This is a fundraiser for the Herbert Hoover Middle School MATHCOUNTS program.

The MATHCOUNTS club at Hoover provides an opportunity for students to learn advanced mathematics topics that aren't offered in the current SFUSD curriculum. Students learn topics such as combinatorics, probability, advanced algebra, number theory, and advanced geometry. Students meet twice a week after school, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Learning math is our primary goal. To do this we use the MATHCOUNTS competition as our focus. Hoover is the only San Francisco school to have continuously participated in the competition since its inception in 1983. We have a long tradition of mathematical excellence. Recently, our team has placed in the top three in the Golden Gate Chapter for the past five team competitions. We have been the only public school to place in the top three, and we have sent students to the state competition in every one of those years.

Currently, the MATHCOUNTS coaches spend their own money on supplies and receive only a small stipend from the school. Here is a breakdown of the funds we are requesting:

$290 Prizes for 6th grade math contest

$100 Textbooks and reference materials

$270 Mathematica license

$840 Weekly snacks and pre-competition pizza party

$2,500 head coach stipend

$4,000 total

Mathematica is used for creating and computing combinatorics and probability content appropriate to the level of our Hoover students.

The coach stipend is computed as follows:

The Hoover regular club stipend is $500 for 40 minutes each week during lunch.

The head coach typically puts in 120 minutes with students each week after school on Tuesday and Thursday. The amount of time spent on content creation, content preparation, and problem solving is at least another 120 minutes per week. This means that the weekly time the head coach spends on MATHCOUNTS is at least 240 minutes, or 6*40 minutes. Therefore the stipend should be 6*500 = $3000 dollars. However, $500 is already paid due to regular club funding, making the remaining necessary funding $3000 - $500 = $2500.

Thank you so much and let's keep learning math!