If you want to encourage your middle school students to” be the best they can be,” here are two competitions for you to consider.  Both are national and aimed at promoting high achievement through regular math meetings.  At least one person on staff will have to head the program, teach the high standard mathematics required on the tests, hold practice contests, and generally push, encourage, and applaud.

MATHCOUNTS is a national competition developed for U.S. middle school students. Its program promotes mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. You will find here all the information on how to register and how to prepare your students for the yearly competitions held throughout the country.  

Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools
Created for grades 4-6 and 6-8, this program aims to enhance students’ problem-solving skills. I especially like the two grade ranges. Math clubs meet weekly for an hour, when students explore a topic or strategy in depth, or practice for the contests. All information on how to structure the clubs and prepare students is included here. 

Finally, a third contest, not strictly mathematical, but you and a science teacher might find it challenging for your students who like to work “hands-on.” The West Point Bridge Design Contest is a challenge for U.S. students age 13 through grade 12. The purpose of the contest is to provide middle school and high school students with a realistic, engaging introduction to engineering. They can learn about how engineers use the computer as a problem-solving tool, about truss bridges and how they work, about engineering through a realistic, hands-on problem-solving experience, and about the engineering design process. Students design a truss bridge using the award-winning West Point Bridge Designer software (absolutely free!). At the site, you can register for this year’s competition and also learn how to set up a local bridge design contest.

Good luck to your team!!!