2 young Pinoy mathletes invited to prestigious Canadian Math tilt
Two Filipino highschool students were invited to participate in one of the most elite math competition overseas, the 2009 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO).
"These two kids just like the other winners in several international competitions have been powered by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others," Dr. Simon L. Chua, Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Philippines (MTG) President said.
John Russel Virata of Gideon Academy and Earl Chua of Grace Christian College excelled at the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) for being among the very few participants who scored between 71-74 in Group 3.
The COMC is the qualifier round for CMO.
For this, they earned an invitation to represent the country at the CMO on on March 25, 2009.
Being requested to place them in an elite group by Karen Karu, Chair of the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Committee, the MTG president said.
"The CMO provides students the opportunity to explore mathematics beyond the regular curriculum. The candidates become very knowledgeable and skilled at mathematics, and I congratulate the winners of this year's Canadian Mathematical Olympiad," Dr. Edward Barbeau, University of Toronto and Chair of the CMS Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Committee, said.
Virata and Chua will compete with 90 student-competitors from across Canada.
Since the mid-1990s, the MTG has trained over 3,000 students from all over the country. They won over 112,249 and 906 gold, silver and bronze medals in foreign competitions.
The MTG participates in about 10 foreign contests a year.
MTG is a non-stock, non-profit group aiming to “promote excellence in math education” and train representatives to various contests abroad. (PNA)