On Feb. 26, 142 Shawnigan students took part in the worldwide Waterloo math contests, with exceptional results throughout the ranks.
A total of 23 students received a level of distinction: six in Grade 9 (Pascal contest), six in Grade 10 (Cayley contest), and 11 in Grade 11 (Fermat contest). Shawnigan finished second in the district for Grade 9, and first for Grades 10 and 11, and the Grade 11s finished 13th in B.C. and 37th overall in Canada, the best results for the school since the competition began 57 years ago.
Leading the way for Grade 11s was Zekai Liu, who aced the test, submitting the first perfect paper in Shawnigan history. It was one of only two perfect tests on Vancouver Island, one of 20 in B.C., and one of just 80 out of 19,000 students in Canada who took part. Zekai received a medal, a certificate of perfection, and $200.
“Zekai is one of the most gifted math students I have taught in my 28 years of teaching,” said Jarrett Wilke, head of the school’s math department. “His ability to think outside the box is crazy. He can outmanoeuvre me any day.”
