E-journal 5: SISMO

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Henry Ford

Preparation

Some time last year, between late-ish November to early December, the Junior College Mathletes started planning SISMO. SISMO stands for Singapore School Mathematics Olympiad, and is the first ever Mathematics olympiad our school has ever organized. This event was organized by a group of us JC1 students with the help of 3 of our fellow senior Mathletes (JC2s) and our Math teacher, Mr Kichan. We had 3 goals in mind while organizing this event, which was to improve school relations, encourage interest in Maths, and to raise funds for charity purposes.

We were asked to organize this event for STEAM week. As STEAM week was usually held in March in our school, we thought that we would have a few months to prepare. But upon checking our school calendar, we quickly realized that STEAM week at the end of January this year, which gave us a little over one month to prepare (*panic*). However, we trusted one another that we could do it and quickly figured out a plan and executed it.

Tasks were divided amongst the committee members. I was given the job “Director of Logistics”, which basically means that I was in charge of making sure everything went smoothly in terms of logistics, and to communicate with the school on what we need for the event (such as tables and chairs). However, the nice thing about our teamwork was that we weren’t really pinched and hold on our positions. We all helped each other out even if it wasn’t necessarily our job.

Throughout the last 1-2 weeks of Term 2, before the December break, we had to rush to not only complete the proposal to propose to the school, but also begin collecting contact details of the schools we planned on inviting and write the letters and documents that needed to be sent. And within less than a month of coming together to organize SISMO, we have sent out the invitations to schools.

Coming back from the December break in January, we started to really invest our time in the preparations. These preparations include finalizing, checking and printing the exam papers, designing, printing and making the tags for the participants, and designing and getting the awards made. I’d say that the last week before SISMO was probably the most hectic as that was when we printed everything (papers and tags). We also had to check the question papers, which means trying out the questions and ensure that our answer key was correct (you know what they say, “a taste of your own medicine”, so before we “tortured” the participants with the hard math olympiad questions, we had to wreck our brains to try and solve it. I los a lot of brain cells that’s for sure.)

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The night before the competition, we stayed in school until around 7pm to make sure everything was set up properly (like tables, chairs and tags) and to finalize everything. We also had a meeting to distribute tasks for the next day so we each know what to do.

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Throughout the preparation, some parts were quite stressful not gonna lie as we had so much to do in such little time, but I also had a lot of fun. I personally learned more about myself that I didn’t expect. For example, I didn’t expect myself to enjoy designing as much as I did. As we didn’t have anyone in charge of designing, some of us took it upon ourselves to design. Usually, I find designing to be quite stressful since I tend to not have good ideas or I’m not able to execute what I have in mind. However, this time, I actually didn’t find it stressful but instead actually enjoyed it. I ended up designing the awards, certificates, tags and one of the banners. Previously struggling with time management, I felt that this event really pushed me (basically forced me) to manage my time well because I had responsibilities to complete on top of school work (IB… *cry*). It pushed me to become more productive.

As a team, I felt that we had some ups and downs. Before 2019 ended, we had less than 10 participants. Even after we came back from the break, we still didn’t have that many participants. I felt that this brought us down a bit and discouraged us. However, we continued to promote our event and contact schools. Gradually those numbers grew and our motivation increased as well. And in the end, we were able to have approximately 130 participants from 13 schools all over Jabodetabek (not too shabby for our first Math olympiad).

This was my first time organizing a large scale event as well. Not only was teamwork incredibly important, but also communication as well. Even when challenges and problems arose, we did faced them head on and didn’t give up. Overall, I thought that we all worked together really well and it helped that we all already knew each other beforehand and are friends.

Competition Day

The previous day, we agreed to arrive at 7am and made a deal that for every minute someone was late, that person has to pay Rp. 10,000/minute since we often don’t arrive on time. This deal actually worked quite well as most of us arrived on time. However, the funny part was that Mr Kichan was the one who propose this deal to us and he ended up having to pay around Rp. 200,000 because he was 20 minutes late 😂 (I’m sorry for exposing you sir 🙃).

