CHALLENGE: Poly’s most advanced math class enters a nationwide contest.
By Kate Santoso, Staff Writer
Poly is proud to be one of the only high schools in California that offers a college-level multivariable calculus course. This class is widely regarded as one of Poly’s most challenging classes, comprised of some of the brightest students in the school. “The class is immersed with students who are excited about mathematics and who are motivated to be one step ahead of everyone in college,” calculus teacher Eric Oravets elaborated.
This past month, the multivariable class worked on an exciting project called the ILYTI (I love you Texas Instruments) project hosted by Texas Instrument Calculators. Over a two-week period, the mathletes diligently constructed a thirty-second short video as well as a two-minute version explaining why the multivariable calculus class loves Texas Instruments graphing calculators.
The video emphasized the fact that a complex math class, such as multivariable calculus, would be challenging without a graphing calculator. “Since I was a camera operator, I had the opportunity to learn more about recording and camera operations,” Makenzie Nelson (12) stated.
Unfortunately, the class had very limited time to produce the video, with one weekend to get organized, one weekend to film it and one week to edit it. The thirty-second video was submitted and posted on September 18, the night before the deadline. The video is posted on Instagram and Twitter. “The video was so much fun; one of the main reasons why I joined the class in the first place is because the class gives students the chance to be creative and learn math at the same time,” Alex Stetkevich (12) said.
The grand prize is a class set of TI-84 CE Calculators and a visit from actor Mayim Bialik, from the hit television series The Big Bang Theory. With a prize so intriguing, the multivariable class at Poly eagerly awaits the results of the contest. “This class is one of the best crews I’ve worked with, and I am so grateful to obtain the opportunity to lead such a talented group of students,” Roshan Uma (12), a student familiar with film, stated.
“These students are internally motivated with a love for math, so how could I not love teaching them,” Mr. Oravets genuinely expressed.
