Surely the students identified for the team have other talents as well, and being on the team makes pursuing them more difficult. How did being on the team shape who you became, where you went to college, what you studied, etc.? Any regrets?
This question asks exactly what I wanted to talk about regarding the team, and what people may not realize reading this article.
This may sound like a stretch, but the Buchholz math team and Mr Frazer are probably the single biggest life-changing factor in my life so far, and in a lot of my teammates' as well. The effect that Frazer's culture puts on his students over their (potentially) 7-year career with him through middle and high school just dominos throughout college and your career. The team shaped who I am, where I went to school, and what I studied greatly, which I am so unbelievably thankful for (which I will get into at the end).
Most of the smartest people I know are friends I made on the team. To put it simply, these kids are so driven that being able to pursue a talent outside of the math team is certainly feasible. Now, almost everyone on the math team is taking the hardest classes they can at the school, a lot of which doing so with almost perfect GPAs. But the math team is very time consuming, and I think a lot of the team members share the ideology that there isn't a more valuable talent to expand upon in high school than math.
I was unfortunately only on the team for 2 short years, because I moved to a different state (and the year we lost both state and nationals is the year I went to both competitions, unfortunate correlation). As smart as the kids are on the team, Frazer's game plan is so well made at this point, it teaches you how to win. This means success is more correlated to hard work than intelligence in most cases.
My biggest regret about being the team is not working harder. I really feel like I was lazy and didn't take it as seriously as I should have, but looking back I don't think it affected my trajectory much. Fortunately, after I moved I tried to keep the Frazer culture with me, made friends with the smartest people at my new school, and I matured and worked harder. Absolutely none of which would have happened without the math team.
I am now doing computer science at a top 10 school and interning at a large tech company this summer. I am extremely thankful for where I am, much of which I attribute to Mr. Frazer. Plenty other students have far more inspiring stories than I have, come from lower socioeconomic statuses than I come from, or ended up in a better school than where I ended up. Thanks for letting me write that.
For some, it's because Buchholz uses actual class time as team prep time, I think some schools can't get past the bureaucracy to allow that. For a month over the summer, we learned about 4 hours a day from the class above us / Frazer, then for another 4 hours taught the class below us.
I think the state/national runner ups, American Heritage has copied this in class teaching method, among other Frazer tactics.
We did take those, but the main focus of the math team is Mu Alpha Theta. I'm guessing it's a bit of a positive feedback loop of "we have the best material for MAO tests, and we place the highest in MAO competitions". Also, Frazer even writes tests for some regional MAO competitions that Buchholz competes in.
Probably one of the best things the math team has taught me after I left was to surround myself with people of the same desires, in this case, learning. I think that ideology truly paid off in spades throughout my life since then. I'd always worried about being "cool" in school, and I'd say I still try to find that work hard / play hard balance, as cliche as it sounds. The math team introduced me to people who weren't necessarily "cool", but wanted what I wanted: good grades, a good career, etc. Now, later on in my life, surrounding myself with the smartest people has made a massive positive impact on my life.
The content that Frazer teaches should be standard, flat out. The competition style of math has so many more practical applications than the shit they call common core in the state of Florida.
Now, we did all of Geometry and Algebra II (Frazer's competition courses, not just regular courses) in a year. When students are excited about learning, and you make it fun, you can really throw a lot of material at them.
But any part of Frazer's "system" outside of the content I think pretty irrelevant for regular teaching, like him using class time to teach competition material. That's just how math class is for every other kid. 8 hours a day for a month over the summer learning and teaching math? Hard to organize that without having a team, among other things.
I was in middle school, I did a math summer camp run by the team where they scout talent, then took a placement test at the end of the summer and scored pretty well on it. Was on the team starting 8th grade, would take classes at the high school.
Honestly, as early as I can remember learning math. I always did "math club" in school. My parents always stressed it and it always interested me. I would say I started loving math once I joined the Buchholz team though.
Not sure if there is really an "outside of the team" lol, but for a month over the summer, we learned about 4 hours a day from the class above us / Frazer, then for another 4 hours taught the class below us.
