So you want to start a math club...
Welcome back to the BMT Blog! With BmMT 2025 and BmMT 2025 Online approaching, many of you are preparing or practicing and may be looking for a community to study with. Or maybe you’re in high school preparing for next year’s BMT or some other STEM competition. In any case, starting a club is a great idea, and it's surprisingly easy to do so. Not only will you help create a community to support each other as you prepare for competitions, but you’ll have an avenue to share your love for math with other like-minded students! Take it from some teachers and students that have benefited greatly from their communities:
- Aarush, a freshman at the University of California Berkeley, describes his high school’s math club as a defining experience for him. It transformed the way he views math - prior to experiences with the club, he saw math as boring and mechanical. “Now I see everything [in math]…and I want to get better at it.” Although math contests seemed big and daunting at first, Aarush shared they ended up being a lot of fun. “It was a very good mathematical experience…it allowed me to learn a lot from my friends and students from other schools in a really rigorous setting.
- Siya, a freshman at University of California Berkeley, and formerly the math club president at Maria Carrillo High School, says: “Being in a math club definitely made me more interested in math because it showed me the fun and creative side of problem-solving, past just what we learn in school. Organizing a math club in high school was challenging at times, especially coordinating meetings and getting people engaged, but it was worth it to see people showing up and being excited about math.” Siya shared that her club primarily focused on taking competitions, and they competed with nearby schools to motivate and push each other.
- Takumi, a senior at Skyline High School in Oakland, California says he enjoys building a sense of community within the school. “Organizing isn’t too bad. We mainly do tutoring but if nobody needs help then we try to learn new topics and solve unique problems.”
- Claire, a sophomore at Berkeley, from Oakland, talks about the social side of math clubs: “My math club in high school raised money by selling pies, and we went to the Academy of Sciences at the end of the year. It was fun to bond as a group and check out the amazing exhibits.”
With that being said, here are some steps you can take to start up your own math club:
Brainstorm!
What would you like to do with the club? Ideas include:
- Studying and reviewing together.
- Running practice competitions.
- Having seminars about different topics that the club finds interesting.
- Running social events.
If you want your club to focus on preparing for competitions or learning new content, there are so many resources online like worksheets or videos. Your first meeting might involve watching a cool Numberphile video and discussing it, or going through a worksheet about an interesting topic as a group.
You should check out our test archives to find an ample amount of questions to practice with. We’re also excited that we’ve just released our first two Berkeley mini Math Training Worksheets which will be in the same location as the old tests. These worksheets are meant to introduce the concepts that commonly show up in math competitions despite not being in standard school curriculum. One worksheet covers a fundamental principle of combinatorics, and another covers modular arithmetic, a key concept of number theory.
Ask a teacher!
Once you have a rough guideline for activities and goals for your club, feel free to ask a teacher for a classroom space or a signature if you need to register your club. They don’t have to be a math teacher - ask any teacher you're comfortable with, but your favorite math teacher might be a good place to start.
When asking your teacher, be mindful of their busy schedule and be prepared to independently run your club. Once you secure a teacher-sponsor, make sure you communicate with them frequently about your plans and what times work best. And if it doesn’t work out, keep trying!
Advertise!
If you can, find a group of friends to help you set up the club by being in leadership positions. Once you have people and a location, decide on a time for the first meeting and make a flyer! Put up the flyer in classes where you think people might be interested, ask teachers to make announcements, try to get on your school news or school announcements, and make a social media account! If you want, get in on the fundraiser opportunities your school might have so you can make some money for events!
First Meeting!
Prepare a presentation for your first meeting! Talk about your plans for the club, including your activities, any competitions you might want to register for (like BMT!), different topics you’re interested in, and more!
From here, you’re basically all set! There are still more logistics to cover, such as how your club will handle expenses, continue to grow, and how you’ll consistently study together for your competitions. This will go a lot smoother if you have a meeting schedule - lots of these things can be discussed at your first meeting in collaboration with other members. Now that you have all the tools ready at your disposal, get out there and start planning!
Best,
Your friends at BMT
