Category Archives: Math News

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2021

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Winter 2021!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Spring 2021.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Frannie Cataldo – Frannie has been a very strong student all year long. He learns material quickly and is able to apply his knowledge well. He is also very humble yet is always willing to lend his insights into the material with the rest of his classmates.
Jules Constantinople – Jules had a fantastic third trimester in Algebra II. She possesses a strong work ethic and is very engaged during class. I am particularly impressed by her ability to stay resilient. When Jules encounters a challenge, she figures out how to overcome it. Jules wants to get better each day and is willing to put in the work necessary to do this, which will serve her well in future math classes.
Lily Dardano – Lily challenged herself all year to produce the highest quality work on each assignment. She was the main contributor to class in terms of individual and group contributions. Her level of understanding of the material was one of the highest in the class because of her desire to truly understand the material.
Getchell Gibbons – Getchell approached this class, and programming in general, with the intention to extend his understanding of the fundamental programming constructs by pushing himself in each area. His solutions to problems incorporated not just past material but ideas that he explored well beyond the minimum required.
Eli Goldberg Cook – Congratulations, Eli, on this well-deserved honor. You have just completed an amazing year in Algebra II and more specifically, a spectacular third trimester. Always engaged in class, you have provided your peers with exceptional leadership and demonstrated how to be fully engaged each day in class. You have developed strong algebra skills and fostered a genuine curiosity for math. The incredible results from your evaluations showed that you could transfer your knowledge accurately on a range of topics as you strived to be your very best. It was a joy to watch you develop as a math student and I appreciate your eagerness to challenge yourself. Confident but never arrogant, you made our class better each day with your thoughtful participation. Well done!
Aaron Hammer – Aaron is the undisputed class leader for Honors Geometry. The group looks to him for help and he is always ready to assist with a problem. He shows good work on his problems and has steadily improved his ability to explain work to others. Aaron is a great example of a fully involved discussion-based-learning student.
Maeve Reynolds – Maeve’s work improved throughout the year. This trimester she really pushed herself to work outside her comfort zone, asking questions and contributing to the class conversation more than before. Her work was exemplary because of her collaboration with classmates enhancing her own understanding.
Linnea Rhodes – All year, Linnea has dug into the material. She was always willing to dig even more when she found a concept that challenged her. During T3, she made it a point to really work on organizing her work as we used multiple strategies and formulas in one problem. She’s a creative thinker, willing to offer up solutions (even if she is unsure about it) and ready to adapt her thinking.
Catie Spence – Catie has always been a strong student in Algebra 2 Honors, but this spring, she aced pretty much every assignment the class had. While she’s quiet in class, she is always ready with an answer when she’s called on, and then her answer is almost always correct! She’s been a delightful addition to the class – a gifted mathematician who supplements her ability with diligent effort and attention to detail. Great work this spring!
Gunnar Tebo – Gunnar joined App Programming with no experience coding, but you would never have known! He exemplified all of the skills this class aims to teach: coding, creativity, resourcefulness, and determination. Gunnar’s final project game also showed his ambition and eagerness to extend his learning beyond what we covered in class.
Juanes Vargas – Juanes is a very strong math student, but what makes him shine is his deeply embedded determination to completely consume every math topic he encounters. Juanes is not satiated by just knowing how to express the answer to a question. Instead, he only rests when he reaches a point when he can teach someone else how to do the problem, all while expressing where the logic of the topic comes from and how it can be creatively applied. Juanes does not rest on his Calculus abilities. He is always pushing himself to go further in a healthy, productive, and inspiring way.
Jane Wegrzyn – Jane had arguably the best detail in her work out of any of my AP Statistics student this year. This detail translated to Jane consistently scoring at the top of my class on assessments. For these reasons and more, I am proud to make Jane my math student of the trimester!

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021

2021 AP Calculus BC Free Response Questions & Answers!

Screen Shot 2016-05-13 at 11.36.37 AMA few days after each AP Calculus BC exam, the College Board releases the free response questions from the exam. They don’t release their very succinct answer keys for a few more weeks… so… I had my students make their own answer keys as well as screen recordings of their solutions!

Official 2021 answer keys will eventually go online right here, along with the ones from past years that have already been posted.

You can view the 2021 AP Calculus BC Free Response Questions right here.

