year's Math Olympiad. While other schools in the various divisions have already started to compete, SPHS travels to Belize City on Wednesday February 23rd to compete in the Belize Central A regional competition. Schools from Belize District will go head to head to compete for the title of the 2011 Central A Regional Champion. A total of 38 students and faculty members will be travelling to the St. John's College Junior College Gymnasium for the first leg of the competition.

Participating in Division A include Belize Rural High School, Gwen Lizarrage High School, Nazarene High School, Pallotti High School, Sadie Vernon Technical High School, SPHS and St. Catherine's Academy.

This year, representing SPHS is an enthusiastic team of eight. In the Senior league, we have Lucio Nuñez and Ismael Kay, with alternates Miguel Caliz and Emilie Gomez. In the Junior division, at the forefront we have Walter Tut and Monica Ack, with their alternates, Gabriel Azueta and Swuine Diego. These very bright students have been at it since December of 2010, in preparation for this year's Olympiad.

In an interview with Mr. Emil Vasquez, principal of the SPHS, he expressed his confidence in the team representing the school. He explained that they were initially nervous, but have managed to overcome that and are now very excited and confident in their abilities and that they will once again, bring home the gold.

Depending on the outcome of Wednesday's competition, winners of Division A will move on to the nationals which will be held in Belmopan on Wednesday March 9th 2011 at the University of Belize Gymnasium.

The San Pedro Sun takes this opportunity to wish the team good luck in this year's competition. Thanks to the invaluable contribution of the Social Security Board, proud sponsors of the Belize Math Olympiad, this year's competition is once again underway.

San Pedro Sun


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Math Olympiad Eliminations Conclude

The fifth annual Math Olympiad started in February, and since then it's rolled though the western, northern, and southern regions; today it came to the central zone where 13 Belize district schools vied for the final regional championship.

The event was held at the St. John's College gymnasium where the joint was rocking with loud cheers.

Leticia Vega told us that in its fifth year students form a record 40 schools are learning the in's and outs of the Olympiad:�

Jim McFadzean
"Are the teams performing better this year than last year?"

Leticia Vega
"Yes, we monitor it through the response rates of each competition and we have seen a very big improvment in the way they answer the level of dificulty that they can handle and its because math olympiad is not only the speed and accuracy, its also how they are willing to take risk in the final match, so they are getting more I think, mastering the whole game, and so the competition are tighter and you can hear the support team being strong as well."

Jim McFadean
"Over the years have you seen a significant in increase in the interest in these schools in participation?"

Leticia Vega
"Yes we have seen the increase in interests. This year we have a record of 40 high schools competing - that's a large percentage of the entire high schools in the country nationwide. Not only, that but in terms of the audience the schools are bringing in more of their students as their support."

Jim McFadzean
"And so today is performance in A and B. Are you all expecting any surprises?"

Leticia Vega
"Laughing", well the math Olympiad is full of surprises but up to now the trends have been similar to past regionals for this year, Saint Catharine's is taking the lead right now, with the defending champs San Pedro high school second place, but we never know at the end of the game what can happen."

At day's end, St. Catherine's Academy and St. John's College emerged as the Central Regional Champions.

The St. John's College team made a record score of 6,201 points.

Those central winners now advance to the national finals on Wednesday, March 9, at the University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan.

They will face Julian Cho Technical High School for the Southern Region, Belize Christian Academy for the Western Region, and Corozal Community College representing the Northern Region. .

Channel 7


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Regional Competition for Annual Math Olympiad ended yesterday

The last two regional competitions of the annual Math Olympiad was held today at the San John's Junior College gym. A total of thirteen high schools participated in the two rounds of competitions for the Belize District. The competition was fierce and the rivalry among the schools was all too present. At the end of the day, two private schools from the City held their own and emerged as district finalists who will go on to compete against the other districts in March. News Five's Delahnie Bain was present as the students tested their wit.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

The Social Security Board's Math Olympiad is in its fifth year and while it's one of the toughest subjects in schools, the game is picking up traction. After touring the districts, the final rounds of regional competition were held today at the Saint John's College Gymnasium in Belize City.

