The ten year anniversary thingy.
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:15 pmMy name is Tony David Potter, and I'm the editor of this site.
I was a competitor in high school (back before you competitors were born) and love what math team (and all of academic competition in general and UIL in particular) provides to students. I competed in the first year MathCounts was around. I love math competitions. And, due to the support of several influential teachers, I decided to enter the teaching profession as well. I knew when I got to teaching, I'd do what I could to support UIL.
So I got my bachelor's degree, then my master's degree. I taught at Texas Tech for a few years, then moved on to Lubbock High. They hired me as a teacher, not a coach (they had a full coaching staff anyway) but I volunteered my time to do what I could to help out the team. And they did well.
That winter, in 1998, I was wondering what math materials were #. I was familiar with the internet in particular (I have an e-mail address older than most visitors to the site) and the web in general, and had written web pages for the classes I taught at Texas Tech. This, of course, was before most people had heard of America # or WebTV.
I wanted there to be a resource for teachers and students. There was none. So I started one.
In February of 1998 I started TCM out of a web folder in my Texas Tech account. Mr. Friesen from Plains, Mrs. Parish from Bridge City, Mr. Zapata from Azle, and Mrs. Edmonds and Mrs. Mallery from Klein helped out with several things (like my horrendous original color scheme -- teal on black.) They also helped me get a more Texas-wide feel to the site, as opposed to the West Texas connections I'd developed my first year out. We started out with a calendar and results (always, the results) and added features. Articles from the Leaguer (which reminds me, I should update that sometime soon), a chat room, forums, downloads, and many other things you've come to expect from us.
The key tenet in all of this was that information was meant to be free. That no benefit was given by secrets, and the world doesn't operate in a vacuum. And, that all things being equal, the better student will win. If you have the same materials at hand that I have, and your kid beats mine, then great!
After all, as long as students learn and have fun, it really doesn't matter what place you get. And if you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it anymore.
Originally, during this past Christmas break, I was getting ready some things to celebrate this ten year anniversary. Few things on the internet last a year, much less ten. Real life, however, had different plans (aside from having a charming two-year-old son, I do coach my own math team.)
My original plans were:
February - Show the (in all it's horrendous and gory glory)
March - Show off the (but still 1998.)
April - Show off the (1999)
and go from there.
I want to thank all of you that have supported this site over the past ten years. It's a labor of love, not for profit (and as long as I'm in charge, it won't be for profit.) I do thank those of you that to help offset the ~$600/year hosting this site costs. I appreciate all the results, tests, and friendly banter this site receives, and is able to provide to its users.
Much love and luck for the rest of the year (and beyond!)
Tony David Potter
I was a competitor in high school (back before you competitors were born) and love what math team (and all of academic competition in general and UIL in particular) provides to students. I competed in the first year MathCounts was around. I love math competitions. And, due to the support of several influential teachers, I decided to enter the teaching profession as well. I knew when I got to teaching, I'd do what I could to support UIL.
So I got my bachelor's degree, then my master's degree. I taught at Texas Tech for a few years, then moved on to Lubbock High. They hired me as a teacher, not a coach (they had a full coaching staff anyway) but I volunteered my time to do what I could to help out the team. And they did well.
That winter, in 1998, I was wondering what math materials were #. I was familiar with the internet in particular (I have an e-mail address older than most visitors to the site) and the web in general, and had written web pages for the classes I taught at Texas Tech. This, of course, was before most people had heard of America # or WebTV.
I wanted there to be a resource for teachers and students. There was none. So I started one.
In February of 1998 I started TCM out of a web folder in my Texas Tech account. Mr. Friesen from Plains, Mrs. Parish from Bridge City, Mr. Zapata from Azle, and Mrs. Edmonds and Mrs. Mallery from Klein helped out with several things (like my horrendous original color scheme -- teal on black.) They also helped me get a more Texas-wide feel to the site, as opposed to the West Texas connections I'd developed my first year out. We started out with a calendar and results (always, the results) and added features. Articles from the Leaguer (which reminds me, I should update that sometime soon), a chat room, forums, downloads, and many other things you've come to expect from us.
The key tenet in all of this was that information was meant to be free. That no benefit was given by secrets, and the world doesn't operate in a vacuum. And, that all things being equal, the better student will win. If you have the same materials at hand that I have, and your kid beats mine, then great!
After all, as long as students learn and have fun, it really doesn't matter what place you get. And if you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it anymore.
Originally, during this past Christmas break, I was getting ready some things to celebrate this ten year anniversary. Few things on the internet last a year, much less ten. Real life, however, had different plans (aside from having a charming two-year-old son, I do coach my own math team.)
My original plans were:
February - Show the (in all it's horrendous and gory glory)
March - Show off the (but still 1998.)
April - Show off the (1999)
and go from there.
I want to thank all of you that have supported this site over the past ten years. It's a labor of love, not for profit (and as long as I'm in charge, it won't be for profit.) I do thank those of you that to help offset the ~$600/year hosting this site costs. I appreciate all the results, tests, and friendly banter this site receives, and is able to provide to its users.
Much love and luck for the rest of the year (and beyond!)
Tony David Potter