Begun in 1995 in celebration of NCTM's 75th anniversary, WLME has grown into an annual event with participation estimated at approximately 1 million students. WLME activities encourage students to work together creatively to solve rich and challenging problems. Events feature a range of activities so that students at all grades can participate. Teachers can use activities as presented, or they can tailor the activities to meet specific classroom needs. And teachers don't have to wait until April to use these activities in the classroom.
Many teachers adapt the past event activities into other units of study throughout the school year.