The Avid Learner

7:00 - 7:15 PM: Introduction
7:15 - 7:45 PM: Presentation by Orlando Leung on Raising a Mathematical Talent - A Parent's Perspective
7:45 - 8:30 PM: Featured Film - Hard Problems
8:30 - 8:45 PM: Q&A

The event is free of charge and open to public. Seating is limited. Please RSVP with number of participants in your party ASAP to info@AvidAcademy.com.

2008 USAMO Qualifiers Announced

American Mathematical Association (AMC) announced 2008 USA Math Olympiad (USAMO) qualifiers. The USAMO Index is the sum of a student's AMC10 or 12 score and ten times of the student's AIME score. This year, the qualifying USAMO Index is 202.5 for students who take AMC 10 and 204 for students who take AMC 12.

A total of 27 students from Southern California qualified for USAMO with 12 students from Orange County, 8 students from San Diego County, and 6 students from Los Angeles County. Orange County saw its steady rise in the number of USAMO qualifiers from 3 in 2006 to 6 in 2007 and 12 in 2008. We anticipate the trend to continue.

Avid Academy student David Yang, a 6^th grader from South Pointe Middle School, became the youngest student in Southern California history to qualify for USAMO according to Dr. Merryfield, coach of the Southern California ARML Team. University High School of Irvine also became the first high school in Southern California history to have 4 USAMO qualifiers in one year. For a complete list of USAMO Qualifiers, please visit 2008 USAMO Qualifiers.

USAMO is a 9-hour, 2-day exam with three proof-based questions on each day. University High School will host the USAMO exam for Orange County qualifiers on April 29 & 30 from 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM. For more information, please visit 2008 USAMO at University High School.

2008 Orange County Math and Science Photo Contest

To harness the creative minds and to explore the beauty of math and science, Avid Academy is sponsoring the 2008 Orange County Math and Science Photo Contest for students in grades 3-12. We encourage students to share their visions or observations of mathematical patterns and scientific phenomenon around them.

All images need to be captured in digital files (JEPG) and in good reproducible format. Please include student's name, age, grade, school info, titles and 100 words descriptions with the submission and send to info@AvidAcademy.com. Up to three entries per student are allowed. The submission deadline is 5pm, Friday, May 25th. Cash prizes will be awarded to top twelve winners at Avid Academy's Annual Award Ceremony on Saturday, June 7^th, 2008 at Concordia University, Irvine.

For detailed information about submission guidelines and rules, please visit 2008 Orange County Math and Science Photo Contest.

Avid Sixth Grade Team Won 2008 Online Math League Contest

Avid Academy Sixth Grade Team won the first place at the 2008 Online Math League competition after three rounds of competitions with a perfect score of 180. Over two thousand students and 59 teams nationwide participated in the competition. Brian Wagner (Harbor Day School) tied with five other students for first place. Michelle Lee (Deerfield), Staphany Hou (Santiago Hills), Haley Wan (Brywood), and Dennis Shin (Canyon View) tied for sixth place.

The fifth grade team tied for second place in the same competition. Ryan Lim (Eastshore) placed 4th. Olivia Park (Tustin Ranch) and Colin Riggert (Portola Hills) tied for 9th place.

The fourth grade team finished in 14th place with Han Chin (Van Damme Academy) finished in 20th place.

For more information, please visit:

Jump Start Middle School Math Competitions at 2008 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp

For most students currently in sixth grade, 2008 - 2009 academic year will mark the first year they can participate in middle school math competitions. For students currently in seventh grade, 2008 - 2009 academic year will be the last year they can showcase their talent in middle school math competitions.

To serve the needs of both groups of students, Avid Academy has redesigned its summer camp program for students entering grades 7 - 8. Instead of repeating the same content for session A and session B, we will offer four weeks of different content. Session A will focus on Algebra problem solving and session B will focus on Geometry problem solving. Students who will take Algebra I in the fall should sign up for Session A. Students who will take Geometry in the fall should sign up for Session B. Students who are interested in optimizing their AMC 8 and MATHCOUNTS performance may sign for both sessions.

Students have the option of attending one or both sessions to prepare for the following math competitions and standardized tests:

AMC 8 - November 2008
SAT I/CTY Talent Search - January 2009
AMC 10 - February 2009
MATHCOUNTS - February 2009
California Math League - March 2009
California Math League - April 2009

2008 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp is for students in grades 4 - 11 from July 7 to July 18 (Session A) and July 21 to August 1 (Session B) at Concordia University, Irvine, CA. To request a brochure, please email us at info@avidacademy.com with your name and address.