The morning of the competition, it was actually raining pretty hard. Because it had flooded the week before, we were worried that there was going to be flood and that participants wouldn’t be able to come. We had thought of contingency plans in case it flooded and participants were unable to come. But luckily the participants were all able to arrive safely and we started the competition on time.

However, before the participants arrive, panic and chaos happened. We had locked the question papers in one of the cabinets in the JC library. That morning, when we were going to take the papers, we couldn’t find the key. The key was misplaced somewhere. We didn’t know where it was. So we took a bin that holds all the keys to all the cabinets in the library and tried to see if we accidentally placed the key there. But it wasn’t there. We tried a few of the other keys but none of them opened the cabinet. Panic started to set in. So as a last resort, we decided to try and pick the lock, and pay the school for any damage we did by doing so. We went to youtube and started watching a tutorial on how to pick a lock. While we did this, Helen was trying all the keys one by one, trying to see if any of the other keys would open the cabinet. As we just started watching the video, Helen suddenly managed to open the cabinet and we were all so relieved (Helen, our life savior).

24 Game

After all the participants had arrived, we started the competition. The atmosphere was kinda awkward and tense at first. We started the competition by playing an ice breaker game, which was a simple math game, the 24 card game. We actually didn’t have enough decks of cards, but we somehow managed to work with what we have and everything worked out well. We decided to incorporate an ice breaker game to loosen up the atmosphere and to also warm their brains up as we know how stressful and tense Math olympiads can be. It’s also something different from other Math olympiads as usually, Math olympiads don’t have any ice breaker games.

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Round 1: MCQ

Once we finished the ice breaker gave, we distributed the MCQ paper, which was our first round. The committee members, including me, helped invigilate, along with the Math teachers. It was actually interesting to invigilate and be on the other side, see things from a different perspective. It was something different and a new experience. Seeing their distressed faces was actually kinda fun (sorry not sorry, lol. Jk, I know how you guys feel. Math olympiad stresses me out too.).

When round 1 was over, we collected the papers and went to another room to check them. Checking was surprisingly quick. In less than 30 minutes, we managed to finish checking all the papers. Checking papers were actually fun. It was interesting to see which questions the participants were able to answer. And it also gave us a good idea on the quality and level of difficulty of each question.

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Round 2: Structured Questions

After the break, we started round 2, which was the structured questions paper. Just like round 1, we invigilated. However, this time, we had “shifts” and took turns invigilating so we could eat. And when it is over, we collected the papers and went ahead to check them, just like we did with round 1.

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Kahoot + Lightning Round

To buy us more time to finalize all the scores and checking, we played a round of Kahoot. I actually made most of the Kahoot questions with the help of some of the other committee members input. I made the Kahoot questions to be less mathematics-ish, like solving an equation, and more of a logic and general knowledge about Math. I thought that since we were including teachers, this would make it more fair for everybody.

After the Kahoot, we had a lightning round. The lightning round is where the top 3 scorers of each round go on stage and answer questions, giving them a chance to win the platinum award. I helped operate the computer during this time (like the timer). So I sat near the stage, and the atmosphere was tense. They were all vying for the platinum award (I think it’s mostly because they wanna win the 1 million rupiah 😂). I had never seen the questions beforehand, and they were really hard. I don’t know how I would feel if I were in their positions. I would probably do really bad

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Awarding Ceremony

After the lightning round, we had a short dance performance by Halakatas, giving us some more time to finalize the list of awardees. Once the dance performance were over, we began giving out awards. I could feel everybody’s nerves, anxiously waiting to see if they were going to win an award.

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Reflection

I felt that when we were checking papers, we could’ve been more organized as we all were checking on the floor. So for next year, an improvement is that we could possible have tables for when we check papers. On some of the participant’s scratch paper, I found drawings that were actually really good (if only this was a drawing competition…).

Another thing I learned was that our actions are really important when invigilating. For example, we shouldn’t play our phone or talk amongst ourselves, even if it is only whispering, as it could possibly disturb and distract the participants (sorry sir).

