Waldorf Eighth Graders Win Medals at Long Island Math Fair

On April 29 over 600 students from across Long Island made presentations at the final round of the Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair, held at Hofstra University.

Jonathan Gill, S. Somers, and Deepjot Singh Sohal, all eighth graders at the Waldorf School of Garden City, received medals.

“The competition involved researching and writing a paper on a topic in mathematics, presenting that research before judges in two rounds and answering questions posed by the judges,” said Claudine Vacirca, the students’ math coach.

Receiving a gold medal for his project, Jonathan’s topic focused on the Elliot wave principle (a form of technical analysis that traders use to analyze financial market cycles and forecast market trends) and its correlation between the Fibonacci numbers as well as the Bollinger bands (a technical analysis indicator used to measure the highness or lowness of a stock price relative to previous trades).

S. Somers also received a gold medal for his topic on the Golden Ratio (~ 1.6180339887 …), an irrational number that is found in numerous places in nature. Using indicators and graphs to help people with buying and selling stocks, Deepjot received a bronze award for his research on the mathematics of the stock market.

“We are all extremely proud of their hard work and fine achievement!" Vacirca continued.

The Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair is an annual competition sponsored by the Nassau and Suffolk County Math Teachers’ Association as well as the New York Metropolitan Section of the Mathematical Association of America. The competition invites nearly 1,200 students in grades 7 through 12 from Nassau and Suffolk counties to conduct independent research on a math topic that interests them. Once a paper is accepted by the review committee the students make a 15-minute preliminary round presentation in March to the judges. Students who make a successful presentation are invited to participate in the final round.

The Waldorf School of Garden City is a coeducational day school with classes from nursery through twelfth grade, and is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools and the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. For more information, contact the Office of Admissions at 516-742-3434, ext. 129 or proctorc@waldorfgarden.org.