Sonoran Science Students Add New Laurels in Math
By Andrea Rivera, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
Jan. 18–Geometry isn’t typically a course students take in middle school.
But it is if you are seventh-grader Richard Spence and eighth-grader Zac Becker, who are both enrolled in advanced math — or geometry — at Sonoran Science Academy, 2255 W. Ina Road.
Last month both boys learned they performed exceptionally on the American Mathematics Contest 8.
Richard, 12, received a perfect score on the 25-question, 40-minute multiple-choice exam, which is open to students in fifth through eighth grades in the United States and internationally. Zac missed one question.
Richard had Arizona’s only perfect score.
“I guessed on none of them,” Richard said about the questions on the test. “I was not surprised. The test was much easier than last year.”
On the 2005 exam, Richard had two incorrect answers. In the school’s six-year history, he is the third student to obtain the coveted perfect score.
Zac, 13, was one of only two students in the state to miss just a single question on the exam.
“I actually thought I might have gotten a perfect score,” Zac said. “I still got 24.”
A little more than 1,500 students across the state took the test. Twenty of those are from Sonoran Science Academy.
In all, 147,210 students from 2,235 schools participated in the math contest.
The test consisted of word problems that required multiple steps to solve, Richard said.
Richard used most of the allotted time to complete the exam because he made sure to check his answers, he said.
Zac said he finished the exam in about 20 minutes.
“I guess I finished pretty fast,” Zac said. “I didn’t really check my answers.”
The boys’ math coach is not surprised by their success.
“They are so smart,” math teacher Kadir Bahar said. “They are so humble they don’t want to mention it. They are working so hard.”
The school was one of two in Arizona to earn an honor-roll distinction in the math contest. To receive the distinction, the top three student scores must combine to equal more than 66. Sonoran Science Academy racked up a score of 69.
Sixth-grader Joshua Sloane received a 20 on the test to help attain honor-roll distinction.
“I was really happy with them (the results),” 11-year-old Joshua said.
Richard, Zac and Joshua agreed that math is an easy subject for them.
“I am usually able to learn things the first time they are taught to me,” Joshua said.
Added Zac: “When the teacher tells me something new, I understand it.”
Students will next compete in February’s Mathcounts competition, where they hope to qualify for state and nationals.
Though the students excel in math, they don’t worship the subject.
Zac is a skilled soccer player and is a member of a local club team that practices three times a week and competes on weekends.
Richard spends four days a week after school participating in the school’s math, chess, bowling and Scrabble clubs.
In a Scrabble tournament last year, he won six of 12 games.
“Those are experts,” he said about the competitors. “They are adults.”
As for his bowling game, Richard said he needs to improve his average by 70 pins if he wants to become a professional.
The school’s principal, Ercan Aydogdu, encourages the students to focus on more than the core subjects.
“We don’t just want math geeks,” he said. “We want them well-rounded with the arts.”
–Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at 806-7737 or arivera@azstarnet.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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