Comments (15) | Add a comment
Las Vegas math whiz excels on test
-
David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ian Johnson, a Hyde Park Middle School eighth-grader, draws a nesting radical to show the skills that earned him a perfect score in the American Mathematics Contest. » Buy this photo
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jan. 8, 2012 | 8:09 a.m.
Ian Johnson is 13 but years ago -- when even Ian says he was young -- his mom would put him in timeout for being mischievous. But that never worked.
"He'd pass hours just counting," his mother, Karen Johnson, said.
"It was an opportunity to find out how high I could count," added Ian who doesn't remember that but finds it easy to believe. "I don't care about anything else, just math."
It shows. He's the only middle school student in Nevada to earn a perfect score in the annual American Mathematics Contest covering middle school curriculum in 25 multiple-choice questions pertaining to probability, estimation, percentages, interpreting graphs and more. The eighth-grader is already two years ahead of that material, taking geometry (usually a course for high school sophomores) like many of his peers at Hyde Park Middle School, a magnet campus for math and science near Valley View and Charleston boulevards. Out of 152,770 students around the world who took the test, only 284 landed perfect scores. If you can't do the math in your head, that's 0.185 percent.
That's not all.
He's earned a perfect score two years in a row, a first for any Nevadan. Last year, Ian wasn't the only Nevadan to land a perfect score. However, the other two were in eighth grade, a year ahead of him.
He's always shown an academic aptitude, said his mother, who remembers him reading license plates at 18 months of age and already writing his name. He still constantly reads, but numbers are always on his mind, which is why he's taking physics, usually an advanced high school class.
That's why one of his favorite books is "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." His favorite TV show shouldn't be a surprise: "The Big Bang Theory."
When asked whether he played sports, Ian replied "Mathcounts," which is a middle school math competition. He was seventh in the state last year, but his goal is to at least make the top four so he can go to nationals. That shouldn't be too difficult, said his mother, because almost everyone ahead of him last year were eighth graders and are gone now.
"He's a mathlete," says his mom, smiling with pride.
"If I had to play a sport, it would be basketball," says Ian, wearing a desert-camo pattern zip-up sweater and black framed Buddy Holly glasses. "My P.E. teacher said math is a sport. Best sport ever."
Ian's math skills come from his father who's a software specialist and computer programmer for IBM, his mother said.
"They talk geek together," his mother said and laughed. "It's awful."
She and her husband have made sure from the beginning that Ian is challenged, is given room to excel and is not bored. He spent kindergarten at a traditional elementary school because students can't go directly into a magnet school. He used to correct the teacher when she paraphrased instructions instead of reading them verbatim, Karen said.
"He was like, 'That's not what it says,' " she said.
He transferred to Bracken School for math and science for the rest of his elementary years and then came to Hyde Park, which had 12 students place in the top 2 percent of the American Mathematics Contest this year.
"I love it here." Ian said. "I'm not a total nerd outcast or anything."
The Johnson's have also tailored education to fit their 11-year-old daughter's artistic interests, putting her in Knudson Middle School, an academy for creative arts, language, and technology.
For Ian, it's off to Clark High School next year. That's the only county school his parents can find that teaches Calculus III.
Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Nerd alert
Rusty - Quit feeding the Trolls
This is great. Hats off to Mr. Ian Jonhson. Accolades and platitudes are in order. Huzzah!
But said question (square root of 2....) is the usual one in rural Minnesota.
Per aspera ad astra
Hey Oscar.Jones maybe minorities, excluding asians and middle easterners, can't pass the tests because they don't want to put the effort to learn something. When you go to work, are you paid on your "desire?" No, you are paid based on your skill and work level. I'm pretty sure that of the 152,770 students that took this test around the world that there was a lot of minorities. I agree that all students should be nominated equally regardless of race. If I apply to medical school I don't want a minority that made C's and D's to be accepted over me even though I make straight A's in college. Lastly, how is a person being discriminated against by having their academic abilities evaluated???? Last time I checked the test doesn't take 50% off the top because the student is a minority. How come some minorities can proper while others just cant??? I'll give you a hint. Discrimination ISN'T the answer.
"When a student does well, the parents get the credit. When a student does poorly, the teachers get blamed." When there is only one student who does well, it is reasonable to praise the parents.
great job, the world is wide open for you, you'll have a great time.
Good job Ian. It's good to see someone getting recognized for their hard work.
The tests are Racist and Discriminatory.. Minorities, except Asians and Middle Eastern children, cannot pass them. We must throw out the testing process, and judge students on their "Desire" to have the "Opportunity" to hold the title of Math Wiz, on a more equitable system where ALL students get nominated equally, regardless of Race, without being Discriminated against by requiring evaluation of abilities. We need Diversity Monitors to be on the Judging Panel.
AMEN!
blazer wrote on January 08, 2012 09:45 AM:
When a student does well, the parents get the credit. When a student does poorly, the teachers get blamed.
When a student does well, the parents get the credit. When a student does poorly, the teachers get blamed.