The Avid Learner

In 2001, a math team from an Alabama high school started the Rocket City Math League as a way for talented math students to compete in a challenging but unintimidating atmosphere. It has grown over the years from a local 10-team contest to an international competition -- still organized by enthusiastic high school students.

For a complete leaderboard, please visit the 2008 - 2009 Contest Results page at www.AvidAcademy.com.

John Hopkins University and the CTY Society of Orange County

The Center for Talented Youth (CTY) of John Hopkins University will hold a reception for parents and students interested in their academic programs.

Highlights of this reception include a Logic course demonstrated by one of the teachers, and a former Harvard admissions officer offering tips on how to get into selective universities. Before the reception, there will be an information session on their summer-away programs.

Date: October 19, 2008

Time: 2:30 - 5:30pm

Location: The Pegasus School
19692 Lexington Lane
Huntington Beach, CA 92646

For more information and an RSVP, please visit the event page on our website: CTY Society of Orange County Reception.

SENG Webinar: How to Interpret the WISC IV Test

If your child has taken (or will take) a WISC IV test to determine their IQ, you might not be sure how to decipher the score. There are four subtests of the WISC IV, and the combined results can often be confusing.

SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) will be hosting an online seminar that can help you figure out the results of the WISC IV. This fee-based seminar (or "webinar") will take place on October 18.

For sign-up information, please visit the event on our website: Interpretation of the WISC IQ: What Every Parent Should Know.

Nobel Prize 2008 Winners Announced

Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The 2008 Nobel Prize winners have been newly announced:

The Prize in Physics goes to Yoichiro Nambu (University of Chicago), Makoto Kobayashi, and Toshihide Maskawa (Japan) for discoveries concerning nature's broken symmetry.

The Prize in Chemistry goes to Osamu Shimomura (Boston University), Martin Chalfie (Columbia University), and Roger Y. Tsien (UC San Diego) for their discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP.

The Prize in Medicine goes to Haruld zur Hausen (Germany), Francoise Barre-Sinoussi (France), and Luc Montagnier (France) for Hausen's discovery of human papilloma viruses which cause cervical cancer, and the French team's discovery of human immunodeficiency virus.

The Prize in Literature goes to Jean-Marie Gustave Le Cl�zio (France), author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.

The Prize in Peace goes to Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.

To learn more, please visit www.Nobelprize.org.

35-Year Old Mathematician in Charge of $700 Billion Financial Rescue Effort

Neel Kashkari, a 35-year-old mathematical "whiz-kid," was recently appointed the Interim Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Department. In this position, he assists Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in overseeing the $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Before he was given this responsibility, Mr. Kashkari was a Vice President at the Goldman, Sachs & Co. bank in San Francisco, a position that called on him to use his math skills constantly. Before his career in finance, he worked at TRW in Redondo Beach, CA where he developed technology for NASA space science missions such as the James Webb Telescope, a project which aims to create an even more advanced telescope than the Hubble. Mr. Kashkari loves problem solving and said it's not as big a stretch going from aerospace engineering to reengineering of a financial system. He is a graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds an MBA from U Penn's Wheaton School.

Colleges Should Place Less Importance on SATs

Colleges should focus less on SAT and ACT scores in their admissions process, according to a report released by The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAT). The way these tests are structured tends to leave out minorities and students who just don't test well; kids that would be bright in any other situation, but who stumble in the rigid, anxious atmosphere of standardized tests.

NACAT also worries that students who pay for test preparation courses and materials have a huge advantage compared to the other students. These expensive methods of preparation usually end up favoring the students from richer families, while the lower-class students usually have to prepare on their own.

The report suggests that if colleges must look at test scores, they should instead give more weight to IB, AP, and SAT Subject tests. These tests focus more on what the students have been learning in school each year, and are therefore more representative of each student's actual strengths.

To read more about this report, go to this US News article, Test Scores Should Be Less Important in College Admissions.

US Children Struggle in Math, Especially Girls

According to a study by the American Mathematical Society, the children in this country are performing worse in math compared to children from other countries. This may be the result of an American culture that discourages children to learn math - especially, and unfortunately, girls.

The few children that excel in math are a frighteningly small minority. Kids today aren't as driven to do well in math, let alone enjoy it, and girls are constantly told that they don't have the aptitude for math just because it's something reserved for "nerdy boys."

To do this study, the AMS examined the teams in the International Math Olympiad, instead of looking at SAT scores (which is what most studies do). They found that while most of the teams had a good mixture of boys and girls, the US team was overwhelmingly comprised of boys. Not only that, but the highest performers came from immigrant families. This is because other countries (like China, for instance) tend to value mathematical skills far more than America does.

Michael Sipser, the head of M.I.T.'s math department, noted that in America, "Sports achievement gets lots of coverage in the media. Academic achievement gets almost none." This is one of the symptoms of America's indifferent attitude towards mathematical achievement. While in other countries, winners of mathematical competitions are turned into minor celebrities, there's hardly any mention of the high achievers in the American media.

At a time when the average American student struggles with math more than students from almost every other country, perhaps our nation's attitude towards academic achievement needs to change.

To hear more about the AMS study and testimonials from some of America's most mathematically talented girls, read the NY Times article, Math Skills Suffer in US.

Clean Up Your Myspace and Facebook Profiles

Here's a tip for high school students stressing about college admissions: watch what you post on your Myspace or Facebook. Although these sites are not part of the official admissions process, enrollment officers sometimes look up profiles on these sites if they're curious about certain applicants.

Although most high school students are already careful about what they post online, some still have incriminating things on their webpages, like photos with alcohol, or blogs complaining about school. Oftentimes, even if you delete or hide things that you wouldn't want public, they're still cached online. With a single Google search, admissions offices - and employers, too - can find just about anything that a person has posted.

Dan Saracino, who works in the enrollment offices of Norte Dame University, likes to remind students that "what you put on these sites is not just between you and your friends, but you and the world."

To read more about how social-networking sites can affect college admission, read this article in the Chicago Tribune, Social-Networking Sites Viewed by College Admissions Officers.

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