On Tuesday I attended the much hyped Belize Math Olympiad in Belmopan. The contest is taking place on the University of Belize’s cavernous gymnasium. The contest involves 40 colleges from across the breadth and depth of the Jewel. 80 students that hail from schools in all six districts are participating in an intellectually muscle flexing math competition with the questions derived from the CXC Math curriculum. The energized format is similar to the one used on the popular TV game show Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebek. It’s like Jeopardy on steroids.

  Fast calculating is a must at the Math Olympiad

The contest in sponsored by the much maligned Social Security Board. The admirable goal of the Olympiad that appears to be reached in aces is to generate student interest in the not-so popular subject of math. The deafening silence of the media houses in giving any kind of attention to this competition- positive or negative- is puzzling at best. How strange, when the SSB was under attack for questionable investment practices the media had a feeding frenzy, headlining the Senate Subcommittee’s hearings in hysterical terms. Now, that the same SSB is doing something to energize the traditionally boring math curriculum, giving it a shot in the arm and changing students perceptions of that field, changing education for the better, the media stays away in droves. Deafening silence. After the after-shocks of recent court proceedings I am reluctant to use the word “hypocritical” but in this case the media is so blatantly two-faced I feel the word “hypocritical” fits. Serious.

  View of mathematicians at work

Back to the Math Olympiad. To come clean, in my heart of hearts, I’m not much of a math fan. Never have been. Coming from a spontaneous arts background, the structure of math, the seeming lack of being able to go on some kind of jazz riff in the domain of math gave it an off-putting, cold feel to me. The jingle and video by Louis Wade piqued my interest and the total lack of media coverage except for LOVE FM who is getting paid handsomely to broadcast it live motivated me to attend the Western nine schools contest.

Entering the gymnasium I noticed how high tech the proceedings were. The participants had wireless mikes, wireless slammers, state-of-the art LCD monitors and modular unit wide plasma screen, high definition video were first class complete with cutting edge gizmos and gadgets. Impressive. Once the contest began, I became cognizant that the format owed a lot to my favorite game show Jeopardy. Another ice-breaking plus.

The contest requires both physical and mental speed. It’s a no holds barred race to solve the given math problem before the other teams and press down on the wireless slammer, when the problem is figured out. After “slamming in” the team has thirty seconds to respond.

What really energized the competition for me- besides the mental gymnastics of the students- was the way the math problems were translated into vibrant visuals and edgy sound effects by all that technological wizardry. The technological portion of the Olympiad was produced by the firm British Honduras Publicity which is run by Norman Smith and Anwar Flores. British Honduras Publicity, LLC is a Belize-based advertising company which I reviewed a couple years ago. They created those high definition, visually unique rear-illuminated signs for PACT that were placed at all the exit points in Belize, near the metal detector machine at the Philip Goldson International Airport and the Immigration Office near the Mexican border.

  Hardworking mathematicians receive gifts and certificates

More recently they have been creating those “Captive audience” digital advertising signs that you see in tourist hot spots like the Caye Caulker Water Taxi Terminal in Belize City or the Tropic Airline Office on San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. Real time, constantly changing adverts.

BHP’s most consistent trait is its melding of high tech with sophisticated visuals. In BHP’s hands the classic dichotomy between machine sensibility and art sensibility is resolved. A symbiosis is created that enhances both the technology and the art.

They certainly visually and audibly invigorated the Olympiad, pushing it to the next level. BHP’s painstaking attention to miniscule detail and unwavering commitment excellence is both their hallmark virtue and their absurd curse. They strive for nuanced perfection in a society that doesn’t give two hoots about perfection. A society that blithely accepts slipshod workmanship. A “horseshoe” mindset. In the Horseshoe Pitch game a near miss still gains points. A ringer is three points, a leaner is one point and a throw within the width of a horseshoe (6 inches) is one point. So the intrepid pitcher doesn’t even have to hit the stake to score. Almost is good enough.

Anwar and Norman have no tolerance for “almost right”. They accept ringers only. The perfect pitch. That concern with precision has its adverse consequences in that their work is not of the low bid variety. An example of their perfectionism is seen in the technological sophistication at Olympiad. The plasma screens are imported from Seoul, South Korea and are the crème de la crème of high definition screens. The result is that some clients can’t afford their services. The contracts they get are from businesses that really do demand the best and are willing to pay the price the best costs. Ergo, their meticulousness costs them clients.

The Math Olympiad is more accessible and more successful due to BHP’s technical-visual wizardry. It certainly helped this arts lover to appreciate the intellectual verve of mathematical manipulation.

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