MATHCOUNTS

16/10/2026

Check out our October Alumni Chat with Kai Williams! Kai is a reporter at Understanding AI, where he writes about developments in AI and robotics. He previously did AI safety research through the MATS program and studied math at Swarthmore College. Read the whole interview at mathcounts.org/alumnichats!

15/10/2026

Mathematician Jordan Ellenberg reflects on his mission to disprove the Cohen-Lenstra conjectures, a famous set of predictions, sharing that math not only requires faith, but resilience when facing setbacks.

Logic skills, yes, but also two seemingly incompatible traits: Confidence and humility

10/10/2026

10/10 is National Metric Day! Here are some ways to celebrate:

1. Check the temperature outside and convert it from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

2. Cook a recipe using metric measurements (grams and milliliters).

3. Go for a walk or a bike ride and measure the distance in kilometers.

4. Solve this week’s Problem of the Week using metric measurements: mathcounts.org/potw

08/10/2026

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, a day to celebrate women in STEM fields named for mathematician and world’s first computer programmer Ada Lovelace! We’re thankful for women like Ada that have helped pave the way for more women to succeed in STEM.

05/10/2026

We are grateful to announce that we not only met our back-to-school fundraising goal of 26^2.7 ($6,613), but exceeded it by over $400! Thanks to your support, we can continue providing free resources to our Mathletes, ensuring they have all the gear they need to take on this year’s adventure of fun and challenging math.

02/10/2026

The October problem set for the MATHCOUNTS Showcase is now available for registered coaches on your dashboard!

The MATHCOUNTS Showcase is an opportunity for students to earn recognition and awards outside of the official levels of competition. Mathletes at registered competition schools can solve problem sets each month and compete against other participating schools. Not registered yet? Register a team today at mathcounts.org/reg!

28/09/2026

Back-to-school season is wrapping up, and we’re only $101 away from raising $6,613 (26^2.7) to help teachers engage their students with free, fun and challenging math resources. With help from supporters like you, Mathletes can conquer challenging problems and reel in new skills that they will use for years to come. Donate to the MATHCOUNTS Foundation today at mathcounts.org/donate

28/09/2026

We’re excited to introduce you to our new DoW STEM Ambassadors! We work with amazing educators each year through the Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) to promote STEM education in their communities.

Our first (of three!) STEM ambassadors this year is Finn Goehrig (NY). As a math teacher at The Gifted Math Program, University at Buffalo, Finn started the GMP Open Lab and GMP Symposium, where students could collaborate, research and present their own projects. He has also designed curriculum teaching STEM through bicycle repair, volunteered at the Buffalo Maritime Center teaching students to build canoes, designed and implemented computer science curriculum at the middle school and high school level, and co-founded the Upstate New York Math Team.

He said, “STEM education is about learning to learn, to ask questions to which the textbook has no answer at the back of the book, indeed to ask questions which have not yet been asked, and to supply students with the tools to answer them anyways. STEM education is important because the future is full of such questions, and in need of a populace capable of grappling with them.”

Our next ambassador is Catherine Stolarski (TX). Catherine focuses on addressing diverse learning styles and bringing innovative, inclusive instruction to her classroom at
Allen Independent School District. Coaching MATHCOUNTS for 19 years, she has led the MATHCOUNTS team at Curtis Middle School from Most Improved three years ago to placing fourth at their chapter competition for the last two years. Her former student named her as an influence when accepting the Terman Award at Stanford, crediting MATHCOUNTS for inspiring her to pursue mathematics.

Catherine said, “I want students to understand that mathematics is beautiful. I want students to understand that mathematics is a language used for problem solving and a skill that can be learned.”

Our third ambassador is Jenny Wilcox (KS). Jenny has taught middle school math for 29 years and coached MATHCOUNTS for 10. She formed and taught a coding club at her school and frequently collaborates with the science teacher at her school to do combined STEM projects with their students. She has also collaborated with engineers to introduce engineering concepts to students at Auburn-Washburn USD 437.

She said, “STEM education requires a great deal of students, both in terms of academic skills as well as soft skills. We need to prepare students academically, but also to be people that will continue doggedly working on a problem until they find a workable solution, and then to continue working until they find a better solution.”

26/09/2026

Our September Alumni Chat features Jessica Li! Jessica works in AI research and venture capital in Silicon Valley. She also works with Harvard alumni as Editor in Chief of Harvard in Tech. She graduated from Harvard with high honors in applied mathematics, economics and computer science. Read the whole interview at mathcounts.org/alumnichats!

25/09/2026

Did you catch our August Alumni Chat with Nirav Patel? Watch this sneak peek and read the whole interview at mathcounts.org/alumnichats!