This week's Student of the Week is Luciana D. Thanks to Ryan O for the photos. Yes, that's right... photoSSSSS!!! For the first time in Student of the Week History (I believe it has been SEVEN years now. My gosh!!) someone gets two pictures. These are such great shots and they capture the two sides of Luciana's personality so well. I couldn't choose!!

Luciana is another Tech student who I have gotten to teach ALL five years at King George (lucky me!!). In grade 8 and 9 she was quiet... like SUPER quiet. Then, slowly but surely the real Luciana has emerged (I will avoid a butterfly metaphor here for Luciana's sake only. I don't want to embarrass her or anything).  :)

Now that I have gotten to really know Luciana I see what a fascinating person she is. She is very artistic (trying to remember what animal you made in that Math 10 slopes project. I KNOW it was very impressive, LD!). She loves really good music... great taste! She is thoughtful and inquisitive and kind.

Plus, Luciana has a fabulous sense of humour. She spends a LOT of time in my classroom (again... lucky me!): lunch time, free blocks, Foundations 12. And when I picture her in my class I almost always see her laughing. Laughing with Ryan. Laughing with Marko. Laughing with Seraphina. Laughing with (or AT) me. One of my favourite things is when I make a particularly bad joke (common) and Luciana releases this disgusted PFFFFFT sound. Or, sometimes, if she DOES find something I said funny, she gives this little gasp / laugh noise. Very endearing!

But the BEST thing about Luciana... she always gives me her dill pickle from her take-out lunch!!! Nicest thing someone could do for me. Sometimes, if I am at a meeting or something, I will come back for the start of third block and her little container will be sitting there waiting for me, with that lovely treat inside (my mouth is watering -honestly - just thinking about it). It always makes me feel pretty awesome that someone would do such a nice thing for me... even when I'm not there to receive her gift directly.

I admire you so much for your determination and persistence, Luciana. I know that Math is not your favourite thing in the world but you have never complained, never wavered in your work ethic, never stopped trying your best. I can ask nothing more from my students. No teacher could!

It has been a joy to teach you, Luciana. Thanks for all the laughs we have shared, both in and out of class. You truly are a unique, talented, and special person and I will miss you so much next year. May you never lose your gentle nature and your wonderful sense of humour. Love you, Luciana!  

The Original... 

This week's Student of the Week is Armita M! (thanks to Seraphina for the photo. Perhaps you recognize her right hand in the photo above).

You may not know Armita but I promise you, if you are a King George student, she knows you! This was one of the first things that amazed me about Armita... her incredible ability to remember EVERYONE's name! Wish I had that ability. What a gift!

I have taught Armita Math EVERY year since grade 8 (I'm so lucky!). In some ways, she hasn't changed much. She is just as enthusiastic, positive, and determined now as she was in grade 8. And complimentary! This may be Armita's number one (wonderful) trait. Armita has said something flattering to me (my clothes, my hair, my bag, my book, my daughters, etc) every day she has attended school. Most days I receive multiple compliments. Do the Math... Armita has tried to make me feel good about myself THOUSANDS of times over the past five years. And I know that I am not the only one that Armita praises. Far from it! Armita spreads her positive vibes to most everyone she meets.

Armita and her mother have also been kind enough to send me Persian lunches from time to time over the years. If you ever get a chance to taste Armita's mom's potato salad... it's pretty incredible. I'll miss those lunches next year! Thanks Ms. M!

Thank you, Armita, for working so hard, for laughing at all my jokes, for being so willing to help out ("want me to hand out those papers Mr Wadge?"), for doing your very best work every day. You have been a huge presence in my classroom the past five years and it won't be the same without you next year. I wish you all the best. Never lose your big smile and your giant heart.

Over the years, whenever I asked you how you were doing, you'd always say the exact same thing: "I'm awesome, Mr Wadge". You were absolutely correct, Armita. You are awesome! Love you!

When asked who or what has been most influential in boosting their interest in math, 39 percent of the respondents (40 percent of males and 37 percent of females) said they’re naturally good at math, while 32 percent of those queried (35 percent of females and 31 percent of males) credited a teacher for their interest.
Only 10 percent (12 percent of males and 9 percent of females) attributed their interest to their peers, and 8 percent (9 percent of males and 7 percent of females) pointed to a parent or guardian as being the most influential.

When a fault slips, it unleashes a torrent of seismic waves, not all of them alike. Long low-frequency waves can travel far from their source and cause tall structures like skyscrapers to sway, while high-frequency waves are excellent at shaking houses and bridges and reducing them to rubble. For much of the past half-century, seismologists have assumed that the frictional slippage of a fault generates this entire seismic suite.
Now a pair of geoscientists from Brown University have conjured up their own origin story. Using mathematical models inspired by landslides and avalanches, the researchers argue that these damaging high-frequency waves are caused not by the slippage itself, but by geological pinball games taking place within the fault.

Mathematician David Strütt, a scientific collaborator at EPFL, worked for four months to develop Matheminecraft, a math video game in Minecraft, where the gamer has to find a Eulerian cycle in a graph. ​

This week's Student of the Week is Cedric C (thanks to his lovely sis, Darla, for the photo!).

Incredibly, I believe that I have only taught Cedric twice over the past five years. Unless I am mistaken, he is one of the rare grads of 2020 who took Math 8 and 9 at King George with OTHER teachers. Is this accurate Cedric (me and my lousy memory). And then, in grade 11, he took a year of from King George. Sure glad you came back for your last year, Cedric!

One of my favourite memories of Cedric was actually from his grade 11 year (when he didn't attend KG). I was heading out for lunch (or something else. Lunch would be weird since I basically never eat it during school days) and there was this excited mass of humanity near the flagpole (by the front entrance).

"Wonder what is happening here", I thought to myself. "It's not a fight of some sort I hope".

Suddenly, a voice rang out (Rupert? Chaucer? Lucas C?): "look Mr Wadge. It's Cedric!!! He's back!".

And, sure enough, there was Cedric, huge smile on his face, surrounded by his many admirers. He looked like some sort of rock star or something. Pretty hilarious.

Something else I will always remember about Cedric is his hand-writing. Sorry CC, but I gotta mention it. It's hard to describe for those of you who have never seen it. It's not exactly BAD writing... it just looks like it was written with a VERY dull, very light pencil... in the dark. And there is not a bit of white space. Cedric isn't wasting any paper; every word is crammed in tight. It's pretty darn challenging to read / mark. Hope you won't be offended, Cedric, but I have definitely had some good conversations in the staff room about the "joys" of marking your work. One thing I will say: when I am actually able to DECIPHER your work it is usually done VERY well.

One of the first things that struck me about Cedric is his poise. He is quiet but not shy. Thoughtful but good-humoured. Intelligent and personable. An interesting character indeed!

It has been great to teach you, Cedric. Two years doesn't seem like enough but I will take what I can get. Thanks for always being so respectful and friendly in my class. I wish you nothing but the best in the years ahead!