At Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences’ (FNAS) Department of Mathematics and Statistics held its third annual Math Competition for high school students, kindly sponsored by Librairie du Liban Publishers.
Over 100 high school juniors and seniors from 18 schools participated in the competition, hailing from various regions in the country. The participating were Saint Joseph School, Cornet Chahwan; Collège Saint Joseph, Antoura; Brummana High School; Collège Notre Dame de Louaize, Zouk Mosbeh; Antonine International School; Collège des Frères Maristes Champville, Dik El Mehdi; École Saint Joseph, Jbeil; Tyre Community School; Collège Secondaire Saint Jean Okaibé, Jounieh; Collège Saint Michel, Zouk Mikael; École Saint Georges, Bsalim; Cedars High School, Baouchrieh; Modern Community School, Ain El Remmaneh; AGBU Schools, Naccache; Yeghishe Manoukian College, Dbayeh; Saint Roch School, Kleiat; Saint Anthony’s College, Hammana; and Collège des Soeurs du Rosaire, Mountazah.
The main goal of the competition was to prompt students’ interest in math as both a subject and potential field of study via the Mathematics program offered at the University, providing the participants with examples of future career paths to pursue. To that end, the event began with a lecture from Dr. Hassan Harb, NDU alumnus and current instructor of Mathematics at Concordia University, Canada. Harb relayed the relevance of mathematics as it applies to the job market, how it is integrated in assorted fields, and his personal recommendations gleaned from his experience.
In the second part of the event, a 90-minute competition was held. The goal was to challenge students to clarify, analyze, and propose solutions to solutions to basic and stimulating questions in mathematics. The results were then graded by a team of undergraduate and graduate students of the Department while the participants enjoyed refreshments and perused Department programs and financial aid brochures.
Winners were announced and prizes were distributed in the third and final part of the event. Jawad Ibrahim from Modern Community School won first place and was rewarded with a pair of wireless earphones and a set of mathematics books. The second place winner was Dongmin Park from Cedars High School, who also won a math book set along with a power bank. Finally, Yorgo El Khoury from Saint Joseph School, Cornet Chahwan, came in third place and received a science and math encyclopedia.
The success and organization of the competition provided insight into the sincere interest in mathematics among prospective university students, reinforcing the importance of high school outreach and providing the youth with environments where they can challenge and hone their skills.