Lafayette’s Mu Alpha Theta (MAT or MAΘ) club is a math honor society that meets on the first Monday of every month in Seth Young’s room (room 132). Mu Alpha Theta offers math tutoring and hosts math-related conventions and competitions throughout the school year. Currently, more than 100,000 students and 2,420 schools are Mu Alpha Theta members. To register, members must have completed at least two years of college preparatory mathematics- including algebra or geometry, and be enrolled in the third-year math class. The minimum GPA requirement is at least 3.0 on a 4-point grading scale. Mr. Young is the teacher sponsor of the Mu Alpha Theta Program at Lafayette. As of this year, it costs only five dollars to be a member of Mu Alpha Theta.

What’s interesting about Mu Alpha Theta is that they provide mathematics contests and host a national convention for students and teachers interested in math-related events. Both of these events are very beneficial, as they’re both educational for members and allow you to meet others that are like-minded and share the passion for mathematics that you may have. Lafayette also provides its Mu Alpha Theta members with the opportunity to compete in the American Mathematics Contest (AMC) 10/12, a math test in a series that increases in difficulty. The AMC 10/12 is for students that want to apply their knowledge to more advanced problems than what they’re used to and are interested in math beyond the scope of what you would typically learn in a high school math class.

Mu Alpha Theta is important, as your affiliation with the program will catch the attention of college admissions officers and provide a way for your school and others to recognize you as an excelling student in mathematics. This program is for anyone who is interested and is good at mathematics.

For more information about this program, The Lafayette Times interviewed Mr. Young, the sponsor of Mu Alpha Theta at Lafayette. Here’s what he had to say:

Times: What projects is Mu Alpha Theta planning for the upcoming school year?

Mr. Young: Our main one is to provide tutoring and ESS… Club members will sign up once the ESS starts, and they’ll pick two or three of them to show to each ESS session… and help other students with their math. There also was some mention of trying to help middle or elementary school students with their math too.

Interviewer: What makes Mu Alpha Theta different from other honor societies?

Mr. Young: It’s specifically related to math… There are grade requirements that you need to have… at least an A or B average in math classes

This program is targeted toward those who have a passion for math and would like to share this passion with others. While you can no longer sign up for Mu Alpha Theta this year, if you’re a ninth, tenth, or eleventh grader that is interested in this program, you can sign up starting at the beginning of next school year.

For more information about MAT, you can visit their website here: