Instead of working jobs for minimum wage or lazing by the pool, David Bieber, an incoming senior at Niskayuna High School, and Markus Salasoo, of the Class of 2009, will spend one week in July teaching 12 middle schoolers how it all adds up at math camp, now in its second year.
Campers will learn mostly about contest math, the skills needed to participate successfully in a math competition. Topics include algebra, probability and geometry. Students will review the topics through a variety of interactive games and math competitions.
Bieber said that he was involved in a number of math programs and competitions when he was in middle school.
`I always enjoyed it when I was taught this sort of thing, so I figured I would pass it on,` said Bieber.
He said campers will be working on some Mathcounts problems, and others that he and Salasoo created themselves.
`There are no pre-requisites to the class. As long as they’re interested in math they’ll fit in,` said Bieber.
This is the second year Bieber and Salasoo have held the camp.
`It’s a math camp for kids who love math,` said David Bieber’s mother, Susan Bieber.
She said that last year, when they ran the camp, the response was very positive from campers.
`My son has a lot of experience. He’s been into math for as long as I can remember,` said Susan Bieber.
Her son and Salasoo are both experienced math competitors. They have participated in the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament, the NYS Math League, Mathcounts Competitions, and both are longtime member of the Albany Area Math Circle.
Bieber will be a senior at Niskayuna High School this fall. Salasoo will be entering the engineering program as a freshman at Cornell University.
Bieber and Salasoo became friends through a number of similar interests including math, but perhaps their biggest influence in starting the math camp was Mary O’Keeffe, one of their advisors with the Albany Area Math Circle.
`Albany Area Math Circle is a group that my daughter [Alison Miller ] and I worked together with an RPI professor to start back in 2001,` said O’Keeffe.
She said they started the group in response to the lack of math programs in the area for high school students. Her daughter is currently in graduate school. One of the group’s original members, who is now a junior in college, started a similar camp several years ago that was successful.
O’Keeffe was approached by the mothers of Salasoo and Bieber who asked if she had suggestions for summer jobs. She suggested the two start their own math camp.
`David and Markus took that idea and ran with it and came up with a really great plan,` said O’Keeffe. `I’ve heard wonderful things from the parents and students who participated last year so hopefully they’ll have another great year this year,` said O’Keefe.
The camp takes place this year at the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, which is located in Niskayuna.
`This is the fist time that it’s being held here at our center,` said Ken Rimany, director of operations for the association. `They came over and looked at the facilities and decided that this would be a perfect setting to do a summer math camp.`
Rimany said that at the center, young people are encouraged to work and learn in their natural environment.
`For a week, they’ll have a beautiful setting to be here and relax and learn all about math,` said Rimany.
There is still room for more campers. The camp runs from Monday, July 20, through Saturday, July 25, and costs $50 per person. Students will need to bring a snack, drink, pens, pencils and paper with them each day. The camp runs each morning from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Questions may be directed to Ester Salasoo at 372-5413, or by e-mail at [email protected].“