Washington Student Math Association

The Washington Student Math Association (WSMA) is a non-profit organization in Washington State. Led by students in the Seattle area, WSMA seeks to promote math and its applications by aiding existing math clubs and starting new ones. The goals of the organization include hosting math practices and providing information about past and future contests to encourage students, math club leaders, and math enthusiasts at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. WSMA extends its influence to the community by working directly with students, parents, teachers, and coaches.
Mission statement
According to its official website, the Washington Student Math Association is a "student-driven organization dedicated to promoting the uses and purposes of math that are not generally covered in the current school curriculum. The Washington Student Math Association will accomplish this mission through the advocacy of alternative uses of math and the provision of assistance in the startup and improvement of local math clubs."
Representation at math competitions
WSMA representatives attended several math competitions throughout Washington state to promote its resources, encourage math learning, promote awareness of opportunities for high-achieving math students, and recruit new members. In 2010, WSMA board members presented at Washington State Mu Alpha Theta, a competition sponsored by the national mathematical honor society. Representatives also encouraged competitors to pursue their education in math and science at a competition recently hosted by Interlake High School in April 2010. WSMA was also recognized at the contest as one of its main sponsors.
Services
Starter pack
WSMA offers a starter pack for math club leaders, which is written by students who have experience in running math clubs.
Lists of math competitions and summer programs
WSMA provides a list of major math competitions at each of the local, state, regional, and national levels for primary and secondary students. It also offers suggestions of summer math and enrichment programs for motivated students.
Electronic Data Initiative
In 2009, Washington math students called attention to the lack of current resources available to math clubs, citing www.wamath.net as a helpful but infrequently updated resource. Indeed, as of April 2010, the site's main list of high school math contests had not been updated since the 2007-2008 school year. Responding to students' requests, WSMA recently announced its plans for the Electronic Data Initiative, a searchable, online database targeting math club leaders. Projected to launch in May 2010, the EDI project aims to provide information on running a club, which includes math problems, event results, leadership advice, and sample lessons. WSMA has also formed a partnership with the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) to provide information about the American Mathematics Competitions and provide convenient access to past tests to WSMA member schools.
American Regions Math League
WSMA supports the Washington teams that compete in the annual meet of the American Regions Math League, a national math competition for high school students sponsored by D. E. Shaw & Co. whose tests are more difficult than those of most other high school contests. WSMA hosts weekly practices to train and prepare the thirty Washington team members that compete in ARML each year.
Community recognition
According to the , WSMA encourages students to explore math topics beyond normal school curricula.
The Sammammish Reporter also noted that WSMA makes "effective math learning accessible to more students" by developing a large base of commmunity math resources. Evan Shieh, the founder of WSMA, was recently praised for his efforts to establish this organization by the Issaquah Press.

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