Dear Sir / Madam,

The Mathematics Contest Centre prepares some of the top mathematics competitions in North America. Since 1990, more than 900 000 Canadian students have participated in these contests. This year, you may enter your students in seven different contests: Thales (grade 3), Byron–Germain (grade 4), Fibonacci (grade 5), Pythagoras (grade 6), Euler (grade 7), Lagrange (grade 8), and Newton (grade 9). We hope that your students will participate this year.

UNESCO has declared that learning mathematics through problem solving activities is the most efficient way for students to develop lasting mathematical skills that will prepare them for the challenges of the future. With this in mind, we design contests that will challenge and promote the problem solving skills of all your students. To learn more about our educational mission, please go to www.mathematicacentrum.ca and read our homepage letter. Schools who wish to receive previous contest questionnaires with detailed solutions to help them prepare their students can order them by completing the appropriate section of the registration form. 

This year, we will publish a preparatory test for each contest. As well, the formats of the Thales and Euler Contests will be improved: for the grade 3 ThalesContest the format will be (45 minutes; 30 questions) and for the grade 7 Euler Contest the format will be (75 minutes; 40 questions). The formats for the Byron-Germain Contest (grade 4; 45 minutes; 30 questions), the Fibonacci Contest (grade 5; 60 minutes; 40 questions), the Pythagoras Contest (grade 6; 75 minutes; 50 questions), the Lagrange Contest (grade 8; 75 minutes; 40 questions), and the Newton Contest (grade 9; 75 minutes; 40 questions) will be unchanged. All contests will be written on April 18, 2012.Please contact us if your school is closed on this date. For each contest, the students scoring over the national average will receive certificates of distinction, while all other students will receive certificates of participation. A medal (or medals) will be awarded to the champion(s) of each school. National plaques will be awarded to schools ranked in the first, second, and third places in Canada. Provincial plaques will be awarded to school provincial champions. Students who rank in the first, second, and third places in Canada will receive a medal resembling the Fields medal (the medal awarded to the greatest mathematicians in the world) that will have the student’s name inscribed on the back. Provincial champions will receive the same medal. Furthermore, each student participating in the Pythagoras, Euler, and Lagrange contests who gets a perfect score will receive a US$250 merit scholarship to attend the international MathPath camp (please read N.B. 2 on reverse side). As well, both national and provincial honour rolls for the best students and schools will be published online in June. To register, you must complete the accompanying registration form and return it to the Mathematics Contest Centre before the deadline of December 23, 2011.

We hope that these contests will encourage all of your students to further develop their problem resolution skills. We look forward to your participation.