All of the 2021 answer keys that my students created can be viewed right here.

All of their 2021 video solutions can be viewed right here.

You can check out this project from past years here (2019), here (2018), here (2017), and here (2016).

Many more Williston student screencasts can be found online right here.

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Winter 2021

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Winter 2021!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Winter 2021.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Caroline Aufiero – Caroline Aufiero does amazing work in geometry class. Her performance when being evaluated has been exceptional. She has wonderful spatial recognition, a natural curiosity when presented with new material and exceptional class participation. Always willing to volunteer an answer to the most challenging questions when the class has gone quiet either in person or during a Zoom class, Caroline has been a wonderful class leader. She is respected by her peers and is always ready to explain how and why a problem can be solved. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor, Caroline!
Zah Ewen – Zah has done phenomenal work this year. She always goes the extra mile to ensure she is doing her best work. Additionally, she works very well with other students and sets a positive example as a leader in class. Congratulations, Zah, on this well-deserved award! 
Stella Gordon – Stella got off to a bit of a slow start to the school year, but after a couple of disappointing quizzes and tests she started meeting with me for extra help once a week. That extra help made all the difference in her work, and by the end of the winter term, her grade on the trimester assessment was one of the top scores in the class.
Aaron Hammer – Aaron conceived of and created a program to track and record a drivers actions and then play them back to direct the robot in autonomous mode. His understanding of the proper structuring of a C/C++ program was excellent. He also understands the process of reflection and revision by which programs are improved over time.
Mazin Hussein – Mazin has done a fantastic job at stepping up in every aspect of class. He jumps into discussions, helps drive us through hard problems by making key observations and corrections, and it’s clear to everyone that he has a genuine interest in math. He has fun and the class is made stronger by his contributions. His hard work has paid off with excellent scores on recent assignments.
Sydni Landman – Sydni continued to do a great job in calculus. She works carefully, asking great questions and doing the work necessary to understand this complex material. She also crated a great project modeling hanging a sign in the main entrance of the Cain Athletic Center – minimizing the amount of wire needed to hang the sign. She finished the term with outstanding work on the assessment.
Sako Lively – Sako is a creative thinker and inventive problem solver. He is able to find multiple avenues to solve a problem. Not only this, but he is so helpful to his classmates and I. He is always offering up technology advice, asking good clarifying questions, organizing his work so that it is easy to follow and read, and participating fully in discussions. He listens to understand and continues to push himself to grow. 
Alan Rodal – Alan has been an excellent math student. He is able to grasp concepts quickly and apply his knowledge to learn new material quickly. He has great insights into the material, and is always willing to share it with his peers in class.
Matt Thompson – Matt is an exemplary student in many ways. Not only does Matt regularly score at/near the top of the class on assessments, but he actively participates in class-wide discussions and small group work. Matt is also able to bring creativity to projects, as displayed in his profile of Easthampton from the perspective of a Texas man. For the reasons above and more I am happy to present Matt as my math student of the trimester. 
Abigail Touhey – Abigail has been stellar throughout Precalculus. She masters every concept and practices to near perfection. Her Desmos project was one of the best I have seen with great creativity and detail. 
Sotaro Wakabayashi – Sotaro has been an outstanding contributor to each class. He has helped him to raise the level of understanding by taking risks in his thinking and looking at the material in depth. Sotaro has also grown into one of the first students willing to volunteer an answer. 

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020

Mr. Weinberg answers the question: Why Math?

Ben Weinberg had not heard of competition math prior to his arrival at Williston. Enter Steven Wang ’19, US Math Olympiad summer program qualifier, and Josh Seamon, Math Team Coach and founder of the Whitaker-Bement Girls In Mathematics Competition. Weinberg had the opportunity to watch Steven and Mr. Seamon contribute in big ways to the competition math community.

Mr. Weinberg

Due to the transition to remote learning for the spring trimester, Weinberg started making YouTube videos that covered concepts he explained in class. Using the built-in screen recording feature on his Microsoft Surface, Weinberg found it surprisingly easy to upload content of himself explaining and solving problems. Little did he know, this experience would play a role in the creation of his budding YouTube channel: WhyMath.

