Local area high school upperclassmen have the opportunity to compete for a four-year scholarship to Wilkes University by participating in a mathematics competition.

The 66th annual Luzerne County Council of Teachers of Mathematics High School Mathematics Contest will take place in the Rite Aid Auditorium located in Stark Learning Center on Wilkes University’s campus March 3.

The prizes have increased greatly since last year.

“The exams, which consist of 20 question sections, are graded the day of the event and prizes in the past have included bonds and textbooks,” Steven Gapinski of Wilkes said.

This year, Wilkes University will grant two full-tuition scholarships. One scholarship will be awarded to the winner of each division. In the event of a tie, tie-breaking criteria will be followed.

The only students who are eligible to compete are junior and senior students attending LCCTM participating schools. These schools include any school geographically situated within Luzerne County along with Tunkhannock Area High School.

There is a junior and senior division with a maximum limit of 10 students per division per school. The team entry fee is $10 per school, but the fee will be waived if at least one faculty member from the school is a current LCCTM member.

The contest will begin at 9 a.m. and should conclude around 1 p.m. with the awarding of prizes. Refreshments will be provided.

Gapinski, Fanhui Kong and Ronald Pryor from the Wilkes University Department of Mathematics and Computer Science composed the tests.

In addition to the scholarships, LCCTM will award cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50 within each division. A team award will also be presented to the school with the highest combined score in each division.