| OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, N ovem ber 24, 2016 | 42 S tu d e n ts a te ta u g h t to th in k creatively in problem solving activities as a way to develop mathematical skills in students. Last year, he received a 37/40 on the Euler Grade 7 Mathematica contest, placing 43td among 7,584 students. Among his mathematics accolades, he's received two perfect scores in the Pythagoras Grade 6 Mathematica contest when he was in Grade 5 and the Fibonacci Grade 5 Mathematica contest when he was in Grade 4. The mathletes say they enjoy the challenge each competition presents, year after year. Both are active participants in their school' s Math Contest Club and prepare months ahead continued from p.31 of the competition by taking practice tests. But with the pressure to stay on top, Guo says it can be nervewrecking. "I feel like I have to improve because all the questions are going to be harder and harder each year, so I've got to become more and more prepared." Paraschiv says he uses his success as fuel to keep the "momentum going." The key to doing well is really getting to know the "style of questions they're going to ask us," he said. Paraschiv admits he gets nervous at test time, but says a self pep talk helps keep nerves at bay "I tell myself that I've prepared myself and I've www.insideHALTO N.com A R E Y O U S IC K A N D T IR E D O F B E IN G S IC K A N D T IR E D ? Wellness and Corrective Care for All Ages · Early morning and late evening appointments · Special interest for caring for infants and children available. · Pregnancy care · Advanced computerized scans for spinal nerve stress · X-ray facilities on-site We've helped people suffering from: got to believe in how I prepared myself and that I'll be ready for it," he said. The boys are among a number of Fem Hill Grades 3-8 students, who enjoy competing in the national mathematics competitions each year. Their collective success contributes to the school's overall ranking, said Robin Grout Ogden, Fem Hill's head of school for the junior/ intermediate division, Oakville campus. Last year, it was ranked among the top 15 per cent in Canada in all the contests from Grades 3-8. It scored the highest in the Pythagoras Grade 6 Mathematica contest, ranking 12th out of 934 schools in Canada (top 1.28 per cent in Canada). The goal, says Grout Ogden, is to expose the children to learning that's "outside the box." "There's a lot of problem solving and figuring out how to look at a problem in a different way," she said. "It's a different way of thinking and Fem Hill has always tried to, in all the subjects, just sort of push things out a little further and allow the children to learn in different ways." Grade 3 math teacher Brenda Dougall says Guo and Paraschiv, and other students, step up to get others excited about problem solving. Dougall, who helps students prepare for the Thales Grade 3 Mathematica contest, said Guo always goes "above and beyond" in preparing. During Math Contest Club meetings, he shares with others how he came up with a solution to a practice problem. "It would be really cool because it would be something I didn't show them, but he had another way oflooking at it, which is what I think makes him such a creative mathematician, Max being the same back when he was in my third grade class," she said. To celebrate all of the students' accomplishments, Fem Hill holds a special assembly to presentmathcompetitionparticipants with a certificate. The next competition is set for this coming spring. Students start preparing as early as December. Low back and neck pain, headaches, fibromyalgia, digestive disorders, breathing problems, osteoarthritis, pinched nerves, sciatica, infertility, allergies, poor posture and more. O akville C hiropractic L ife C entre DR. SEBASTIAN GUARNACCIA, DC, BSC (H.K.) 1500 Heritage Way, Unit 1, Oakville T: 9 0 5 -8 2 5 -9 5 2 9 · www.oakvillechiro.com New Patients Welcome! www.edwardjones.com CRACKS ...s in c e 1991 Leaky Basement? Call Us! i i How much will you need to retire? Let's talk. M arc Nutford - Financial Advisor 2387 Trafalgar Road, Unit E2, Oakville, ON L6H 6K7 9 0 5 -8 4 4 -4 0 4 3 - w ww .edw ardjones.com /m arc-nutford · Crack Injection Repair Specialist · Wise Dry Interior Drain Systems · Lifetime FullyTransferrable Warranty · Sump Pump Renewal Installations Professional, Cost Effective Solutions for Wet wayne@wisecracks.com Basements www.HaltonWiseCracks.com 905 510-9739 - C all Us... R 0023925262 Edwardjones M A K IN G S E N S E O F IN V E S T IN G Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund C o u rty a rd Collection® The b e a u ty o f w o o d w ith th e d u ra b ility o f steel. 5 4 5 0 H a rvester Road, B urlington Overhead Door (H a m ilto n -B u rlin g to n ) Ltd. 9 0 5 -3 3 3 -1 7 7 2 info@overheaddoorburlington.ca overheaddoorburlington.ca