CSU Pueblo Welcomes 140 Students to 44th Annual Math Day
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Pueblo, Colo. — Colorado State University Pueblo's (CSU Pueblo) Department of Mathematics and Physics will host its 44th Annual Math Day on Nov. 20, bringing together more than 140 high school students from across southern Colorado for a day of competition, hands-on learning, and problem-solving challenges.
Students from Fountain-Fort Carson, Custer County, Pueblo East, Widefield, Pine Creek, Pueblo Central, Swink, Rye, Pueblo West, and Clark Digital Online at Paragon will participate in the event, which returned last year after a pandemic-related hiatus.
“Math Day has been a tradition at CSU Pueblo for over four decades,” said David Lehmpuhl, dean of the College of STEM. “It's exciting to see the event grow again and to welcome so many students who are passionate about mathematics. Mathematics is the universal language for everything STEM-related. Students pursuing math can explore opportunities in many different fields. A competition like this can awaken an interest in STEM education, which our society really needs.”
The day kicks off with Academic Enrichment activities, a new addition to Math Day this year. CSU Pueblo students majoring in math and other STEM fields will lead hands-on sessions exploring topics like cryptography, paper folding and mathematical magic.
At midday, anyone who wants to test their problem-solving skills can take on the Swanson Competition, a rigorous written exam named after Clarence Swanson, the department's longtime chair. The top six performers receive trophies for their work.
In the afternoon, three-person teams will face off in the Math Bowl Competition, a fast-paced head-to-head contest. Teams have just 25 seconds to answer questions ranging from calculating the slope of a line to finding the vertices of an ellipse. Some questions test real-world applications, like determining how much gasoline an automobile saves on a 600-mile trip when mileage improves from 30 to 40 miles per gallon. Teams advance through a bracket-style tournament, with a consolation round giving additional teams a chance to compete.
Math Day was revived last year after several years without the event. The late Janet Nichols, who ran Math Day for many years, helped establish it as one of the department's signature outreach programs.