We accept about 25 students for each session. Please register early to secure your spot. For more information or download a registration form, please visit our website at 2008 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp.

The Last Lecture: A Love Story for Your Life

What would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you?

Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, was a child math wizard and received B.S. in computer science at Brown University and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. The 47-year-old father of three small children had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer -- and given six months to live. He delivered his Last Lecture nine months ago that was so uplifting, so funny, so inspirational that thousands have said that his lecture changed their lives.

Although he graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, he nearly didn't get into Brown in the first place -- he was wait listed. It was a brick wall that some might have walked away from. But Pausch has a novel way of looking at obstacles:

"The brick walls are there for a reason," he said during his lecture. "The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

Gifted students face many brick walls growing up because our society often places a higher emphasis in other activities than intellectual pursuit. Professor Pausch's messages on having dreams and living up to your dreams is a lesson everyone should learn.

I have watched the video many times after a parent forwarded it to me. I agree with Professor Pausch that helping others to fulfill their dreams is a much rewarding life experience. It resonates with our core mission at Avid Academy: maximizes the intellectual potentials of gifted youth to become life-long learners and leaders for the 21st century by developing their problem solving skills.

As parents and teachers, we are all in the calling of helping students to dream big and to realize their dreams. I invite you to watch the special ABC program on The Last Lecture: A Love Story for Your Life. If you would like to share your comments with our readers, please send the comments to info@avidacademy.com.

California Public Schools Seek Private Money due to State Budget Cuts

Since the release of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget that would cut about $4.8 billioin in education funding this year and next, more than 20,000 potential layoff notices have been sent to public school teachers and staffs. Since then, many of the school districts are developing plans to deal with the budget shortfall. In addition to increasing class sizes, school districts across the state are considering closing schools, eliminating International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement courses and doing away with sports.

Another approach is to seek private money to pay for teacher salaries and maintain small class sizes. Capistrano Unified School District is asking families to donate $400 per student to pay for 266 teachers facing layoff. Peninsula Education Foundation is asking Palos Verdes parents for $200 per child to save the jobs of 59 teachers. PTAs and students are also holding fundraisers.

For more information on how school districts are coping with the budget cuts, please read: California public schools seek private money to cover the basics.

23rd Annual LACC (Los Angeles City College) Math Contest Results Released

Los Angeles City College (LACC) held its 23rd annual high school math contest on March 8, 2008. Among over 100 participants, Jeff Manning, a home school senior, placed first in individual contest. University High School of Irvine won the team competition. The top six students were awarded cash prizes ranging from $100 - $500.

For additional contest results, please visit:

	AP Languages and Computer Science Exams Cut
College Board recently announced that four Advanced Placement (AP) courses will be eliminated after the 2008 - 2009 academic year. The four courses are: AP Computer Science AB AP Italian AP Latin Literature AP French literature To learn more, please read the article by Daniel de Vise of Washington Post: AP Language, Computer Courses Cut.

Princeton Review Releases 2008 Top Ten Dream Colleges

Princeton Review releases its annual survey of College Hopes & Worries for 2008. 61% of respondents report high levels of stress about college applications and 84% say financial aid will be "very necessary".

The top three schools favored by students are Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton. The top three schools liked by parents are Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard. USC and UCLA ranked 9th and 10th of the schools preferred by students.

For a complete list of top ten dream colleges by students and parents, please visit Princeton Review Top 10 Dream Colleges.

USC Surpassed UCLA In College Selectivity

Both USC and UCLA saw record number of applicants for admission to the class of 2012. For the first time, USC is more selective than UCLA. According to information released by the admission offices of both schools, UCLA was able to admit 22.7% of applicants, compared with 23.6% last year, while USC admits 21% was accepted this year compared with 24.8% last year.

UCLA admitted 12,579 students with 18.1% under-represented minority students, an increase of 1.5%. The number of accepted Asian students decreased about 1.5%. The average SAT score is 2000 and the average GPA was 4.34.

USC admitted about 7,520 students with 20% under-represented minority students and 7% international students. The average SAT score is 2108.

For more detailed description and statistics released by both schools, please read:

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