Avid Students Won Two First Places in National Math Contest

Seattle, WA – October 17, 2011 – Irvine’s Avid Academy for Gifted Youth has some of the best high-school mathematicians in the country, as demonstrated by their 16th-place finish in the 2011 Fall Startup Event, a national mathematics contest administered by National Assessment & Testing.  Coach James Li prepared students for the first major competition of the academic year, in which students worked furiously for thirty minutes, racing to answer one hundred problems in a variety of mathematical topics.  With so many questions and so little time, competitors must not only have strong mathematical skills, but also be able to quickly decide which problems to solve and which to skip.

After results from students across the nation were processed, several Avid Academy for Gifted Youth students received individual awards, helping their team to place 16th in the nation.  In the Middle School division, Jeffrey Qiao placed 1st, Jonathan Jow was 3rd, Benjamin Chen placed 6th, Daniel Sun finished in 11th place, Thomas Kwa placed 18th, and Jason Ye was 21st.  In the 9th-grade division, Eric Xu placed 1st, Spencer Ma and Heesoo Kim tied for 14th place, and B.J. Kim placed 18th.  In the 10th-grade division, Hyun Jong Kim placed 8th, Kevin Lee was 18th, and Dennis Shim placed 24th.  Avid Academy for Gifted Youth will be participating in all five of National Assessment & Testing’s contests this year, including the 2011 Team Scramble on November 3rd and the 2011 Ciphering Time Trials on December 8th.

National Assessment & Testing administers high-quality mathematics competitions that high schools can participate in through the mail.  Their contests cover a variety of formats, including individual and team tests, as well as a variety of difficulties, from one hundred easy problems in thirty minutes to fifteen complex problems in one week.