Math Olympiad was created in 1977 by Dr. George Lenchner, an internationally known math educator, the Math Olympiads went public in 1979. Last year 150,000 students from 6,000 teams worldwide participated in the Olympiads. 49 of the 50 states and about 30 other countries were represented.

The goals of Math Olympiad:

·         To stimulate enthusiasm and a love for Mathematics

·         To introduce important Mathematical concepts

·         To teach major strategies for problem solving

·         To develop Mathematical flexibility in solving problems

·         To strengthen Mathematical intuition

·         To foster Mathematical creativity and ingenuity

·         To provide for the satisfaction, joy, and thrill of meeting challenges

Lula Elementary became a part of Math Olympiad in 2009. The club sponsors are Ms. McIntyre and Mr. Thomas. Any student in 4^th and 5^th can join Math Olympiad and there is no cost. Students meet from 2:30-3:45 every Wednesday and explore a topic or strategy in depth, using Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics , or they practice for the contests, using nonroutine problems from both Math Olympiad Contest Problems Volume 2 or Mathematical Olympiads Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools .The highlights for students are the five monthly contests, given from November to March. No traveling is required.  These contests provide an incentive for students to intensify their study of math.