Aristotle Nikolai P. Calica and Keith Railey Reyes, both of Balanga Elementary School and Dinalupihan Elementary School, are among the 350 Filipino students who brought home a total of 240 medals in the recently concluded 2016 International Math Wizard Challenge held in Bangkok, Thailand on July 20-24.
Calica, a Grade 2 pupil, won a silver medal while Reyes snatched a bronze medal.
The two students were among the 68 Grade 1 and 2 qualifiers from the Youngster Group selected out of a total of 150 trainees from NCR and Northern Luzon and more 100 trainees from Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Calica and Reyes underwent a series of rigid trainings and screenings under the tutelage of the Mathematics Trainers Guild (MTG) Philippines. As members of the Youngster Group, both students completed the Mathematical Challenge for Filipino Kids Training Program (MCFKTP), the first phase of the training program along with thousands of students from almost 3,000 schools all over the country.
They also went through the second phase of the program, the Young Mathematicians In-house Intensive Training Program (YMIITP), a four-day intensive training program where the MCFKTP top scorers are given lectures and a battery of quizzes and examinations to select the qualifiers who will represent the country in various international competitions.
The Philippine Delegation, which bagged 34 gold, 74 silver and 132 bronze medals placed second overall in an international math contest.