Leticia Vega, Program Coordinator, Belize Math Olympiad

Leticia Vega

"We started in the west; we had participation of ten high schools. It was an excellent match. Of course, at the end of the day, there's only one winner. In that case it was Belize Christian Academy; they won for that region and they also were the winners last year. Then in the southern region, we had the winning team being from the Julian Cho Technical High School and in the Northern region, which was the competition that took place last week, we had Corozal Community College winning that game."

Yelina Gough

Due to the number of schools, the Central region was split into groups A and B. At the end of three matches, St. Catherine Academy beat out six other schools in Central A, with a margin of over four thousand points.

Yelina Gough, St. Catherine Academy Team

"It was very exciting, it was nerve racking but after we got the first questions it was very fun and we just got into it and we blocked out everybody. So it's a good experience."

Xux Ek' Novelo, St. Catherine Academy Team

Xux Ek' Novelo

"It's very interesting because you see all these questions and all these words but it just comes down to one simple thing. So it was interesting; it was a really good experience."

Suraye Solis

Suraye Solis, St. Catherine Academy Team

"After the questions start coming up you calm down because you know the stuff. So it gets easier."

Annie Li, St. Catherine Academy Team

Annie Li

"We were in the led the entire while so that took off the nerve racking-ness and that made us feel as if though we were in an environment where we were able to be comfortable."

Six school competed in Central B and again it was a sweeping victory; this time for the St. John's College team, which scored a record breaking six thousand, two hundred and one points.

Einar Marin

Einar Marin

"At first we were kind of nervous but after a while we just started to take it as a practice match."

Aaron Stock

Aaron Stock

"It's been the product of four years of preparation for Romel and I. We've been practicing every single Tuesday since first form but now since it's what we call Math Olympiad season we practice every single evening. And it's been two years for our junior as well."

Romel Rudon

Romel Rudon

"We do try our best; we drill ourselves every opportunity we can. Like if we get a study period; we do math and from now we're just going to drill our juniors to prepare them for the nationals."

Michael Teng

Michael Teng

"I like math during every subject, it's the most subject that I like in the school. So I basically like math."

By all accounts, preparation for the Math Olympiad is serious work, but the Program Coordinator, Leticia Vega says the game is aimed at making a difficult task enjoyable.

Leticia Vega

"I think the theme of the Belize Math Olympiad kinda summarizes the purpose. It says "I'm stimulating enthusiasm and critical thinking through mathematical creativity. So in the form of a game we want to break all those barriers of negative thinking in terms of the fear for math and I think breaking those behaviors and attitudes we can actually have improvement in the performance in math."

All participating teams, coaches and school principals walked away with a prize for their efforts, but only St. Catherin Academy and St. John's College move on to compete in the nationals where the wining team gets a laptop for each member and a projector for their school. Delahnie Bain for News Five.

The national competition will be held on March ninth at the UB gymnasium in Belmopan.

Channel 5


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MATH OLYMPIAD CHAMPIONS CROWNED

The national finals of the annual math Olympiad was held today in Belmopan.

Dalila Ical reporting......

"The fifth national math Olympiad was held at the University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan. Teams to advance to the final competition were from Belize Christian Academy, Julian Cho Technical High School, Corozal Community College, St. Catherine Academy and St. John's College. The competition was divided into three matches the first among junior contestants from first and second form, the second among senior contestants from third and fourth form and the last among all contestants. All questions were in line with the CXC syllabus. At the end of the third match, St. John's College took first place with 4,399 points, in second place was Corozal Community College and in third place was St. Catherine Academy. Prizes included cash, laptops, printers, medals, trophies and projectors. The competition is organized and sponsored by the Social Security Board."

LOVEFM

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SJC Wins Math Olympiad

The National Championship of the 2011 Belize Math Olympiad was held today at a very noisy University of Belize Gymnasium in Belmopan where students from the 5 schools in the finals gathered in clamorous support of their schools.

At the end of the game, St. John's College emerged victorious with team members Einar Marin, Yun-Te Teng, Aaron Stock and Romel Rudon, racking up an impressive 4,399 points to win their second title as National Champions.

