The Holmboe Prize

Dear, Anne Mari Jensen, the winner of the Holmboe prize, 2013
Dear Abel prize laureate, Pierre Deligne,
Dear pupils and teachers.

Every schoolchild should be given the chance to experience that he or she can be really good at something. I often emphasize how important this is.

When a child has a breakthrough-, when he or she conquers new land, there has usually been someone there to listen and show, finding new ways to explain, hour after hour, day after day. Someone that inspires the child to have another go, and another one! Learning is nourished by motivation, and motivation grows stronger when you meet someone that believes in you.

Anne Mari Jensen is a dedicated teacher; She loves to teach her subject, mathematics! In exchange she gets the devotion of her pupils. She has actually been nominated to this prize by them, and I can hardly think of anything more honorable. So, we are more than happy to give the pupils from Meløy Videregående a helping hand in showing how much we appreciate Anne Mari Jensen.

She has a remarkable willingness to share, to build and to strengthen the competence in teaching. She shares with her colleagues. Both in her own school and in the country at large. She’s a popular and sought-after lecturer, and she has started projects that promote greater interest in mathematics for pupils in upper secondary schools.

There are many young talents here today. We have some of the winners from Tag der Mathematic in Berlin as our guests here today – as well as the young talents who obtained the best results in the Abel contest in upper secondary schools in Norway.

I don’t know if you have yet decided to make mathematics and natural sciences your future career, but I really hope so! We have important tasks to solve and interesting questions to be asked in the years to come. Think of it: We need to develop new energy sources, we need technology and innovation in medicine and caretaking, we need sustainable and effective food production to feed all the people in this world.

Your generation will lead the way and seek answers to a number of challenges. We can readily say that we’re going to need all your ideas and all of your intellect, to be able to reach our goals for the future. Government and business share interests in these matters, and we all encourage you to continue to cultivate your interest in mathematics.

Now, I know you are probably a couple of years too old for Justin Bieber. But most of you probably know how Norway barely has recovered from the Justin Bieber-shock that ravaged the country some weeks ago. Thousands of young girls were over the moon and crowded our streets. The concert venue was in the same area as some of our leading engineering companies. They didn’t miss the opportunity to talk directly to large masses of screaming girls. When leaving the concert they could see a huge banner putting the message straight: “You are all welcome back to Fornebu when you have finished your studies in science and technology”.

We could really need a whole bunch of passionate “beliebers” in physics, chemistry and technology to be successful in our future projects.

The education sector, trade and industry have for many years collaborated to improve mathematics, science and technology in education.  I really hope we can manage to make studying mathematics one of the most attractive career choices. And really, when I look at you, and think of all the possibilities that is about to evolve with new technology, I believe we are getting there very soon.
Our ambition must be to provide an even greater proportion of students with a positive attitude towards mathematics.  We see the need to make teaching methods more varied. We also have to encourage more practical training in the field of mathematics. Technology will provide so many new opportunities to share and develop exciting educational programs.

Actually, it allows for endless possibilities. Today, a sixteen year old can sit in her room somewhere between hills and mountains in Norway, and follow lectures at (prestigious) universities such as Harvard or Stanford.

In Norway we are launching a virtual school of mathematics, which will offer exciting and personalized content. You will find lessons, exam preparation tasks and games. And it will be tailored for high school students with a need for some extra motivation as well as for high performing students.   I look forward to see the potential in this project. It might be the beginning of a revolution in how we facilitate and work with mathematics in schools.

Curiosity leads to knowledge, and knowledge helps us understand more of the world. This award winner is an enthusiastic, skilled and resourceful teacher. She has been nominated to this prize by her own students. It is my great pleasure and honour to present the Holmboe Prize 2013, to Anne Mari Jensen form Meløy Videregående skole.

Congratulations - and thank you for giving young students good learning experiences, and for constantly improving teaching skills in the field of mathematics.