This week's Student of the Week is Minh Anh P!

The first time I taught Minh Anh was a very unique situation. Minh Anh was in grade 9 and had demonstrated mastery of the Math 9 and 10 curriculum. As such, the decision was made to move her to a PreCalculus 11 class. Unfortunately, there were no classes that fit with her timetable. Our solution was to have Minh Anh come to my classroom during my Prep block. She learned all of the material on her own (using my videos) and would ask me for assistance / clarification when needed.
 
Minh Anh impressed me in so many ways during this experience. The level of responsibility and maturity she displayed (even as a grade 9 student) was incredible. Minh Anh rarely asked me for support and basically learned the entire course (a TOUGH course!) on her own. And, in spite of this, she ended up with an extremely high mark (like REALLY high).

Not only is Minh Anh an amazing student (that's her receiving one of her several Math Contest awards in the photo above) but she is also a great person. Kind. Interesting. Great sense of humour!

Thanks, Minh Anh, for all your great work in my class. I know that the future has big things in store for you and I wish you nothing but the best! Good luck, wherever you end up and whatever you choose to do!

This week's Student of the Week is Allison V!!

I remember clearly the first time I ever encountered Allison. It was a couple of years ago, and I had been asked to supervise an Interact meeting for Ms Groombridge. It was in Ms Sidhu's classroom and I was sitting somewhere near the window, kind of zoning out a little. The meeting was a bit disorganized but things were slowly getting done. Then this one grade 10 girl I had never met before spoke up. She was so clear and well-spoken and self-assured! She was speaking in a way that elicited ACTION ("I will do this". "We can start by doing...", etc). I was struck by her leadership abilities and her communication skills. I leaned over to someone (Ms Kam, perhaps) and asked who it was. "Oh, that's Allison V!". What a first impression she made on me!

I was so happy, therefore, when I got to teach Allison the following year, in PreCalculus 11. And she didn't disappoint. She was an enthusiastic, determined, and responsible student. Plus, she was ALWAYS super-kind to me and fun to joke around with (Allison has a great sense of humour). One highlight from last year was when we worked a trade out: some of my home-"made" (or at least "canned") tomatoes for some of Allison's moms salsa!! So yummy! Thanks Mama V! And thanks Allison for organizing!

This year Allison is one of my CS students. It's always good to have one "artistic" CS. And (I think Betty, Lara, and Kelsey would agree) this year that person is Allison. Know the posters that are all over my walls? Well Allison has made LOTS of those... and in record time. She is one speedy artiste! She impressed me so much one day: she was making a poster and I noticed that she had made a mistake (spelling? I can't remember). I told her very apologetically about her mistake, expecting her to groan / grumble / etc. Instead, without a moments pause, she picked up a different colour pencil crayon (actually one of my World Famous Mathematical Colouring Sticks) and proceeded to colour over her mistake and simultaneously turn it into a picture that was totally relevant to the poster itself!!! True mastery!! The girls got a gift!

Allison, we have shared many great chats over the past couple of years. Thank you for the times you have shared with me, the good laughs, and even a few tears along the way (from both of us!). They say that you can tell a lot about a person in the first moments that you meet them and - in your case - it was true! I knew in the first moments I saw you that you were a unique, powerful, and special person. May you never change! All the best in the years ahead! Love you, A.V.!!

​The prize, according to New York Times, cites “the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics.” Modeled after the Nobel Prize, it is awarded by the king of Norway to honor outstanding mathematicians who have greatly influenced their field, and includes a cash prize of Norwegian kroner worth about $700,000. The award has been given out since 2003, but all previous winners have been men.
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Dr. Uhlenbeck is renowned for her work in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory, and integrable systems. As the Times reports, she she helped pioneer a field known as geometric analysis, and among her most famous contributions were her theories of predictive mathematics, inspired by soap bubbles.