Math Club excels at competition

The math club is being praised for its exceptional students after placing 11th nationally at a recent contest.

A press release from National Assessment and Testing stated, “Saratoga High has some of the best high-school mathematicians in the country.”

Supervised by math teacher and coach PJ Yim, the students prepared intensely for the Cipehering Time Trials, the last major competition of 2008. The competition, which was administered by National Assembly and Testing, took place in Yim’s classroom.

It comprised of 10 rounds in which they had three minutes to solve problems. The team encountered problems that were tough to solve within the time constraint.

Individually, the students did extremely well also, helping SHS gain 11th place among the top schools in the country. Junior Rolland Wu placed 24th in the grade 11 division, sophomores Albert Gu and Amol Aggarwal placed 10th and 17th respectively, and freshman Brian Wai placed 12th in the grade 9 division.

Even with these high standings, some of the members downplayed their achievements.

“I don’t feel like this was my best competition. I’ve done better before,” said Gu. “I’ll continue to try my hardest to keep improving.”

The math club also competed in the Four-by-Four competition, which was also hosted by National Assessment and Testing. The competition allowed the members to work as a team of four rather than as individuals.

“Working with other helps you solve problems you couldn’t solve alone. You can also compare answers when you’re done,” said sophomore Kevin Mu.

The math club continues to be one of the most successful clubs on campus, despite its relatively small size of approximately 15 students.

“I think we have a group of very brilliant students. It’s amazing how they are able to fit these challenging competitions into their busy high school schedules,” said Yim.