While the majority of the Bay’s high school pupils spent their mid-year break resting, an Alexander Road High School pupil spent his holiday exercising his mind at the SA Mathematics Olympiad camp in Pretoria.
Grade 11 pupil Keanan Johns joined an elite group of the countries’ top 20 mathematics boffins for the camp earlier this month.
The five-day camp consisted of intense discussions about mathematics as a key school subject.
Johns said the pupils engaged in lectures, group work, logic puzzles, mind games, tests and individual exercises.
“Being a part of this amazing experience was fun and challenging and also preparation for round three of the mathematics olympiad, as well as the mathematics team competition in September.
“We were also exposed to a sneak preview of matric and university level mathematics, basic mathematics concepts, tips, tricks and quicker ways to solve problems, proofs and theorems,” Johns said.
“I left the camp enriched with necessary basic and complex tools to further excel in maths and life in general.”
Regional coordinator of the Siyanqoba Mathematics Olympiad Training Programme, Dr Vasuthavan Govender, said Johns was among the best pupils at the camp.
He said the programme was brought to Port Elizabeth in 2017 to ensure that pupils who participated in the olympiad were given adequate training to enable them to move to round two and three of the competition.