Math Club
TJMC is starting soon for the 2024-25 school year! The first placement test is on 8/27/24. Registration has been closed. Good luck for the test!
The name list who will be invited to the 2nd placement test will be announced here on 8/31.
What is the Toga Junior Math Club?
The Toga Junior Math Club is a weekly program where Saratoga High School coaches train Redwood students to excel in competitive mathematics and to gain a new understand and appreciation for the subject outside what is taught at school. There are two placement tests that students need to pass to be able to attend; we also have a test-only track for interested students who need additional practice to qualify. For the school year 2024-2025 we are honored to have Mr. Hamm as the advisor.
Color Groups
Group placement and cutoff scores are subject to the decision of coaches only and all decisions are final.
Redwood students are placed into different teams based on their math experience:
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Black Team is for advanced students who are adept at solving middle school and high school math contest problems. We will address some college-level concepts as well. If you LOVE interesting math problems, this is the place to be.
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Blue Team consists of intermediate students who have some past experience with math contests, and are comfortable with middle school math contests. We will focus more on fundamental competition topics and some harder high school topics.
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Green Team and Yellow Team are for beginners who are interested in contest math but still have a lot to learn. We will not cover any basic middle school topics in algebra and geometry. Students will be expected to have a strong understanding of these topics.
Mathcounts Squad
Qualification
Group placement and cutoff scores are subject to the decision of coaches only and all decisions are final.
Highest scoring mathletes in lesson and test track, regardless of their team placement, will be chosen to represent Redwood Middle School as either Team Members or as Individuals based off of a two part selection process. First, the top 12 individuals will be selected based purely off of their performance on the AMC 8, the first three HS CaML, Selection Exams, and the Mathcounts School round. Indexes will be created and assigned according to the following formula:​
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where ktest is 6, 2, 3, 6 for AMC 8, HS CaML, Selection Exams, and Mathcounts School round respectively, scoretest is the student's score for that test, µtest is the mean black team score on that test, and σtest is the standard deviation of black team scores on that test. In other words, the higher a student is from the average, the higher their index will be, with each test being weighed equally in total.The students with the highest 12 indices will then be selected, with ties broken by the HS CaML tests. These top 12 individuals must commit to practicing throughout the entirety of their Christmas vacation. If a student cannot commit, he or she must forfeit his or her spot to the next best candidate. Throughout these practices, the top 12 individuals will be observed with no bias given towards previous scores or even the cumulative index that distinguished them. They will be divided into the four team members, six individuals, and two alternates strictly according to the adviser's discretion based off of practice performance AND teamwork capability.
Other Factors
The coaches and liaison will be making the final decision for club acceptances and team selection for Mathcounts and outside contests.
In very few occasions, we do use our judgement for students in the gray area. In these cases, all coaches are given the names of the student that are in the bubble so that they can pay particular attention for students' behavior, constructive role, and other intangibles in the class. Some students in the bubble can be promoted based on an individual coach's recommendation followed by confirmation from remaining coaches who have had the chance to observe the said student in comparison to the rest of the students in the bubble and the entire classroom. Once the agreement is reached, the liaison will give the final okay only after he feels comfortable with the reasons for promotion.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
Who is eligible to take placement test?
Any registered Redwood Middle School student (6th, 7th, and 8th) wanting to join the Redwood Math Club.
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When can I register?
In the beginning of school year announcement will be sent out. Normally in the first week of new school year.
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What does the Placement Test cover?
Since math club is designed for self motivated students, the student must be familiar with all appropriate contest material, including Algebra and Geometry. Some questions will require a justification to the answer. The Placement Test will also be comprised of questions of difficulty similar to that of Math Olympiad for Elementary and Middle School, MS & HS CaML, AMC-8 and -10, and AIME. You can obtain past contests of AMC-8, -10, and AIME from artofproblemsolving.com web-site.