Hoff, a Grade 11 student at Sardis secondary in Chilliwack, won the top award at the High School math competition hosted by the University College of the Fraser Valley. The event is open to junior and senior high school students in Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Mission. Some 50 eager math students attended the event at UCFV's Abbotsford campus. Top prize is a full year of paid tuition at the university college.

"It's great to see so many of you here today," UCFV's Dean of Science, Health and Human Services, Jackie Snodgrass, told the young crowd. "I'm pleased because it shows how many young math whizzes we have in the Fraser Valley and how many of you are willing to work hard and challenge yourselves. That's something that will serve you well in your lives."

The students spent much of the day at UCFV working on a number of different mathematical problems and quizzes. There was individual and group work, allowing the students to meet peers from other schools throughout the valley. Once the marks were tallied, book prizes were awarded to those with the top eight scores and monetary prizes were presented to the top three in the junior and senior categories.

"I think this is a really good contest," Hoff said after receiving her award. "I like the way it is presented; not only the contest but the way everybody gets to work together. It's not really a competition between schools and we all have fun."

The B.C. College High Schools math competition is held around the province at several university colleges each spring. This is the sixth year UCFV has hosted such an event and Chilliwack Middle School teacher Helen Milliken has brought a team each time.

"This is a phenomenal event for these kids," she said. "It's really good for the students; it's good for them to get together and it's really good for the girls as guys tend to naturally move toward mathematics. But this encourages all the students and anytime you recognize kids for doing math, it's just terrific."

While all the students from the various schools had to pass math tests earlier this spring to make it to this event, Sardis secondary math teacher Gary Wagner noted that two of his participants are "chronic underachievers" when school is in session.

"One of them won a prize today and one of them was in the top eight. They are both very intellectual but they don't make any use of it at school," Wagner said. "I sort of hope something like this will help them think more highly of themselves and their achievements."

"The initial testing was really tough," MEI Grade 12 student Richard Foth said. "Even though this was difficult today, it was also really fun."

Amber Balzer, also a senior at MEI, liked the group problem solving. "This has been a great learning experience and it has made me want to go on and learn more," she added. "And I liked the prizes, too."

The monetary prizes were donated by Envision Financial Services and that organization's Mick Gill was on hand to award the accolades. Along with congratulating the winners, he also prompted them to continue using their brains.

"I hope you follow the Dean's advice and continue to work hard," he told the group. "And I look forward to having a lot of you at UCFV in a few years."

While the younger participants, some only in Grade 7, hadn't yet made plans for post- secondary school, others had already eyed up UCFV for the next step in their education. Hoff, who admits she's been doing Grade 12 math for a while and still has a full year of high school left, hasn't made any final plans but was thrilled with the award.

"This is really great," she added, surrounded by classmates who were busy congratulating her on her accomplishment.

Event organizer Greg Schlitt, watching as Hoff and her classmates, some with prizes in hand, left the contest, said that's what it's all about.

"In the school system, we reward students when they're good at sports…a good basketball player always get a prize. This is their day," he said, nodding towards the students. "This has been a great day for these kids and it's great to be able to offer that tuition prize. This is a huge success."

Top junior prize winners were: first place - Robert Tseng, Yale secondary; second - Ryan Kim, Yale secondary; Third - Sam Dueckman, MEI. Top Senior prize winners were: first place - manda Hoff, Sardis secondary, Second - Justin Lyu, Yale secondary, Third - Cindy Park, Robert Bateman secondary.

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