How many tournaments are required to create a buzz about math education in a California community? In Culver City, it’s three, as Linwood E. Howe Elementary gears up to host its Third Annual Math Olympiads Tournament on Saturday, March 20.

In fact, don’t even think about trying to double-park that morning in the Culver City Unified School District lot next door — it will be filled with yellow buses delivering fourth- and fifth-grade “mathletes” from public and private schools throughout Los Angeles County for a test of their creativity and mathematical reasoning skills.

The tournament has grown by a factor of five since its inception — 120 youngsters from 15 schools will compete this year, up from 25 kids in March 2008. And for the first time, all five public elementary schools in Culver City will send students to the Olympiads.

Beginning at 9 a.m., the youngsters will test their -critical-thinking, problem-solving and teamwork skills against those of students and teams from other schools. An individual round — 10 problems to be solved in 30 minutes — will be followed by a team round, in which teams of five have 20 minutes for 10 more questions. After a tie-breaking round, a team trophy will be awarded, along with medals for the top seven individuals.

The tournament is part of an internationally sanctioned program, the Mathematics Olympiad for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS), which was brought to Linwood E. Howe in 2006 by retired UCLA dean and mathematics professor Dr. Jason Frand.

“My goal was to inspire young boys and girls to their maximum potential, and mathematics is a way to that. It enables them to see that math is a lot more than just doing multiplication tables,” Frand said.

“Yesterday, I was out collecting signatures for a petition drive, and a parent at a house that I went to said, ‘My third-grader is looking forward to competing in the Math Olympics next year.’”

Mission accomplished, Dr. Frand?

“Yes,” he said. “Somehow, the word’s out!”