Over the summer of 2020, he was looking for a project to take on that would complement his work in the classroom the following year. He had a number of ideas but ultimately settled on posting video solutions of AMC 10 problems to YouTube. The AMC (American Math Competition) 10 is a nationwide mathematics exam that is taken by roughly 350,000 students each year. The problems on the AMC 10 require creative problem solving and include some topics traditionally learned in high school like algebra and geometry, but also include problems requiring knowledge of counting, probability, and number theory, which are not as common across high school curricula.

Weinberg was interested in pursuing this project because he thought the problems were interesting and he noticed that students studied for the AMC by attempting practice problems and checking their answers on artofproblemsolving.com. Anyone can post solutions to problems on this website as it has an open source wiki page dedicated to AMC problems and solutions. Weinberg realized that almost all solutions posted were typed solutions, and he figured that some people might prefer watching a video over reading a typed solution. A few people had started posting video solutions to problems, but it was not nearly as common as typed solutions.

Weinberg was pleasantly surprised that people found value in his videos early on, which motivated him to keep at it. Although his channel is still pretty small, Weinberg is proud of the effort he has put into it. He enjoys the process of helping motivated math students and that is where he finds most of the value. As for the future, he feels like he is just getting started and is excited about potential new ideas and opportunities that lie ahead.

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Fall 2020

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Fall 2020!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Fall 2020.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Riiny Giir – Riiny excelled in both classes. He has an exceptionally clear understanding of coding and problem solving. In the Robotics class, he chose to work with MicroPython in the Mindstorms setting. This was taking a definite risk and will prompt a curricular change to that language!
Liz Gluz – Liz started off the term a bit slowly, but quickly made the changes in study habits necessary for success. She saw me frequently for extra help; she did all her homework problems and then even more for additional practice; and she was always one of the first students to raise her hand with questions during class. Her extra effort made all the difference, and her final test score of the fall term was one of the best in the whole class.
Anita Hua – Anita Hua is an exceptionally strong math student, but what makes her truly stand out is her genuine joyous passion for mathematics. She leverages her enthusiasm and academic gifts to conquer even the most complex material, and also help her peers reach the same level of understanding. She was actively engaged in class and on the math team even when she was connecting to classes remotely, and her success and large impact has continued as she transitioned to attending class in person. Bravo Anita!
Felix King – Felix has been a consistently strong AP Calculus student. He comes to class well prepared and ready to work. In class, he is always well focused and engaged in our discussions. He is always willing to lend his insights into the material with his classmates which helps the class move forward. His work ethic and devotion has been exemplary throughout the year.
Andie Kinstle – Andie has been awesome overall in Honors Geometry. Her diagrams and explanations are clear, insightful, and easy for the entire group to follow. She is always willing to share her ideas and help others. She works hard not only to understand the concepts and problems, but also to clearly show this understanding. 
Calvin Klumpp – Calvin has been a leader during discussions. Calvin articulates his thoughts well, he challenges our thinking on concepts, and he gives us alternate ways of approaching problems. Calvin has provided the class with thought provoking ideas without dominating discussion. Not only has he contributed to discussions, but he also just looks out for the class. He will let the teacher know if the screen is still frozen, he will remind us to mute or unmute on Zoom, and he will help solve technical difficulties. His community approach to learner is refreshing and necessary!
Leila Minkara – This fall, despite being virtual, Leila was able to consistently demonstrate her understanding of trigonometry scoring near the top of her class on most assessments. Additionally, Leila did all her work with great detail and always managed to turn it in even when surface issues occurred. Due to her resilience, hard work, and positive attitude I am proud to nominate Leila as my math student of the trimester. 
Sean O’Donnell – Sean has completed an exceptional trimester in Geometry. He is intellectually curious, a diligent worker and a leader with his outstanding class participation. He has strong natural instincts for geometry and his deductive reasoning skills are excellent. Always ready to explain how an answer can be found, Sean supports each of his statements with sound mathematical reasoning and enthusiasm. Congratulations, Sean, on this well earned award! 
Lorenzo Redaelli – Lorenzo has done a wonderful job this fall – adjusting to class in the gym, zoom, and a new school. He has excelled academically and has worked to help others in class. He asks great questions and contributes to the class conversation. He is a leader in class. 
Nick Sobon – Nick demonstrated a fantastic work ethic during the first trimester. In class, he was always engaged and was not shy about volunteering and asking clarifying questions. Additionally, Nick set up extra help sessions on numerous occasions and developed a plan for what was going to make him successful in Geometry. The work that he handed in was also a reflection of his commitment to trying his best. Nick sets a positive example for others and is a pleasure to have in class! 
Sydney Wegner – Sydney showed determination to not only do well, but to truly comprehend all the material. She came to every class attentive and engaged. Sydney showed her peers that giving up on a problem is not an option.

