By Mengfei Chen, Patterson Press staff writer (with files from Mr. Gil Laqui)

Patterson students won the top 3 prizes of the 2012 National Technical Association (NTA) Mathematics Contest on Saturday, April 21,2012 at Morgan State University. The following are the students who joined the math contest and their respective awards:

Jialin Wang – 1st place ($100 as 1st place winner + $50 and a TI Inspire calculator for averaging at least 90%)
Fenyi Chen – 2nd place ($50 as 2nd place winner+ $50 and a TI Inspire calculator for averaging at least 90%)
MengFei Chen – 3rd place ($25 as 3rd place winner)
Elvyre Djiogo ($15 for participating in the contest)
Vinh Tran ($15 for participating in the contest)

In the two months before the contest began, calculus teacher Mr. Gil Laqui taught an after-school lesson every Tuesday and Thursday for the students who was joining the math contest. He was teaching not only the knowledge that already been taught in high school but also introduced some college level concepts. Every student in this group participated in these lessons and enjoyed the process. On April 28, after the intense competition, Patterson students took the top three places in Group A and everyone on the team participated and did well. The sponsor of this contest introduced Mr.Laqui and gave him high praise for preparing his students so well. “I am very proud of our students and the organizers were very impressed as well for this kind of feat”, said Mr. Laqui.

Success does not happen by chance. It requires both hard work and perseverance. All students can do what this team did if they put in the same effort. All Patterson students are encouraged to join this contest next year. Participants will get a chance to meet professionals in many areas of the scientific fields and will also be given the opportunity to attend an SAT workshop. That is not the exam itself but a training for students to sharpen their mathematic skills.