BEIJING, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- "Everybody at this year's math competition is going to remember Keystone," said Yang Zhaohui, a math teacher of Keystone Academy Beijing. He has every reason to be excited and proud of his students. It was a new milestone for Keystone Academy as six students from grades 8 and 9 made their mark at the 2015 North East Asia Math Competition (NEAMC). Beating 36 schools and over 100 students, Keystone students played hard and fast to win second place. Two teams of three students each participated in the NEAMC. The contestants were Winston Jiang, Jack Peng and Tony Wang from grade 9 and Paul Pu, David Zhang and Jason Wang from grade 8. This was Keystone's first ever participation in such a regional competition.
Trained to Win
"I have participated in many math competitions but this was my first as a member of a team," said Jack Peng. His teammate and classmate, Winston Jiang, added, "We focused on the participation, and we didn't go thinking we would win. But we trained a lot and Mr. Yang helped us a lot in preparing for this competition. Our team strategy was to capitalize on each of our individual strengths. For instance, Jack is good with geometry and Tony is good with coding and decoding. Our individual strengths help us work better as a team." It is Mr. Yang's teaching and training approach that the students were most thankful for. Grade 8 contestant, Paul Pu, who was part of the team two said, "It is not just that we practice math problems, but also the different kinds of math problems Mr. Yang gives us. In this way, we also practice problem-solving techniques. This is a better way to learn math; not how I was taught or trained in public schools where I studied before."
Adding Up the Victories
The NEAMC is made up of several rounds of individual and group contests. The group contests include an energizer, team and passback rounds. Both Keystone teams rallied points in the passback round -- a tough head-on contest between schools that tests both individual and team strengths at the same time. Jack Peng was overjoyed to remember how team one took first place in this round, "I couldn't believe that we won. And it was amazing when they announced that Keystone team two came second." Tony Ma of team one was quick to add that the passback round is especially difficult "because I cannot make a mistake. If I make a mistake then my teammates will also make a mistake. It was true teamwork." The students also demonstrated their math prowess in the individual round. Out of the more than 100 contestants Keystone students ranked in the top 50. Mr. Yang hopes the stellar performance by the six students will encourage younger teams in Keystone to work hard and prepare for next year. This is just the beginning and a big boost for the morale of students and the team spirit of the school.
Teacher Profile
Yang Zhaohui is a math teacher with over two decades of experience in China and abroad, including Hong Kong, Dubai, India, and Fiji to name a few countries where has taught in international schools. He is not only an educator, but also a creator, and has been involved in the planning of a MYP textbook for Math. Mr. Yang is also a moderator for the International Baccalaureate (IB), one of the key curriculum components used in Keystone's education model.
About Keystone Academy: Keystone Academy is a non-profit, philanthropic educational venture governed by a board of trustees. The school blends distinctive traditions in eastern, western, and international education, creating a "new world school" that is academically outstanding and a new model of education in China. At Keystone, we embrace a world that is dynamic and ever changing. We learn from and we learn for this enterprising, global community.
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