I'm on vacation in Tucson right now. I've been here for a few days, and will be here for a couple more. I have done a little math-related stuff, though. Saturday night, I had dinner with Dave and Yuliya from MathCamp and Tim Sanders of Mathleague.org and his wife, Leslie. This morning I visited Sonoran Science Academy, which is a charter school here that specializes in math and science. I was invited there by Mr. Bahar, who is a recent college graduate from Turkey who participated in olympiads (and, I think, the IMO) there.

Connecting Tim and Dave promises to be good for the students around here - Tim has already started his MathLeague here (I believe Sonoran Science Academy won, though I also think soilent green took some individual honors.) Dave is well-positioned at the University of Arizona to help Tim start a Math Circle in Tucson. Tim also plans to start the Math League and a circle up in Arizona.

It struck me how many new programs have popped up in recent years for eager students of math. I think it's the result of a number of things, but the biggest may simply be that the first generation of students to be deeply affected by math contests (my generation) is now in a position, professionally and financially, to give back to the universe that did so much for us. I'm looking forward to seeing how much this continues in the next 10-20 years.

And now, back to vacation...