Jump to content

Florida Association of Mu Alpha Theta

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Farazy (talk | contribs) at 20:16, 16 August 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

FAMAT is the abbreviation for the Florida Association of Mu Alpha Theta, a national mathematics honor society. Florida has one of the largest Mu Alpha Theta programs in the United States. The state is divided into 5 regions for Mu Alpha Theta. Each Region holds a competition once a month, from January to March. One statewide invitational is held each month, and, occasionally, out-of-state schools come to compete. Further, FAMAT holds a State Convention every year which lasts about two days.

Recent State Champions

Origins of FAMAT

This excerpt was taken from an article of FAMATCGRAPH.

In the spring of 1976, the Mu Alpha Theta chapter at Lake City High School, Lake City, hosted the first Florida Mu Alpha Theta convention. The chapter's sponsor was Patte Casey. The activities of the conference included competitions in games such as Score Four, Mastermind, Hex, Helix, Backgammon, etc. There were an unknown number of schools in attendance.

The students and sponsor, Rose Reeves, at Hillsborough High School, Tampa, decided to repeat the convention experience the next year, 1977, by having the second convention. Again Games competitions took place, as well as a team competition.

The third convention took place in 1978 at Miami Coral Park High School, Miami, hosted by JoAnne Taber (Coral Gables Senior High School), Mary Elizabeth Sullivan (Miami Senior High School), and Hector Hirigoyen (Miami Coral Park High School). The team competition between schools involved two schools at a time responding to timed questions. Winners of each match worked through the competition tree until the first through fourth place teams were identified. There were two team levels which became Alpha and Theta levels. The fourth competition was held in 1979 at Coral Springs High School (Barbara Nunn, sponsor). Besides the team and games competitions, the convention program included speakers, such as Zalman Usiskin of the University of Chicago. A panel discussion on careers involving mathematics was also held.

The convention at Coral Springs was successful with over twenty-five schools in attendance. With the growth in the number of state Mu Alpha Theta chapters and conference attendees, it became obvious that there needed to be an organization to coordinate the state's Mu Alpha Theta activities.

Funds remaining from the Coral Springs High School Mu Alpha Theta convention were used to pay travel and housing expenses for a group to convene in May, 1979, to establish a Mu Alpha Theta state organization. At the Holiday Inn in Palm Beach Gardens the Florida Association of Mu Alpha Theta (FAMAT) was founded and a constitution was written by the following committee:

Omis Avant, Key West High School, Key West Sandra Clinger, Brandon High School, Brandon Betty Lichtenberg, University of South Florida, Tampa Fred Lundeen, Martin County High School, Stuart Barbara Nunn, Coral Springs High School, Coral Springs Rose Reeves, Hillsborough High School, Tampa The first officers of FAMAT serving until 1983 were:

President Omis Avant Secretary/Treasurer Barbara Nunn Mu's News Editor Sandra Clinger Constitution Rose Reeves Also in the spring of 1979, the first invitational mathematics competition was held at Martin County High School under the direction of Fred Lundeen. This competition initiated the mathematics competitions in Florida. At each level, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Advanced Math, and Calculus, students participated in team and individual competitions. In the team competition the exact order of answer submission was noted. The Kiwanis Club of Stuart helped sponsor this competition.

In the next year, 1980, Martin County High School hosted a similar competition. Coral Springs High School hosted a competition like the one at Martin County High School for Broward County Algebra I and Geometry students led by sponsors Fran McCreary and Diane Riley.

In 1981 the Coral Springs High School competition grew into a state wide invitational in the areas of Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Advanced Math, Calculus, and Computers. Over the next few years competitions were held at North Miami Beach Senior High School (Helen Dostal), Riverdale High School, Ft. Myers High School (Ron Davis), Port Charlotte High School (Shirley Holm), Ft. Pierce Westwood High School (Christine Rodic), Palm Beach Gardens High School (Mary Kilpatrick), Tampa's Berkeley Prep (Thom Morris), South Fork High School in Stuart, and Port Charlotte High School (Eileen Harris).

In 1984, while in Tallahassee to serve on a Department of Education (DOE) committee, Ron Davis and Barbara Nunn were able to meet with Doug Crawford, DOE director of high schools. Renee Henry made the meeting possible. The purpose of this meeting was to seek DOE financial support to transport the mathematics competition concept, so widespread in South Florida, to the rest of the state. A $5000.00 grant was given by the DOE and, under the direction of Ron Davis, regional competitions were held in all five region of Florida in 1985. The grant moneys were used to send a team of experienced competition sponsors to work with those at the site of the new competitions. Three competitions were held as a direct result of the grant.

FAMAT since its inception has strived to bring the enthusiasm, interest, and appreciation of mathematics to the students of Florida. The torch is carried and passed by the FAMAT sponsors and officers.

FAMAT sponsored National Mu Alpha Theta Conventions

  • 1986 University of Miami co-chaired by Helen Dostal (North Miami Beach Senior H.S.) and Fran McCreary (Coral Springs H.S.)
  • 1989 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Tampa co-chaired by Dave Steele (Plant City H.S.), Thom Morris (Berkeley Prep), and Ron Carroll, (King H.S.)
  • 1992 Princeton University chaired by Thom Morris (Berkeley Prep)
  • 1996 University of Central Florida co-chaired by Frank Caballero (Miami Sunset Senior H.S.), Sam Koski (Miami Springs Senior H.S.), and Robert L. Lundblad (Miami Killian Senior H.S.)
  • 2000 San Diego State University co-chaired by Thom Morris (Berkeley Prep) and David Steele (Plant City H.S.)
  • 2003 Emory Conference Center Hotel, Atlanta co-chaired by Susan Hiller (Vero Beach H.S.), Sam Koski (Miami Springs Senior H.S.), and Thom Morris (Berkeley Prep)
  • 2006 The Hilton, Fort Collins, Colorado co-chaired by Susan Doker (Lincoln H.S.) and Thom Morris (Berkeley Prep)

This honor society-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Florida_Association_of_Mu_Alpha_Theta&oldid=70084039"