UF's campus buzzed with a younger generation of students Saturday for two educational competitions: the Florida Blue Key Math Invitational and the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering Inc. Regional Olympiad for engineering.
About 900 high school and middle school students from across the state participated in the math competition, and nearly 200 students from Alachua County elementary, middle and high schools attended the engineering event.
This was the first year Florida Blue Key held the math tournament at UF. Michael O'Brien, Florida Blue Key spokesman and advertising senior, said the group hopes to make it an annual occurrence.
It's a good way to promote UF to "quick-minded kids" and "math geniuses," O'Brien said.
The group has been preparing for the math invitational since November, he said. Besides coordinating staff, some Blue Key members wrote the math tests used in the competition.
"We have a couple guys who are just math-heads," he said.
As a two-minute clock began its countdown, about 300 math teams hurriedly tore the paper packets apart, creating an echoing scuffle in the Rion Ballroom. Participants furrowed their brows and communicated in bursts of whispers as they delved into algebra, precalculus and calculus problems.
Chris Lawyer, a precalculus teacher from Middleton High School, said the competition allows his students to be comfortable with their intelligence.
"They get to be as smart as they want to be and not have to worry about kids making fun of them," Lawyer said.
He said he attended similar tournaments when he was a student in the '80s, and he likes seeing his own students getting excited about math.
"You just can't bottle that," he said.
Meanwhile, UF engineering students prepared to host almost 200 students from 10 Alachua County public schools for the Regional SECME Olympiad on Saturday.
Austin Cooley, event coordinator and fourth-year UF engineering student, said the original goal of the program, introduced in 1975, was to increase diversity in scientific fields. Since then, the event has widened to a larger group of students.
Throughout the day, kids of all grade levels participated in a series of events designed to test math, science and overall critical thinking skills, Cooley said.
Events included an egg drop, a water-bottle rocket contest and a mousetrap car challenge. Students also entered essays and posters about this year's event theme, which was "Lighting the Torch to Empower Future Leaders."
UF's engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi also helped with the event.
"We want to show the kids that math and science is fun, and you can see their enthusiasm in the competitions," said Candice Daibes, Tau Beta Pi president.
Karen Mittner, a technology education teacher at Kanapaha Middle School, brought nine students to the event.
Mittner said her students prepared all year to compete, and she wishes more schools would also get involved.
"Parents can preach all they want, but it is better to witness what college can be and how the kids can be successful," she said.