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2020

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2020!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Spring 2020.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Badou Ba – Badou’s commitment to developing as a programmer came to a fruition this trimester. His work in coding in a new language (his third of this year!) showed considerable growth and understanding. He showed both independence and perseverance as he worked through a wide variety of challenging problems.
Avery Brooks – Avery has just completed one amazing trimester as a student of geometry under the most unique circumstances. As we entered the unknown and sometimes unpredictable world of remote learning, Avery was a role model for her classmates by coming out of her comfort zone and volunteering multiple times each class. Avery’s determination to be her best was evident daily and her consistent effort in and out of class led to her best quiz results of the year. Always engaged, Avery set a positive tone in class and thrived on Zoom. Thank you, Avery, for your leadership and congratulations on this well deserved honor!
William Chalfant – Will struggled with math for the first two trimesters, but thrived in T3. He attended help sessions, lead his peers, and demonstrated a deep understanding of the material. He mentioned that this was his best trimester in math to date and that he is incredibly proud of himself. Will is a hard worker and is incredibly motivated, not to mention kind and fun to have in class.
Abigail Dennin – Abby stepped up on multiple fronts to help drive class during a new and challenge time! She helped create new content, manage groups of students, and go above and beyond during class discussions. She was committed, and poured genuine interest into new types of assignments, thriving independently as well as in teams. He passion for mathematics and rising to the challenge of the times was impressive and noted by everyone in class!
Sage Friedman – Sage has consistently been an excellent contributor in and out of class. Her positive spirit and determination did not fade at all, even with the transition to online learning. She continued asking insightful questions, completed her homework with the same degree of thoroughness, and demonstrated exceptional understanding of concepts. Congratulations Sage!
Sophie Gontow-Calderon – Sophie had a fabulous aspring term in Honors Discrete. Her understanding of the graph theory we studied during the spring term was truly remarkable. Moreover, she always supplements her fantastic mathematical insight with exceptional diligence and effort.
Alex Latkovski – Alex did a remarkable job this year, becoming a serious student. While we learned through zoom this spring, Alex made extra effort to ask questions and participate from a distance. It was a pleasure to work with him throughout the year as he developed and took ownership of his education.
Riley Roche – Riley showed the highest level of commitment to learn new material throughout the trimester. Her determination to challenge herself was unmatched. She never let down. She has my highest praise for not only pressing on during a trying time but succeeding at the highest level.
Abby Schulkind – Abby has been a consistently diligent and hardworking math student all year long. Abby has shown genuine curiosity and enthusiasm for AP Calculus. She always wants to learn more and to fully understand the concepts that we study.
Meryl Sesselberg – Meryl continued her excellent work in Honors Geometry during T3. She is a great, independent worker who was unfazed by online learning. She referred back to previous learning to advance her own knowledge, making great connections and showing detailed explanations.
Liam Shields – During T3 of AP CSP, Liam continued to bring his energy, interest, and enthusiasm to our virtual classes every meeting. He also poured himself into his final coding project and recreated part of one of his favorite classic games: The Legend of Zelda!
Natalie Stott – Despite the challenges faced this trimester, Natalie thrived putting together her most successful trimester this year. Natalie attended every required class, asked questions, and had strong performances on each of the assessments. For these reasons and more I am more then happy to make Natalie my math student of the trimester.

