FAQ

• Who is eligible to participate in the competition?

  To be eligible to compete in the WBGIMC, students must meet all of the following criteria:
  a) Have a passion for problem-solving!
  b) Be female or non-binary in gender identity.
  c) Be in grade 9 or below OR under 15.5 years of age on the day of the competition (January 29, 2023).

• Where can I register?

  Click here to register

• Do participants needs to submit a completed waiver? Submit Certificates of Insurance for Schools?

  Yes, they do.

  A waiver completed must be submitted for each competitor before they are allowed to compete.

  The waiver is online here in two formats. Both are the same: PDF, DOCX

  All official school teams need to also send in a Certificate of Insurance from their school. (Not needed for non-school based teams.)

  Scans of completed documents should be emailed to Jessi Johnson at jejohnson@williston.com
  

  While completed forms can be submitted the morning of the event during registration, it’s preferred if the forms are emailed in before the event.

  Chaperones should make sure they are carrying a hard copy of all waivers with them at the event.

• How can I submit team rosters? (Due Friday, January 26, 2024)

  Please use this online form to submit your team roster(s) by Friday, January 26, 2024.

• Is there an age minimum?

  No, there is not, but keep in mind that problems will be geared for students in 5th through 9th grades.

• Does someone who wants to compete need to be connected to a school or other organization?

  Nope! Individual competitors or groups of competitors can attend without being connected to a school or any other organization. They will need to have a chaperone, which could be someone like a parent or guardian or one of the competitors.

• Which schools are competing?

  WBGMC2023: Right here!
  

   

  WBGMC2020:

  The Williston Northampton School
  The Bement School
  White Brook Middle School
  Groton School
  Easthampton High School
  Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School
  Smith Academy
  Hatfield Elementary School
  Amherst Regional Middle School
  Western Mass ARML
  Wilbraham & Monson Academy

• Whitaker-Bement?

  Sarah Whitaker and Dorothy Bement founded the Northampton School for Girls in 1924. In 1971 the school merged with Williston Academy to become the Williston Northampton School. You can read more about Sarah Whitaker and Dorothy Bement right here.

• Does my team need an adult chaperone?

  Yes! All organizations must have at least one adult chaperone with them at all times. If an organization is bringing more than one team, they are only required to have one adult chaperone, although one per team is recommended.

• How difficult are the competition problems?

  We’re aiming for the difficulty of competition problems to span elementary and middle school topics through a maximum difficulty of AMC 8 problems. Some challenge problems will work to push students to the level of AMC 10.

• Can I see some example problems?

  Sure thing!

  Here you go: Problems, Solutions

  All of our example and competition problems are written by members of the Williston Math Team!

• I want to sign up but I don’t know how many competitors we’ll be bringing. What do I do?

  When registering, teams only need to provide an estimate of their number of competitors. Teams will have until Friday, January 26, 2024 to finalize their rosters.

• Where does the event take place?

  The Whitaker-Bement building located right here on the Williston Northampton School campus. The street address is 51 Park Street.

• Where can I park? (UPDATED 1/12/23)

  ALL parking must be done in the Scott Hall parking located right here across the street from The Schoolhouse building (19 Payson Ave, Easthampton, MA 01027).

  Drop off CAN still be done right next to the Whitaker-Bement building, but all vehicles will need to park in the Scott Hall parking lot.

  Full-sized busses will not be able to drop off at WB. They will need to drop off on the main quad and then get instructions from Campus Safety on where to park.

• What is the event schedule?

  8–8:40, Registration
  8:45–9, Official event opening!
  9:10–10, Individual Round
  10–10:20, Social time
  10:30–11:20, Team Round
  11:25–11:55, Guest speakers
  12–12:40, Lunch
  12:40–12:50, Teams re-check in
  1–2, GUTS Round
  1:15 to 1:45, Guest speaker for coaches.
  2:05–2:35, Social time
  2:45–3:15, Awards

• Who are the guest speakers? What will they be covering?

  Dr. Kim Skyrm will be speaking the the competitors. Coaches can watch as well!
  

  “Dr. Kim Skyrm is currently the State Apiarist for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) and the East Director of the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA). Dr. Skyrm has always been driven by an intense love of bees to serve in supporting roles informed by the latest scientific research. This is evident since Kim has been working with wild and managed bees, beekeepers, farmers, gardeners, pesticide applicators and the public for the past 14 years through outreach education, research, and extension. Dr. Skyrm has a “bees-eye view” of the world and is truly passionate about continuing work that preserves the viability and sustainability of bee populations!”

  Dr. Torrey Trust will be speaking to the coaches during the GUTS round.
  

  “As an Associate Professor of Learning Technology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, my research, teaching, and service center on the critical examination of the interconnected relationship between teaching, learning, and technology. While technology might be considered “just a tool,” in the hands of a creative educator, technology can offer learning experiences that reach beyond our imagination and prepare us for the exciting, yet unpredictable, future (see Why do we need technology in education?).”

• How will the Individual Round work?

  The Individual Round is a 50-minute, 10-problems test where all answers are single values (i.e. short answers). The point weights for each problem are indicated on the exam.

• How will the Team Round work?

  The Team Round is a 60-minute, 10-problem test where all members of a team work together. The point weights for each problem are indicated on the exam.

• What’s the GUTS Round?

  The GUTS (Get Up To Submit) Round is an 60-minute team event with 42 short-answer questions on an assortment of subjects, of varying difficulty and point values. The problems are divided into sets of three. The point weights for each problem are indicated on the exam.

  All teams gather in one large room. At the starting signal, each team sends a runner to an assigned problem station to pick up copies of the first set of three problems. As soon as a team has answers for one problem set, the runner brings the answers to the problem station and picks up the next set of 3 problems. It is not expected that students will finish all the problems. Grading is immediate and scores are posted in real time.

• How will teams be ranked at the end of the event?

  A teams’ final team score will be calculated as a weighted sum of their scores from all three rounds: 50% Team, 30% GUTS, 20% Individual

  Details:

  • Team is out of 30 points (and then scaled to 50 since 50%)
  • Individual is out of 30 points. Team members averaged and then scaled to 20%.
  • GUTS: Highest score given 30 points (since 30%) and all other scores scaled linear. (so if winner got 70 and second place got 56, then winner got 30 points and second got 24)

• Are calculators allowed? How should answers be formatted?

  Any calculator without a QWERTY keyboard is allowed.

  Answers must be exact or have 4 (or more) significant digits, correctly rounded.

• Who will be awarded prizes?

  The top three finishers in all both divisions (Team and Individual) will receive prize plaques.

• How will teams send in their rosters?

  Teams will use an online form to submit their rosters. The form will be posted by early December. The form will collect participants names, dietary restrictions, and some additional miscellaneous information.

• Do you have some promo materials we can use to spread the word about the event?

  Coming soon!

• How does lunch work?

  Lunch will be a mix of wraps and salads. Drinks and desserts will be provided. There will be gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options. Teams will submit their dietary restrictions when they verify their rosters.

• Who can I reach out to with questions?

  Jessi Johnson, jejohnson@williston.com