 |
Contact: Lillian Dolan Ziff |
|
Media Release |
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Edina Middle School student to compete in National MATHCOUNTS and Robotics Competition Kevin Lu took second place at the local math competition on March 13th. Edina, Minn., Mar. 23, 2010 – Kevin Lu, an eighth-grade student at Valley View Middle School, was the second highest scorer at the March 13 MATHCOUNTS competition. What is he going to do next? He’s going to Disney World! Lu, along with four other top scorers, will represent Minnesota in the national MATHCOUNTS competition May 6-9 at Disney World in Florida. They will be coached by Valley View mathematics teacher Margaret Grivna who led the Edina team to a first-place finish at the local competition on March 13. MATHCOUNTS promotes middle school achievement in mathematics and demands accuracy and speed on the individual level, but also requires working as a member of a team. “There are many brilliant math kids out there, but many of them do not like the pressure of competition and time crunches, which is what MATHCOUNTS is all about. The competition encourages students to be more accurate with their math as well as quicker with recalling math concepts and facts,” said Grivna. Based on last year’s scores, Lu qualified to compete with the high school math team this year. The questions at MATHCOUNTS and similar competitions are more challenging than those he would do in school. “I enjoy the math,” Lu said, “[I like when] there’s some type of trick to it.” He also enjoyed taking the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), a three hour, 15 question exam, later the same week. To qualify for the exam, a student either needs to test in the top 5 percent in the American Math Contest (AMC) 12 or top 1 percent of the AMC 10; Lu did both. “Kevin absolutely relishes the challenge of testing his mettle,” said Lu’s teacher, Kit Olson. “He really loves to try to beat the test.” Lu is also a member of the Robotics team who will be competing in the national competition in Atlanta April 14-17. Robotics is an extracurricular activity that provides opportunity for Kevin and his teammates to apply what they learn in math and science and exposes them to physics and engineering. Lu did research and developed a formula to maximize trajectory for their robot which needed to be able to shoot and score goals. Lu is currently taking calculus through the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP) and looks forward to learning more in his particular interests, numbers theory and probability. About Edina Public Schools: ###  |
|