About
Why Learn Math was a competition asking students to examine why learning math
is important in modern society. Each year the Washington Student Math Association
would propose a theme relating to math applications in the real world. A panel of
judges chose a student submission (written piece or video) that best illustrates
that year's theme in a creative and quality manner. We selected winners and
runner-ups. The top submissions are featured here. For more information,
email us at whylearnmath@wastudentmath.org.
Theme for 2014-2015: Applications of Math in Your Life.
This Year's Prompt
Write about how math has an important role in your life outside of the classroom,
or tell us a story about an experience you’ve had with math. Choose a topic, then, through
an interesting written piece or video,
explain how math relates to it. We encourage you to use personal experiences, research, and/or observations while making your submission.
2015 Why Learn Math Winners announced!
Prizes
First Place: $500
Second Place: $200
Third Place: $100
Results
The winners have been announced for WSMA's 2014 "Why Learn Math?" Competition!
We received many excellent entries from across the nation and the selection process was difficult.
Congratulations to everyone who submitted an entry.
We hope you enjoyed our competition, and we look forward to having you participate again next year!
2015 "Why Learn Math?" Results
The top 3 prizes were awarded to:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Submission
|
| 1st
|
Claire McCreave, from Issaquah, Washington
|
|
| 2nd
|
Olga Andreeva, from Issaquah, Washington
|
|
| 3rd
|
Patrick Liu, from Redmond, Washington
|
|
Honorable Mention
We are also recognizing the following students with an honorable mention for their excellent submissions:
| Raymond Hsu, from Bellevue, Washington
|
| Tali Magidson, from Issaquah, Washington
|
| Prajwala Mantha, from Redmond, Washington
|
2014 "Why Learn Math?" Results
The top 3 prizes were awarded to:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Submission
|
| 1st
|
Chunyang Ding, from Bellevue, Washington
|
|
| 2nd
|
Emily Whelan, from Shoreline, Washington
|
|
| 3rd
|
Ben Yan, from Bellevue, Washington
|
|
Honorable Mention
We are also recognizing the following students with an honorable mention for their excellent submissions:
| Andra Chen, from Bellevue, Washington
|
| Raymond Hsu, from Bellevue, Washington
|
| Atul Madhugiri, from Redmond, Washington
|
2013 "Why Learn Math?" Results
The top 3 prizes were awarded to:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Submission
|
| 1st
|
Simanta Gautam, from Charlottesville, Virginia
|
|
| 2nd
|
Romil Sirohi, from Issaquah, Washington
|
|
| 3rd
|
Jiyoon Kim, from Bellevue, Washington
|
|
Honorable Mention
We are also recognizing the following students with an honorable mention for their excellent submissions:
| Emily Whelan, from Sammamish, Washington
|
| Francisco Loayza, from Baltimore, Maryland
|
| Anirudh Prakash, from Bellevue, Washington
|