1-Online Annual competition which consistes of 4 tests for the year November through February.

2- On Site Tournaments which take place at a college campus or school campus on a Saturday.

3-Virtual tournaments which are 1 time only chat room gameshow style competition.

YEARLY ONLINE COMPETITION (NOV-FEB)

How much does the contest cost for the year?

The cost of entering the Perennial Math Contests for a school year is $100 per team of up to 30 students at one testing level. U.S. school districts may call us for a bulk discount. A parent may sign up an individual student for the contests for $20 but must pay by credit card. International teams (teams outside the United States) cost $100 and must be paid by credit card.

My school is sending a check but it won't be there in time for the competition-am I too late to enter?

You're not too late to sign up-we can activate your account immediately and we'll bill you if we don't receive your check or purchase order in 30 days. We know what a hassle it can be to wait on all the red tape from school system accounting departments. Please don't hesitate to order-get started today so you can prepare your students.

What are the steps to register?

First you must create an account with a user id and password. Once you have created a user id, you can go to the pricing page and select the membership you want to purchase (team/individual student). You complete your purchase and go to your shopping cart and select credit card or invoice. Individual student memberships and international team memberships must be paid by credit card. Regardless to whether you pay by credit card or invoice, your team will automatically be activated and you'll be able to enter coaches. Coaches will then receive an email and be able to enter students. Some purchasers are also the coach- if you plan on being the coach, you still must set yourself up as a coach when you receive the team activation email. Once the coaches are entered, they will receive an email with practice problems and have access to login and enter students. We have found that principals and secretaries sometimes place the order, but we need to be able to communicate with the coach and ship awards to coaches. If your school orders and is paying by invoice, we will expect the payment to be shipped within 30 days. We will send a reminder invoice if we have not received payment. Please send all checks to 127 Noble Dr. SE Huntsville, AL 35802. If you have inquiries about payment or need a w-9 from our company, please email us at info@perennialmath.com. If you have further concerns, you may call us at 1-888-835-2366.

How many tests are taken in a year?

There are four tests for the season. One test a month- starting in November and ending in February. There are 6 questions on each test and each test must be completed in 30 minutes.

When are the tests taken through the year?

Tests are posted the first Monday of each Month, beginning in November and ending in February. We suggest that you have your students take the test within the 2 week window from the initial posting in order to be counted in the statistics. The test will be removed from the website on the last day of each month. Once the test is removed, you'll have to administer the test by paper/pencil and log in the scores manually.

How many students can be on a team?

Each team may have up to 30 members at one competition level. The system only allows you to put in one coach email-so please create a login that can be shared if you have more than 1 teacher coaching. Students are inelgible for awards if they are registered for a competition level below their grade level- For instance, 7/8th grade students cannot be on an intermediate team, and 5/6 grade students cannot be on a rookie team. Students may be registered in a higher level than their grade level. 3/4th grade can do Intermediate and 5/6 can do Advanced. If students are registered in the wrong level, they are not elgible to have their name on the Wall of Fame.

I have students in grades 4-6, do I need to pay for 2 teams?

You must purchase a membership for the test level you want to participate in. If you purchase an intermediate team, then your 4th graders will receive the intermediate test instead of a rookie test. If you want the fourth grade student to receive the rookie test, you must purchase a separate team level. Your team score will be calculated by the highest grade level on the team. In other words, if you have a fourth grader on a team with a sixth grader, the team is considered to be a 6th grade team. However, your 4th grader's individual score will only be compared to other 4th grade scores when awards are calculated for individual awards.

We only have 1 or 2 students in our school interested in these contests. May we participate?

Yes, Students in grades 3-8 can enter our competitions individually if there are not enough students to form a team. If schools do not participate, then parents may purchase a membership for their child.

My child is being home schooled. May my child participate in the contest?

Yes. Homeschool organizations and after school clubs are welcome to join the competition. Also, a student may participate individually for a $20 fee.

What is the best way to prepare my students for the tests?

We will email each coach a series of PowerPoint lessons to be used in developing problem-solving skills.The coach receives these PowerPoint problems through email and they come automatically when the Coach and team level are entered by the purchaser. So if a coach does not receive these, they need to check with their school system to make sure they allow our email and zip files-or contact us so we can try to ship them to another email address. We have Contest Problem Books available for each level with our previous tests in them.

What are the awards for the competition?

ALL participants receive a certificate. Each team also receives one medal to give to its top team member. If a team has a tie for the highest score, you will need to hold a tiebreak or purchase an additional medal. Teams who place in the top 10% for their grade level receive a plaque. Students who score in the top 10% of all participating students in that grade level receive a dog tag. Awards will be shipped in April.

How are team scores calculated?

ALL participants receive a certificate. Each team also receives one medal to give to its top team member. If Team scores are derived from the sum of the top 10 cumulative scores on the team submitted by February 28th. The team level is based on the highest grade level of the team members. For instance, if you have a team with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders-then all of the team members will receive the intermediate test. However, awards will be calculated for individual team members based on their grade level. Team awards will be based on the highest grade level of the team.

How do I obtain additional medals for my students?

ALL participants receive a certificate. Each team also receives one medal to give to its top team member. If Additional medals can be purchased online for $5 Each team receives a complimentary medal to award to the highest team member. However, if you order after March 15th, the price increases to $10 per medal to cover the additional shipping/handling costs.

How will the program work?

