Colonel By Secondary School - Mathematics

Mathematics

Colonel By has had a history of strong math students who have performed well on national math contests administered by the University of Waterloo. For instance, in 2009, Grade 9 Pascal's Math Contest Colonel By came first in the city and fifth in Canada. However, its prominence in Olympiad mathematics has been more limited, with few outstanding results on the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge that have warranted invitation to the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad.

This changed in the 2008-2009 school year with the arrival of freshman James Rickards. Despite his youth, he received an invitation to write the 2009 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad and scored in the 3rd division. His arrival coincided with the school registering for its first writing of the American Mathematics Competitions (a lobbying effort by the senior students at the time that was finally granted). Over half the students who wrote the AMC qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. James Rickards was the sole participant who went on to receive an invitation to write the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad.

In the 2009-2010 school year, James Rickards has continued to represent Colonel By on the national scale as a sophomore. He placed 2nd in the 2010 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad, outperforming returning members of the 2009 Canadian International Mathematical Olympiad team. Surprisingly, the Canadian Mathematical Society did not invite James Rickards to the 2010 Canadian IMO team, making him the first student in over a decade to have placed 2nd on the CMO, but not to have been announced a member of the IMO team. In the event that James Rickards is announced a member of the Canadian IMO team in the future, he will be the first Colonel By student in history to have received said honour.