By John Woodford

The Michigan Math Scholars High School Program for 9th to 11th graders has recently completed its second summer of operation, and applications are already being taken for Summer 1999.

Math Scholars began in Summer 1997, with funds from the Provost's Initiative for Community Outreach. According to Carolyn Dean, the program's director, "We aim to provide talented high school students with a research experience that gives them an idea of the scope of modern mathematics and a feel for why it is so exciting. In many high schools, a student's enthusiasm for math can mark him or her as unusual. That can be difficult. One of the best things about Math Scholars is the friendships that form here based on the shared interest in our subject."

During the 1998 Summer program, Math Scholars had 76 students in six two-week courses. "We choose topics that students typically don't see until they are well advanced in the college math curriculum but that can be made quite accessible to high school students," says Executive Director Phil Hanlon, professor of mathematics.

Courses this year included the science and art of counting, mathematics and DNA, the theory of secret codes, the mathematics of curvature and surfaces, number theory, the nature of infinity, and the new geometry that contrasts with the geometry formulated by Euclid in 300 BC.

Courses are small (at most 15 students) and taught by a leading mathematician who is assisted by one or more graduate students or undergraduate seniors in the math honors program. Students have at least 30 hours of faculty contact--about two-thirds the contact time of a University course--and another 30-40 hours doing lab work with the course assistant. Dean emphasizes that "it's active learning-projects, contests, lab work--not just listening to lectures."

High school students come to Math Scholars with a wide variety of backgrounds. Some are advanced, but students with an average background that includes some algebra and geometry can be successful and have a great time if they are motivated, Dean says.

"Social opportunities abound," she continues, "with sports, concerts, picnicking and other activities. But a small core of students work on their math for as much as 16 hours a day. Their enthusiasm is exciting for all of us."

In keeping with the mandate of the Provost's Initiative, the majority of the Math Scholars are Michigan residents; however, 1998 brought students from Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Mississippi and South America. As the program continues to expand, Dean and Hanlon plan to continue the mix.

Special attention is devoted to recruiting students from areas of Michigan that are historically underrepresented at U-M. "This Summer, we had our first student from Wolverine, Michigan, Ashley Hill. That was exciting for us, since in recent years only one student from Wolverine has attended Michigan. We want to achieve this type of impact in many small towns throughout the state."

Dean credits the small-town backgrounds of Hanlon and Prof. Al Taylor, chairman of the department, with motivating the department's intensive outreach efforts: "Both Al and Phil are acutely aware of the difference our program can make to the life of a student from a small town," Dean reports. "As Al says, U-M should attract the best students from throughout our state. It's wrong that there are areas of Michigan with little or no connection to our University."

The Math Scholars philosophy stresses group work and cooperation. Nevertheless, the 1997 Math Scholars excelled in the 1997 Michigan Math Prize Competition taken by 14,000 high school students. Of the 52 students in the 1997 summer program, 13 placed in the top 100 on the MMPC, including gold medalist and incoming U-M Bentley Scholar Rob Easton of Lapeer and silver medalist Betsy Huebner of Grosse Pointe Shores.

For more information about the 1999 Math Scholars program, or to request application materials, please send e-mail to mathsch@umich.edu or mathsch@math.lsa.umich.edu, or phone Cornelius Wright at (734) 647-4461. To discuss the content or philosophy of the program, please send e-mail to Dr. Carolyn Dean at the above address or phone her at (734) 763-5034. Also, see the program's Website at http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~mathsch/