By Matthew B., Academy Student and Yunasa Camper

Three years ago, my mom brought home a flyer from a school meeting that mentioned 优蜜视频 and provided their website鈥檚 information. I was so excited that I could take a course called Rocket to Calculus with other like-minded students. This experience led me to take more classes at the 优蜜视频 Academy including: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Mock Trial. My experiences at 优蜜视频 helped me realize how much I enjoy learning at an advanced level in a group, so I started a MathCounts team at my elementary school to help others have the same experience.

MathCounts is a national mathematics competition for students in grades 6-8 that is the only one of its kind. Over five hundred chapters are found in all fifty states as well as in several territories of the United States of America. It takes place once a year. The MathCounts competition has three divisions: regional, state, and national. There are four rounds. The sprint round focuses on speed, the target round focuses on solving more challenging problems, and the team round focuses on group problem solving. The countdown round, done in gameshow style, prioritizes individual knowledge. What makes this competition special is that it features a team score and a team round where you are working as a group on math problems in a timed environment.

When I was in sixth grade, I formed a MathCounts team. I started by going around the playground at recess and asking some of my friends and other people who I thought would enjoy being involved. I told them that anyone who wanted to join our team could. Once I found three other people so that our team would have enough members, we went to the principal and asked if we could set up a MathCounts team to represent our school. Our school鈥檚 principal said yes, but she wasn鈥檛 sure if she could find a place and time where the team could meet at school. I said that was okay; the team could meet at my house. She gave us permission slips and required our guardians to sign them.

We began meeting once a week for one hour at my house. I led the rest of the team, and at first I was the only person who taught them. As the number of members rose and what we learned went beyond what I knew really well, some of the other members helped with teaching things they knew using review and practice materials. We had adults, who were supportive of our group, teach more difficult material. Suddenly our little MathCounts club became a very big deal, which eventually led to our school creating an after-school math competition program for students in grades 4-6. First it was just our members meeting once a week at my house. Soon, parents and siblings became involved, and many of the members wanted to learn and practice more than once a week. We set up additional times where anyone who wanted to learn on that day of the week could come. The entire school became involved in math competitions when other parents and the principal started an intra-school competition called Mathzilla that same year. This experience led me and the other team members to start taking more advanced math courses. Even after we finished the MathCounts competition, our team did not end because we had developed friendships, and we decided to continue the team and do more competitions.

Setting up our team taught me many important things. I learned how to work with a group as a leader, and I had to come up with ways to instruct them. When team members were having a difficult time, I encouraged them by reminding them that just by participating on the team they were being successful because we were working on much harder math problems than most people our age. The team was really more about understanding advanced mathematical concepts than about winning competitions, and every member of our team was in it to learn. I am very glad that I have had this opportunity. Organizing a MathCounts team taught me the value of a community, leadership skills, and that one person can make a difference.

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Spring Academy classes ran for eight weeks from April 1 to May 25. Classes included two new offerings: Explorations in Literature and Chemistry Lab. Some Academy classics were also held: Organic Chemistry, Primary Advanced Math, Neuro-Energy I and II, Molecular Biology, and Astronomy. Our student attendance was the fullest it鈥檚 been and included ten new students from local public and private schools.

Chemistry Lab, taught by Dr. Rosemary Rohde and Ronnie Bryan, was a hit with its hands-on curriculum. Dr. Rose took concepts from Chemistry I and II and expanded on them by conducting correlating experiments for each of the eight weeks. Some lab topics were rates of reaction, electrochemistry and chemical equilibrium. Proper safety precautions were taught with the use of chemicals鈥攊nformation most students don鈥檛 usually cover until they take a high school chemistry course.

Susana de la Pe帽a, adjunct professor at UCLA, taught a humanities class called 鈥淓xplorations in Literature and Meaning Making.鈥� The students read three novels and a variety of short stories and wrote poems for their culminating activity. Literary analysis was emphasized as the class dug deep into gothic themes. The class came up with challenging questions and conjectures about some of the more obscure aspects of life but also had fun putting themselves in the shoes of the main characters.

Astronomy students took a field trip to the Griffith Observatory with Tony Travoullion, astronomer at work on the thirty-meter telescope through California Institute of Technology. Tony walked through each exhibit with his class and related museum information to concepts studied in Academy class. The field trip was also an opportunity for astronomy students to demonstrate mastery by explaining the exhibits to their fellow classmates and family members in attendance.

Just as spring term was brought to a close, Genius Day, a day of deep exploration into the life of genius Charles Darwin, commenced. The inaugural Genius Day was held at the Huntington Library last Saturday. Chief curator, Dr. Daniel Lewis, led students through a dynamic portrayal of Charles Darwin and a few of his contemporaries. The objective of the day was to gather evidence, showcase mastery and, in the end, define genius. Students fully immersed themselves in the scope of Darwin鈥檚 many contributions while having access to Dr. Lewis, an expert on the subject. Uninhibited by barriers of time or content, it was a joy to watch Academy kids thrive during an unforgettable day of deep learning.

Summer Academy sessions begin June 17! Sign up today!

Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through 优蜜视频 programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. 鈥� mentioned in this story 鈥� provides young students with challenging enrichment classes that focus on exploration and application of knowledge.

Phillip
Academy Student

Although ten-year-old Phillip is only a fourth grader, he knows what he wants to be when he grows up, and he鈥檚 studying now for his future. Phillip wants to be a chemist and is taking through 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy.

优蜜视频 has partnered with h-bar tutoring in Pasadena to offer exciting, instructive, hands-on classes year-round for motivated students like Phillip in grades 2-8.

Phillip has taken most of the classes Academy has offered. His first class was Neuro- Energy. 鈥淚 took this class because it appealed to my doctor side,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 liked all of the classes, but my favorite is Scientists Like Me because it taught me a lot about many important scientists, like Eratosthenes.鈥�

Classes are developed and taught by content area specialists 鈥� many of whom are Caltech PhD students 鈥� and typically focus on math, science or history. Recent courses include Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Mysteries of History, Rocket to Calculus and Sustainable Earth. New classes are introduced all the time; Playwriting, Astronomy and Theatre have been added for this year鈥檚 summer session.

Parents often find out about Academy classes through word of mouth from other parents. 鈥淧hillip鈥檚 classmate鈥檚 mom told me about it, and I am very happy to know that 优蜜视频 exists,” Phillip鈥檚 mom, Ming, said. Ming has since spread the word; at least two of Phillip鈥檚 classmates have also taken Academy classes, and another friend will be starting this summer.

In addition to Academy classes, Phillip keeps busy with choir, basketball, piano, art, golf and Boy Scouts. He likes watching the Olympics and the NBA and will travel to China this summer.

When I asked Ming if she鈥檚 seen a difference in Phillip since he鈥檚 been taking Academy classes, she said, 鈥淵es, he seems more confident and comfortable exploring new subjects and has become a more independent learner.鈥�

It is true that Phillip and the other Academy students are engaged and motivated learners, but they are still kids. So,聽Phillip answered three important questions for me:

1. What is your favorite food?
   Pasta Carbonara with white wine sauce
2. What is your favorite TV show or book?
   The Hunger Games series
3. If you could create your own Academy class, what would it be?
   An aerodynamic/paper airplane class

Academy classes run year-round at our office in South Pasadena, California. This summer, Academy will have two sessions: June 18 to July 6 and July 16 to August 2. Kids can take one to four classes in one or both of the sessions. For more information, an application and class schedules, visit the of our website. Sign up today!

Have your kids participated in enrichment classes? What was their experience? Please share with us in the comments below.

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