PACHARATORN LIMPODON WINS GOLD IN INTERNATIONAL MATH COMPETITION
By | Evangeline Tan-Alvez
Ekamai International School is once again placed in the spotlight with the gold win of Patcharatorn Limpodon in the International Kangaroo Mathematics Competition held on April 3, 2022. Ranking eleventh for the Thailand round, the grade five student is ecstatic about this victory, having invested her time in preparing for this grueling battle of numbers and PEMDAS.
The organizer’s website explains that Math Kangaroo (also known as International Mathematical Kangaroo, or Kangourou sans frontières in French) is an international mathematical competition where over 92 countries are represented. There are twelve levels of participation, ranging from grade 1 to grade 12. According to the organizers, the key competence tested by Mathematical Kangaroo is logical combination, not just pure knowledge of formulas. The competition was established in 1991 by André Deledicq, a professor of mathematics at the University of Paris 7, and Jean-Pierre Boudine, professor of mathematics at Marseille. The idea comes from the Australian Mathematics Competition, initiated in 1978 by Peter O’Halloran.
More information from the organizer’s website stated that Kangourou sans Frontières is formed by math lovers worldwide. Motivated by the importance of mathematics in the modern world, their passion is to spread the joy of mathematics, support mathematical education in school and promote a positive perception of mathematics in society. They further continued to state that the main activity of Kangourou sans Frontières is designing the annual Kangaroo Mathematics Competition. “Mathematical problems in the multiple-choice form are offered to children of all school levels. The questions are not standard textbook problems and come from many topics. Besides inspiring ideas, perseverance, and creativity, they require imagination, basic computational skills, logical thinking, and other problem-solving strategies. Often there are small stories, surprising questions, and results, which encourage discussions with friends and family,” stated the Kangaroo Math website.
“We are grateful to EIS and the support from the teachers for my daughter’s victory. We are delighted to share this good news with the EIS community,” the jubilant parents of Patcharatorn wrote in an email.
Congratulations, Patcharatorn, and continue your love for learning. The entire EIS family is so proud of your achievement.
