Institute for Creative Problem Solving Selects 6th Grader as a Long Island Scholar of Mathematics

The North Shore School District would like to congratulate Sarah Moughal, a sixth grader at North Shore Middle School, who was chosen to be a Long Island Scholar of Mathematics. Only 25 students her age were invited to participate in the Institute for Creative Problem Solving course at SUNY Old Westbury. 

To qualify for this honor, the students who were selected for the Institute for Creative Problem Solving competed against hundreds of the top ranking students nominated from school districts on Long Island. Selection by the Institute implies that a student is among the top one-tenth of one percent in math of all students on Long Island in his or her grade. Acceptances were based on five criteria: nomination, school transcript, teacher recommendation, a brief statement written by the student and a rigorous entrance exam. Funding of the Institute comes from corporate, foundation and individual contributors who believe that offering programs tuition free maintains equal accessibility to all students who qualify. 

Each student is expected to spend 60 hours in class at SUNY Old Westbury over the course of 20 Saturday mornings, and on related outside projects. The curriculum will cover mathematical topics from algebra, geometry, discrete math and number theory.

To conclude Sarah said, “This is an honor that means a lot to me because there were tons of kids who entered this really difficult exam, and they only chose 25 kids to participate in the program. Being selected made me feel really great."

Article and photo by Shelly Newman