You will add your student's usernames and passwords to your Coach/Student Management page. The students will be able to login and take the test using their login info and their score will be put in your database. We highly suggest that students take paper and pencil to the lab with them to work out the problems. Then they enter their answers for each question. . If you cannot go to the computer lab, you will have the option of downloading the test in pdf form and administering it to your students. You can then grade those and log in to enter their correct answers on the Enter/Edit Scores page. Most coaches print the test and give to the student even if they are going to the computer lab. The student can work out the problems, write their answers on the test, but enter their answers in the computer. You will then have a hard copy of the test and their answers should there be any question about the technology. The print out tests can be give back to students at the end of the year in a portfolio. This is not mandatory, but just an optional suggestion.

Will I have to take the tests on the computer?

No. The contests can be taken on the computer for easier grading, or the teacher can print the pdf files and print those to administer in the classroom. Then the teacher will need to enter the correct answers for each student. The online version is designed to have students take the test in the computer lab and receive instant grading and feedback. However, we realize that not all teams will have access to the computer lab- so tests can be printed and administered. The tests are fill in the blank and still require students to work the problems out on paper. A coach can use both the online version and print out testing during the school year. You are not required to do all tests in the computer.

If I choose to do the online tests, do I have to do them for all the tests?

No, you may choose to do online and/or paper tests throughout the entire season. There may be months you can�t get access to the computer lab, so you may choose to do the paper tests and enter the scores for your students.

How do I report the scores?

If you need to log in scores for students who take the printed tests, simply login and mark the correct answers by each student�s name on the enter/edit test scores page under your Coach tab. If the students take the online test, the scores will be automatically sent to our data base.

One of my students was absent from school on the day of the contest. Can this student take the contest later?

Yes. You may administer the contest to this student at another time. Students who take the test after the end of the testing month, will miss out on their opportunity to have their name on the Wall of Fame for that month. We suggest you administer tests early in the month so that your students scores are in the database when the Wall of Fame names are generated.

Must all my students take the test at the same time or on the same day?

No. It will not matter if you give your students the test on different dates. We realize that classes may not meet on the same days of the week. Also, there is the option to hide the answers if you prefer that students don't know what the answers are until you go over them as a class-simply choose the hide answers box by the student name in your Coach/Students Management page.

What happens if my students accidentally hit the submit button before finishing the test?

You may login as a coach and go the Enter/Edit Test Scores page and delete their score. This will reset the test and then they can log in again and enter their answers. It's important that the students write their answers on paper so that they will have them in case of any computer glitch. A lot of coaches print the pdf test file for students to have to show their work on even though they are usingt he computer to enter their answers.

What happens if my student takes longer than 30 minutes to take the test?

The system will probably time out when they try to enter their answers so they should always write their answers somewhere. They can log back in and enter the answers. As long as they haven't hit the submit button, there will be no score for them in the computer.

Can my students use calculators?

No calculators are permitted.

VIRTUAL TOURNAMENTS - (Video Conferencing Tournaments/Separate from Yearly Competition)

Do I have to have a membership in your online competition to participate?

No. You can participate in one of our virtual tournaments even if you do not do our monthly online competition.

What is the cost to participate?

$40 per team for team tournament ( up to 4 students on a team). $15 for individuals that want to participate in an individual tournament.

What are the steps to register?

First you must create an account with a user id and password. Once you have created a user id, you can go to the pricing page and select the tournament you want to purchase (team/individual student). You complete your purchase and go to your shopping cart and select credit card or invoice. If you pay by credit card, your account will be activated and you'll receive an email with specific login details and instructions for the tournament. If you pay by invoice, we will activate your participation when we receive proof of purchase order from your school secretary. After you pay, you will go to the tournaments page and click on the date/time/level you want to attend. This will direct you to a form to enter the student names that are participating. If your school or individual classroom would like to schedule its own virtual tournament-please call or email our office to schedule that 1-888-835-2366 FREE or info@perennialmath.com

What equipment will I need?

You will need 1 computer with a webcam in it to participate at both the team and individual level. A link to join the conference will be emailed to you.

Do we have to have 4 students to participate in the team virtual tournament?

No, you may have 2-4 students to participate on the team.

Is the money refundable for the virtual tournament?

No, we will not refund money for virtual tournaments, but will give you a voucher for participation at a later date.

Can my school have more than 1 team to participate in the team virtual tournament?

Yes, you may have as many teams as you want, providing we do not fill our 24 team capacity. Also, instead of competing nationwide in our scheduled tournaments, schools or even individual classrooms may create teams to face off only against teams from their own class or school. Contact us to schedule your private team tournament if you want to do that.

Can we use calculators?

No-calculators are not permitted.

What will we need to bring on the day of the virtual tournament?

Pencils, paper on a clipboard or hard surface for each member, a black marker, a ruler, colored markers, any spirit items to represent your school.

What kind of questions will be at the tournament?

There will be questions that require calculation and there will be word problems that require 2 and 3 steps of problem-solving along with critical thinking. There will also be questions that are based on trivia and facts, and some other items that we call style points-and they make life fun and memorable.

How long is the tournament?

The tournament will last 1 hour and at the end of that time, the team/individual with the most points will be the winner.

Can students from different grade levels be on the same team?

Yes, as long as they are in the appropriate grade levels of the competition: rookie (3-4), intermediate (5-6), and advanced (7-8).