The Avid Learner

The 2008 Orange County MATHCOUNTS was held on February 16, 2008 at UCI. Over 150 students from 17 schools participated in this annual event. In the team competition, Rancho San Joaquin Middle School placed first and South Lake Middle School was the runner up. Ryo Sasaki, an 8th grader from Rancho San Joaquin Middle School and a student of Avid Academy's Intermediate Math Competition program, won individual Champion. Simon Wu, another 8th grader from Rancho San Joaquin, won the countdown round.

Twenty-one Avid Academy students and alumni represented their schools in the competition. For 4th consecutive year, Avid students have won the top honors in this competition. In addition to Ryo, students in the top 16 include Dai Yang (4th), Brian Wagner (6th), Sean Kanne (9th), and Alex Zivkovic (15th).

Rancho San Joaquin Middle School and South Lake Middle School teams advanced to the state competition to be held on March 15, 2008. Stephen Yoo of Fairmont School, Jiang Lan of Niguel Hills Middle School, and Brian Wagner of Harbor Day School also advanced as individuals.

For a complete list of winners, please visit 2008 Orange County MATHCOUNTS results.

2008 California Math League Contests Date Changed

Avid Academy will host the 2008 California Math League Contests free of charge to interested students in Grades 6 - 8. The students will compete for top honors in the State of California and Orange County. Winners will be honored at Avid Academy's Annual Excellence in Mathematics Award Ceremony in June, 2008.

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Time: 7:00 - 8:00 PM

Location: Grimm Hall, DeNault Auditorium, Concordia University, Irvine.

Please note the date and time of the contest has been changed from Saturday, February 23 to Tuesday, February 26. To register for the contest, please download the registration form at: 2008 California Math League Contests Registration Form.

Spring 2008 Math Olympiad Program Registration Started

Spring 2008 Math Olympiad Program registration period runs from February 20 to March 1, 2008. Existing students should receive renewal forms this week. Prospective new students should contact us at (949) 725-2200 or e-mail us at info@AvidAcademy.com to schedule a qualifying exam.

The Spring session offers ten weeks of intensive problem solving training from March 3 to May 10, 2008 with a greater emphasis on academic excellence in SAT, STAR, Stanford 9, and Algebra placement exams. We have added a new class, G220 - Intermediate Math Olympiads, for students who have qualified to take the AIME exam.

To register, please visit our website at Spring 2008 Math Olympiad and Problem Solving Training Program.

	2008 AMC 10/12A Contest Answer Keys and Solutions Available
Over 60 students participated at the 2008 AMC 10/12A contests held at Concordia University on February 12, 2008. AMC has released the answer keys to the two exams: AMC 10A Answer Keys AMC 12A Answer Keys For an explanation of all AMC 10A and 12A solutions, please visit AMC 10/12A Video Solutions from iSabio. The videos are free until March 8.

Avid Academy to Host 2008 AIME Exam on March 18

Avid Academy will host 2008 AIME exam for qualified students free of charge:

Date: March 18, 2008

Time: 8:30 - 11:45 AM

Location: University Tower, 4199 Campus Drive, Suite 550, Irvine CA 92612

We have added a new class, G220 - Intermediate Math Olympiads, for students who have qualified to take the AIME exam. For information about registration or classes to prepare for the exam, please email us at info@AvidAcademy.com.

College Board Released the 4th Annual AP Report to the Nation

College Board released the 4th Annual AP Report to the Nation. The report concluded that a greater percentage of the nation's students succeed on AP exams, predictors of success in college. Fifteen percent of the class 2007 students achieved at least a 3 on one AP exam.

Here are some statistics on the percentage of total test takers who received a 5 on each math and science exam:

AP Biology: 19.3% of 144,796
AP Calculus AB: 21.0% of 211,693
AP Calucus BC: 43.5% of 64,311
AP Chemistry: 15.3% of 97,136
AP Physics B: 16.2% of 54,890
AP Physics C: 33.8% of 11,192

For a complete report, please visit 4th Annual AP Report to the Nation.

The Secret to Raising Smart Kids

Carol S. Dweck of Scientific American summarized decades of research: "Don't tell your kids that they are smart. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort-not on intelligence or ability-is key to success in school and in life".

Some of the key findings are:

Many people assume that superior intelligence or ability is a key to success. But more than three decades of research shows that an overemphasis on intellect or talent-and the implication that such traits are innate and fixed-leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unmotivated to learn.
Teaching people to have a "growth mind-set," which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, produces high achievers in school and in life.
Parents and teachers can engender a growth mind-set in children by praising them for their effort or persistence (rather than for their intelligence), by telling success stories that emphasize hard work and love of learning, and by teaching them about the brain as a learning machine.

For a complete report, please read: The Secret to Raising Smart Kids.

	Intel Announced Intel Science Talent Search 2008 Finalists
Intel announced Intel Science Talent Search 2008 Finalists. For the first time in recent history, no California students made the cut, while New York students dominated the list with 15 finalists. For a list of the finalists and their bios, please visit Intel Science Talent Search 2008 Finalists.

I hope you enjoyed the information provided in this newsletter. Thank you for supporting gifted education in Southern California. If you have comments to improve our newsletters or would like to share articles, resources and ideas with our community, please email me at Dr.Li@AvidAcademy.com.

Sincerely,

James Li, Ph.D.

Executive Director
Avid Academy for Gifted Youth