Solving thousands of math problems
By LUCIE BURNS
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COLONIE—In less than one school year, a third-grader at Saddlewood Elementary became the first-ever “First in Math” Grand Champion in the district of South Colonie. Emilio James-Maisonet solved thousands of problems on the online platform, and he is looking to solve even more in the future.
Emilio, who turns 9 years old on May 6, was recognized by the South Colonie Central School District Board of Education for this achievement. From September to January, he solved over 30,000 math problems on the online program used by the school, called First in Math, earning this honor.
Math is his favorite subject in school, but that wasn’t always the case.
“I wouldn’t say always,” said Emilio. At one point, he struggled with multiplication and division problems. “I’ve been good at it since second grade or so.”
The South Colonie School District has been using the First in Math online program in classrooms since 2022, when it was made free to schools across New York State. according to an article published by the district.
First In Math encourages students to strengthen their skills with incentives like stickers, to create a high level of engagement, according to the platform’s own website.
Emilio was highly motivated to reach his goal once he got started.
“Every day, I was determined to get it,” he said. “I would do it all day and night to try to get that goal.”
He also took inspiration from other students, too.
“It made me want to achieve the goal because I wanted to join them, to be a grand champion too,” he said.
Emilio credits his teacher, Donna Killiany, and his family for their encouragement and success in math. He often works on math problems at home, recalling how his dad taught him about decimals, an area of math problems which he now enjoys.
“She supported me by saying ‘you can do it,’ and kept on saying encouraging things,” he said about Killiany. “So I kept on doing it.”
A part of his pride stemmed from surprise that he could reach a goal so high.
“In kindergarten I never thought I was going to achieve something like that,” he said, when asked about his journey to solve 30,000 problems.
Asked what advice he would give to other students, Emilio said: “Put your head into it and put your mind into it and be determined to do it. Because that’s what I did, and I did it for lots of days and hours.”
Thirty thousand problems averaged out to about 6,000 per month, since he completed them in five months. And he is not done.
Now, just about a month away from his ninth birthday, Emilio’s next goal is to solve 100,000 problems.