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2019

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2019!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Spring 2019.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Jason Albanese – Jason pushed through some significant challenges this year and ended up not missing a beat on his progression through the class. His deeply humble and genuinely cheerful nature, as well as his deep sense of empathy, make him into a group work driver. He has fun with challenges and adores ushering his peers through complex topics. Even as we faced harder material in the land of Integrals, Jason kept on leaning in, repeatedly proving he is a creative and talented problem solver.
Katherine Borden – Katie has been a very steady and diligent math student all year long. She comes to class always ready to work and to contribute her thoughts and ideas. She learns new material quickly and is able to retain old concepts well. In class, she helps other students understand the concepts better by volunteering to lend her insights into the material.
Caroline DiFiore – Caroline worked hard right through the final project. She was determined to do her best work – getting extra help from me, friends, other teachers, and the math resource center.
Lily Harris – Lily showed initiative, enthusiasm, and drive during her work in AP CSP. Her progress in our final unit on Python was especially impressive! She brings a natural curiosity and interest in programming that will drive her success as she continues to pursue it.
Molly Kinstle – Molly sailed through this course and assembled the many pieces of Java classes and their interaction with ease. She was always engaged and participated thoughtfully at every point. Her understanding of how the topics covered in this course will serve as a solid foundation in future classes.
Jerry Landman – Jerry brought a high level of insight into each class. Whether it was asking a question or volunteering an answer, Jerry challenged his classmates to think about the material at a deeper level.
Na Kyung Lee – Na consistently distinguished herself among the top students in terms of understanding of the material of precalculus. Not only did she perform outstandingly on assessments, but her ability to work collaboratively with other students became more refined as the year has progressed. I am fully confident that Na will take the foundation she has built this year to reach new heights in any mathematical endeavor she will face in the next academic year. For the reasons stated above I am honored to nominate Na as my math student of the trimester for Spring 2019.
Keyu Lu – Keyu is obviously exceptionally talented in mathematics, but she always supplements that natural ability with incredible diligence and perseverance. I so enjoyed working with her one-on-one this year.
Tucker Motyka – Tucker completed a wonderful third trimester with a strong T3 assessment and an outstanding circles test in Geometry. Tucker thrived on the most difficult work of the year by tying previously learned concepts with challenging new material. His work was organized and he was able to articulate how to attack a multifaceted problem during class discussions. He demonstrated poise, confidence and comprehension throughout the trimester as a class leader in discussions and in his written work. Congratulations, Tucker!
Noe Perry-Greene – Noe contributes in so many ways to our geometry discussions. She shows organized work from which she insightfully explains her problem solving method. She is comfortable taking feedback about her approaches and is able to allow organic discussions to take place. She additionally is able to evaluate the methods her peers use and she works towards efficient methods. Finally, Noe is able to mix fun into the classroom that does not detract from the learning process.
Connor Touhey – Connor was an excellent student and classmate throughout the year. His performance on assessments was always strong and he was diligent in homework every night. Connor was thoroughly engaged in class, always paying full attention and processing new material carefully.
Abby Vassallo – Abby is an incredibly hard worker. She puts in so much effort in and out of the classroom, which leads to her success. She is the epitome of hard work pays off.

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019

The Math Resource Center Is Open!

The MRC is now fully operational in its new location, on the second floor of the library right next to the Writing Center! A student tutor is available during most class periods and a math department faculty member is present on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings during study hall.

Drop on by any time!

You can learn more about the MRC right here.

Here’s the full schedule:

Click to view a larger version

 

3 new teachers!

Three new teachers have joined the Williston Math Department! They all may be new to Williston, but they are not new to teaching.

Fun facts: The Williston Math department has a combined 245 years of teaching experience. Each teach in the department has been teaching for an average of 18.8 years!

Karla Schaffer – Karla taught math and worked at the Webb School in Tennessee for the last six years. Karla earned a B.A. in Mathematics and Psychology at Mercyhurst University and earned an MEd. in Teaching and Learning from Vanderbilt University. She will coach in the girl’s soccer and tennis programs. Karla and her husband Teddy will live in Clare House.

kschaffer@williston.com

Teddy Schaffer – Teddy is an experienced math teacher who joins Williston from the Webb School in Tennessee. Teddy earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Furman University and a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech. Teddy will teach math, and coach ultimate frisbee and water polo. Teddy and his wife Karla will live in Clare House.

tschaffer@williston.com

Dr. Rajendra Shrivastava – Raj comes across the country from California to join the Williston community. He has taught math, physics, and computer science at both the high school and college level. Most recently, he has been teaching math and computer science in high schools. He holds several advanced degrees including a Ph.D in Computer Science from Louisiana State University. In addition to teaching math and computer science at Williston, Raj will lead the Robotics program and coach in the spring season. Raj will live on Main St. in Easthampton.

rshrivastava@williston.com

 

 

US Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2017

I am excited to announce the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester – Spring 2017!