Overall, I thought that SISMO was very successful. Not only did I learn a lot of things, but it was also a very enjoyable experience. I made a lot of good memories throughout this experience. I felt that teamwork is one of the most vital aspect when it comes to organizing any event, whether it is small scale or large scale. I think that the quotes below describes how important teamwork is.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

-Helen Keller

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Andrew Carnegie

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

Ken Blanchard

Even when we were doubted because this was a student-led event, we didn’t give up. Instead, we persevered and pushed through. We trusted each other, relied on each other and helped one another throughout this event. We strived to place a high standard especially since this is the first SISMO. I think that this event brought us closer and made us learn stuff about others that we previously didn’t know. We may have had a rocky start, but we got into the groove of things and everything improved from there. It was, and still is, a wonderful and amazing experience.

I am proud of not only myself, but all of my fellow committee members and friends. I’d like to thank everybody for making this an unforgettable experience and a successful event. I’d like to especially give a big thank you to Mr Kichan for all his guidance throughout this entire experience. I hope that SISMO will become an annual thing in SISKG, and it will become bigger each year.

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International Mindedness

Heron’s Formula

In multiple questions, Heron’s formula can be used. Heron’s formulas can be used to calculate the area of a triangle when the lengths of all 3 sides have been given.

This formula is more than 2000 years old and is credited to a Greek Mathematician and Engineer named Hero of Alexandria.

Calculus

Calculus was apart of the curriculum for the advanced category.

Calculus is a branch of mathematics that focuses on studying the rates of change. It is developed by two mathematicians – Gottfried Leibniz, a German mathematician, and Isaac Newton, an English mathematician. They developed calculus in the 17th century. The notations we use in calculus were developed by Leibniz. But calculus was first developed by Newton. he applied it to understand physical systems.

IB Learner Profiles

Communicators

In order for this event to run as smoothly as possible, it is vital that we all communicate with one another as much as possible because communication can prevent mishaps and miscommunication. Furthermore, we take into account everybody’s thoughts, ideas and opinions, in general, their perspective. We also listen to one another and collaborate effectively. Before we started sending out letters, we also had to present our proposal to our Deputy Head Teacher and Mathematics Head of Department. Additionally, because we invited national schools as well, we had to communicate with 2 languages, which are English and Indonesian. All our letters and exam papers are also written in both languages.

Caring

One of our main goal in SISMO is to donate all profits to an orphanage, and to also improve inter-school relations. This shows that we do truly care about our community and want to have a positive impact to our community and somebody else’s lives.

Open-minded

While planning everything, we are open to opinions and criticism, as well as looking at things from other’s point of view. We are willing to accept those opinions in order to make this event the best we can. Because of this, we all worked together well and were able to avoid any arguments, disagreements or altercation. By being open-minded, I was able to grow and learn from this experience.

Reflective

After SISMO, for example like in this blog, I reflected. Figuring out what I felt was my strength and weakness, and in which areas I could improve to be a better version of myself.

Principled

Every action we took was done with integrity and honesty. For example, we had to be honest and open to the school regarding the planning of this entire event. And if we made a mistake, we own up to our actions and face the consequences.

Thinkers

Organizing SISMO was not easy. It wasn’t a black and white plan. We faced multiple challenges, making it a complex situation. We used our critical and creative thinking skills to face the complex situation, analyzing the situation and figure out what the best solution and plan is. Each action we took was done with reason.

To sum up everything, I just want to say another thank you to everybody who participated in SISMO, whether that is as a participant or as a committee member. And another big thank you to Mr Kichan. I really do hope this becomes an annual thing and this is just the beginning of our Mathletes tradition.

Bibliography

• https://gizmodo.com/the-amazing-ancient-machines-of-hero-of-alexandria-1533213972
• https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/herons-formula.html
• https://socratic.org/questions/how-do-you-use-heron-s-formula-to-find-the-area-of-a-triangle-with-sides-of-leng-53
• https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/invented-calculus-newton-leibniz/
• https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-calculus-2311607
• https://www.ibo.org/contentassets/fd82f70643ef4086b7d3f292cc214962/learner-profile-en.pdf