Gifted Pair Accepted into Institute
Huntington sixth graders Alexandra Koumas and Sam Latt have qualified to participate in The Institute for Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students, a Saturday program held on the campus of SUNY College at Old Westbury.
The Institute was established to improve the problem solving skills of a select group of 75 high ability students in grades 5 -10 on Long Island. It chooses 25 students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties to participate in each of the three sections (out of approximately 900 students from all of Long Island).
Maryann Daly, the Huntington School District’s SEARCH chairperson and a teacher in the program nominated 35 of her Math Olympiad students to take the Institute’s “rigorous” qualifying exam.
Ms. Koumas and Mr. Latt have already begun attending a series of 20 Saturday classes on the Old Westbury campus. The sessions are being taught by a group of distinguished professors from a variety of institutions. The Huntington duo will study creative problem solving in the areas of math, engineering and science and be required to devote 60 hours to formal classes over the course of the 20 morning classes. Participants are also expected to spend another 60 hours working on related projects at home.
The selection of both Ms. Koumas and Mr. Latt is a feather in the Huntington School District’s proverbial cap. Mrs. Daly called it “a huge accomplishment and a huge honor.”
Each participant who completes the Institute’s program will officially be designated as a “Long Island Young Scholar of Mathematics” and be awarded a certificate of accomplishment.
“The participants will broaden their backgrounds in mathematics, sharpen their thinking skills and develop their problem solving ability,” according to brochure published by the Institute. “Educating these special children will make a major contribution to their pursuit of excellence in science and mathematics.”
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