Kelly Branson
Two students at Toll Gate Elementary just proved their skills on the world stage, earning first place in a global competition for their grade levels. In March, Logan Dennis won first place for third grade, and Jaden Tangkaing won first place for fourth grade.
Logan and Jaden are both students of Kelly Branson, a gifted teacher at Toll Gate and Heritage Elementary schools.
“Both boys come into school every day with the biggest smile. They are engaged in everything. (They are) students who absolutely love math and always want to take that extra challenge, so anything that I throw out there as an extra option, they always take it. Their excitement is contagious,” says Branson.
During her class, she introduced them both to Mathletics, an online math program involving games and challenges to help students improve their math skills. The program matches students in the same grade level together to compete.
Kelly Branson
On World Maths Day, March 26, Mathletics held a 48-hour international math competition where millions of students around the globe participated. The competition consisted of multiple 60-second rounds where students answered as many questions as possible.
Toll Gate Elementary made the event school-wide, where both Jaden and Logan excelled and won their first-place titles.
“Jaden and Logan were both answering some of these levels over 80 questions per minute, that's like more than a question a second,” says Branson.
They both won engraved trophies, which came all the way from Australia.
Kelly Branson
Jaden Tangkaing
Jaden has always had a love for math. His parents, Roger and Biatrice, recall that even at a young age, he loved solving critical thinking puzzles and math questions.
Jaden’s favorite way of learning is through games. He especially loved doing all the games and challenges through the Mathletics program. Although the competition was challenging, Jaden says he had a lot of fun, and it ended up being one of his favorite memories.
“My favorite memory was when my fourth-grade teacher was announcing the winner, and then she said my name to the class,” says Jaden. “I felt proud, shocked and excited.”
Jaden’s family celebrated his win with a big dinner.
“There was a lot of excitement. He makes us proud,” says Roger.
His parents emphasize how much his determination and excitement played a role in his win, and Jaden says his dad also helped him practice and learn math questions above his grade level.
“Jaden practiced a lot at home and at school. Usually, he pulls himself away from distraction, and I would notice he would be in his bedroom (practicing),” says Biatrice. Jaden loves his trophy and what it reminds him of.
“It keeps reminding me of how I got it and my favorite memory. It’s going to remind me every time I look at it,” Jaden says.
Logan Dennis
Kelly Branson
Logan grew up in a learning-oriented family. His mom is a licensed teacher, his grandfather was a math teacher and his dad teaches at Ohio Dominican University.
His mom, Lindsay, recalls that from an early age, Logan was obsessed with puzzles involving numbers and letters as well as geography. Logan has even memorized all the countries and their flags.
Math has become Logan’s favorite subject, with multiplication problems being his favorite ones to solve. Logan discussed how much fun he had during the competition and how exciting it was for him to win.
“My favorite part was going against people all around the world,” says Logan.
After finding out he won, Logan was overjoyed.
“It felt great. It was really fun,” says Logan.
His mom says how proud she is of all his hard work.
“He pushed himself and did it. Truly, giving him all the credit. He did all the work,” says Lindsay.
At home, Logan has transformed his playroom into a classroom, including a smart board, where he does a variety of things, such as make power points and practice long division.
“He’s always been into learning. We didn’t really have to do much to push him. He just took off,” says Lindsay.
Korrigan Craddock is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
