Traverse City Central High School Student Evelynne Mende and Traverse City West Senior High School Students Jeff Rice, Mitch Treadwell, and Evan Perry have qualified as finalists in the Fiftieth Annual Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition (MMPC). These students are among the top 1,000 students from among 10,000 students in Part I of the MMPC. Part I was a multiple-choice exam with forty problems given at 250 high schools throughout Michigan on October 11, 2006.

The finalists will compete in Part II on December 6^th. This exam consists of five challenging problems to which the students must provide written explanations for their claims and mathematical proofs of their results. Oakland University (Rochester, MI) will host a grading session in January to score the students’ work on Part II. Mathematicians from about 70 colleges and universities that comprise the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America will volunteer their time and expertise toward this annual project of the Michigan Section.

The students with the top 100 scores on the two parts will be invited to an Awards Day program next February at Oakland University. The top 50 will be presented with scholarships ranging from the bronze awards of $250 to $2,600 for the first place gold medallist who will be designated the Ford Scholar in recognition of the donation of this award by Ford Motor Company.

A team of about 30 of these top students on the MMPC will participate in training sessions in preparation for the American Regions Mathematics League Competition. For further information, please visit the official MMPC Web site at http://www.math.oakland.edu/MMPC;mmpc.html or contact John Failor at Traverse City Central High School at 933-3554 or Diana Lyon-Schumacher at Traverse City West Senior High School at 933-7500.