The Math Club placed third for participation in the Bay Area Math Olympiad, which was hosted at Paly on March 1. BAMO is an annual math competition for Bay Area middle and high school students. 

Paly Math Club co-president Eugenie Cha said BAMO offers participation awards, among other prizes, which are difficult to earn. 

“Different to other competitions, BAMO only counts participants if they score above a certain point threshold,” Cha said. “Because BAMO problems are proof-based, it is much more difficult for participants to score above this threshold. However, despite this year being the first time Paly has hosted BAMO, a great majority of our club members were able to score above this threshold.” 

Following increased participation in the competition, Cha said she hopes the Math Club can continue to foster student enjoyment in math. 

“This means a lot to our club not only because this is the first time we’ve hosted BAMO, but also because many of our BAMO participants were freshmen and sophomores, who were new to our club,” Cha said. “Our club has been rebounding from the pandemic, and the high underclassmen turnout is promising for the future of our club.”

Math teacher and club adviser Natalie Docktor said she was pleased with the club’s performance and admires the group of students she works with. 

“The Paly Math Club is a fantastic club with very responsible students who love math,” Docktor said. “It is a pleasure to work with these kids.”

Moving forward, Cha said her club aims to organize the competition next year while encouraging more students to partake in the competition. 

“Next year, we hope to host BAMO again and attract more students who are interested in math,” Cha said. “Furthermore, we hope to expand our club to encompass more students who are less confident in math but may be interested in solving some exciting problems.”