Each math faculty member was free to choose whichever student of theirs they thought best exemplified what they are looking for in a model mathematics student. The official description of the award is as follows:

“Awarded to students who exemplify the math department’s core values of competence, confidence, and perseverance while helping their peers realize the relevance and importance of an exceptional mathematical education both for its beauty and for its practical application.”

The following students have been recognized as the Upper School Mathematics Students of the Trimester for Spring 2017.

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding mathematics students!

Ethan Huang – Ethan is a very curious math student. He is always interested in fully understanding the concepts behind a problem rather than just knowing how to solve the problem. Ethan also is also always eager to help others understand the material as well as he does.
Kohmei Kadoya – Kohmei’s work in the Electronics, Circuitry & Programming course was exceptional. He was well prepared for each class and asked probing questions on topics that required clarity. Kohmei’s classwork in the electronic’s labs and circuit labs was outstanding and included many well thought-out answers and observations. Congratulations to Kohmei for his fine work in this class!
Caitlin Keefe – Caitlin did a wonderful job pulling together all of the material that we covered this year. Her average in the third trimester was a full five points higher than she had earned for T1 & T2 – when she already did well! The questions that Caitlin asked and her overall participation set a high level of expectation for her classmates. Very well done – especially for senior spring!
Oliver Lawrence – Beyond excelling mathematically in pre-calculus, Oliver came to be a leader in the classroom. He could always be counted on to posit an answer to a challenging question or to come up to the board to present a solution. Moreover, Oliver often went out of his way to explain topics to his peers, both in the math classroom and outside the classroom. His patience and dedication to helping his classmates was a great boon for our class.
Fin MacDonald – Fin was not only a hardworking student but he also showed a genuine interest in Geometry. He looked at the material in depth every day and always pushed himself and others to do the same.
Nat Markey – Nat works incredibly hard in and out of the classroom to master the material taught. He is helpful to those around him and is always willing to participate in class. He is an incredible student and friend to his classmates.
Anna Moran – Anna has just completed a fantastic year in Geometry. She is a diligent student who always strives to be her best. She has a natural enthusiasm for learning and she challenges herself to deeply understand each and every concept. Anna has been a class leader in terms of participation and the energy and enthusiasm she brings to the classroom is contagious. Well done, Anna!!!
Yana Pyryalina – Yana did an exceptional job this year as a student in Advanced Programming in Java. Her dedication, excitement, and enthusiasm for coding shined through in all aspects of her engagement with the course. She worked hard to understand the concepts. participated in our conversations deeply and fully, and shared her “aha” moments openly with her classmates in ways that demonstrated her generosity as well as her curiosity. She was also an excellent group member and shared her expertise both in class and out.
Erika Sasaki – Erika did a phenomenal job at stepping up this trimester! Her work remained remarkably consistent and she did an impressive job helping her classmates as we transitioned into the world of Origami. He careful explanations, patience, and folding technique were appreciated by everyone. Origami is very hard to teach and Erika made the whole process easier! Thank you Erika!
Ter Sawatyanon – T did a great job in TPS this year. He was the only 9th grader in a predominantly Junior and Senior class. This term, we did a major data analysis and T chose to study health and wealth of selected countries of the World. He worked very hard and discovered interesting insights which he was able to articulate clearly in his final presentation. Great work, T!
Molly Solan – Molly is always engaged and eager to learn every class. She patiently works with all member of the class and brilliantly explains her own solutions with ease. She has performed remarkably all year and is a model Williston student. Molly brings passion and a sense of humor into the classroom and any teacher would be lucky to have her in class.
Risa Tapanes – Risa has been so diligent all year. She always does the homework; she sits at the front of the room; she asks questions; she seeks help as soon as she doesn’t understand a concept. She had a lot of success with descriptive statistics this spring, and I so enjoyed working with her. I was particularly impressed when she emailed me two days before the play (for which she was stagemanaging) to tell me that she had worked for half an hour on the homework assignment between scenes but just had not been able to get it all done. She was so apologetic, but I was just amazed she had been able to get started on it at all, given her schedule that week.

Past students of the trimester can be found right here: Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Winter 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017