All across western Washington, the Math is Cool (MIC) competitions are only held at one school: Liberty. Hosted by Liberty’s Math Club, MIC competitions are organized throughout the year for students as young as the 4th grade all the way to high school. Behind the many Liberty volunteers and hundreds of competition participants, math teacher Angie Kruzich is at the heart of it all.
Loading complex spreadsheets of hundreds of competing students, setting up classrooms, and organizing registrations for each school attending are only a fraction of the things Kruzich does.
“This is the biggest venue in the state,” Kruzich said. “I’m proud that I have somehow managed to do the work of three MIC directors to run the event.”
When she initially offered to host the competition in 2019, Kruzich had the support of two other volunteers, Joe and Tom.
“Joe stopped volunteering when he got married and sadly Tom passed away. One of the most rewarding parts of organizing MIC is providing the competition in the Seattle area and continuing Tom’s work,” Kruzich said. “Without it and all the volunteering that Liberty students do, this competition would not be available for the 1500 students that attend.”
Over the years, Kruzich has taken away one thing.
“It takes a village. I have a lot of manpower behind the scenes,” Kruzich said.
The MIC competition is separated into four divisions, all named after math symbols: i, phi, e, and pi. Liberty student proctors are assigned to every classroom with up to 16 students.
“There are six events total during each competition: Mental Math, an Individual Test, Multiple Choice, Team Contest, a speed round and the College Bowl. College Bowl is absolutely the favorite for all grade levels,” Kruzich said.
The connections and community created through the competition are also the highlights of MIC.
“I’ve been able to grow the competition over the years and have a lot of kids participating from Tacoma to Mount Vernon,” Kruzich said. “I also get to know Liberty students that I may never have in class.”
While Kruzich is the one running the show, Math Club also plays a large role.
“Once I know what needs to be done, I find ways to train and have club members help. It took a while for me to be organized enough to hand over organizational pieces to the club,” Kruzich said. “By the time the Math Club members are juniors, they know the process well, so I have them take charge of different components.”
With a mix of collaboration and teamwork, Kruzich’s work to provide the MIC competition to hundreds in western Washington shows her efforts in organizing a regional event that brings together participants from various communities.