Corozal Community College came in second with 1,701 points, while St. Catherine Academy earned 399 points for third place. The game saw the participation of 5 regional finalists: Belize Christian Academy, Corozal Community College, Julian Cho Technical High School, St. Catherine Academy, and St. John's College. The winners took home a laptop computer while their schools got a projector.

Channel 7


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St. John's College wins Math Olympiad

After weeks of intense competition, the Math Olympiad came down to the wire at the U.B. gymnasium in Belmopan today. Three schools were returning champions while the remaining two got a first shot at the most demanding competition that challenged their math skills with speed and accuracy. News Five's Delahnie Bain was present when the participants tackled the last question to take the glory and the trophy.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

The Belize Math Olympiad 2011 started on February second and following regional competitions, forty high schools from across the country were narrowed down to the top five. It all came down to today; the final showdown for the national championship, which was held at the U.B. gymnasium in Belmopan.

Leticia Vega, Program Coordinator, Belize Math Olympiad

Leticia Vega

"What we have here is all the regional winners coming together. So we have the best of all the regions coming together to compete to be the national champions. Of the five regional winners, we have three who have already been national champions before and then we have two new competing for the National Championships. Those are St. Catherine's Academy and Julian Cho. But the other three; St. John's College, C.C.C. and Belize Christian Academy have already been champions."

At the end of the final match, the St. John's College team claimed the first place trophy with a score of four thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine points. Corozal Community College took second with one thousand, seven hundred and one.

Romel Rudon

Romel Rudon, Senior Member, St. John's College Team

"It feels extremely good because it's good to know that after putting in so many hours of work it finally paid off. It was much more stressful; very intense. It basically followed the same pattern. Our juniors came up with a little sum and then Aaron and I just topped it off in senior round."

Nadine Williams, Coach, St. John's College Team

"It feels great. I feel real, real, real good. After a lot of hard work, it feels good; a payoff, a good payoff."

Otoniel Riverol, Senior Member, Corozal Community College Team

Otoniel Rivero

"I’m happy, but I wanted first because I was dedicating my whole time to math; this whole week and yesterday whole day practice at school. We tried to buzz in as soon as possible because we know John's would have done that. But you get nervous when you reach there and you don't want to buzz in because more pressure is on you and then it's harder to answer."

Carol Batty, Coach, Corozal Community College Team

"They could have done better but when we are sitting at the background we don't know what’s going through their minds. So I’m proud of them; whatever they did, they did their best."

Nadine Williams

The teams were under pressure and the coaches say the preparation was just as difficult.

Nadine Williams

"We had a lot of practice sessions at the beginning of the year. As a matter of fact, I should say last year our losing was a big blow and so we got started immediately. We didn't waste a second and so we got started right there and then in April of last year. We met on Tuesdays in our math clubs and then as we approached November/December we had our internal Math Olympiad competition. We do that every year for the last five years and we do that as a way of selecting our participants for the school."

Carol Batty

Carol Batty

"We actually give them questions to practice and then on certain days we actually give them a competition similar to the one that is being done here because they have to get the little experience."

According to Program Coordinator, Leticia Vega, this year's game was a success and while S.J.C. is enthusiastic about the competition, the interest is dwindling up north.

Leticia Vega

"You can see the enthusiasm is very high, participation is very high, some schools bringing in buses of cheerleaders. I think that's the motivating part of the Belize Math Olympiad because it inspires us to have it every year. I would say it's a huge success. Thanks to everyone who made it that way."

Nadine Williams

"The school believes in them. The students, the teachers in general believe in the Math Olympiad and believe that the students are equipped to do well. What is taught in the classroom, the foundation laid by all the math teachers is good."

Carol Batty

"They were more motivated at first and that's what I was telling Social Security; something seems to be lacking and we need to find that element because every year we are getting a smaller number of students participating. So we need to find that factor."

St. Catherine Academy took third place with three hundred and ninety-nine points. Meanwhile, two teams ended the game with a score of zero. Julian Cho Technical didn't score any points and Belize Christian Academy wagered their entire one thousand seven hundred points on the last question, which all teams answered incorrectly. Delahnie Bain for News Five.

Each member of the S.J.C. team won a computer, medals and cash prizes while their school was awarded a projector. All other participants, including alternates and coaches, received consolation prizes.

Channel 5



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