The Arcadia Quill recently visited Dana Middle School (DMS), where the Arcadia Math Circles instructors, junior Atharv Prabhutendolkar and sophomore Dylan Truong,  taught competition math to middle school students in a fun and interactive way.

“The circles provide a free method for many students to learn competition math and simultaneously help them develop a passion for the subject. It allows the students to explore a different side of math,” Prabhutendolkar said. “Math is a difficult subject for many people. However, at the circles, we make sure to help the students learn in a way that suits them best.”

The Arcadia Math Circles is a student-led program run by student volunteers. The circles have been running successfully for the past eight years since 2017. Many current instructors were students in these circles. Now, the circles are running successfully at all three of the middle schools.

“The experience has not only significantly impacted the students I’ve interacted with, I’ve also grown and learned with them along the way. Students may initially feel intimidated by math as a subject and avoid contact with anything to do with it. As the year progresses, these students start to slowly open up and realize how interesting and truly magical math can be.” said Junior Max Ma, a student instructor at First Avenue Middle School (FAMS).

“I’ve had a really enjoyable experience teaching the math circles. All the kids are really nice and fun to work with. We all love each other’s company and have a good time together,” Truong said.

The instructors teach all sorts of competition math topics, such as probability and number theory. Many of these topics are not taught in a typical school math curriculum. Even though some students may be intimidated by these topics, the instructors create presentations and games in order to create a better environment for learning. These interactive sessions help the students build a love for math and prepare for many math competitions, such as the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 8.

Freshman Gary Li, a first-year instructor, said, “My expertise in math is mostly in number theory. I lectured on topics such as divisibility, modular arithmetics, and properties of integers.”

The Arcadia Math Circle legacy continues with the mission for the students by the students.