Winners included Voorhees residents.
South Jersey Innovation Center (SJIC), home to stimulating STEM and innovative child enrichment programs, is pleased to recognize several of its star students for their latest achievements in the areas of chess, math and the center’s signature Young Investors-Stock Market Challenge. The star achievers, who all live throughout the South Jersey area, included Ben Lauer of Mount Laurel, Maxwell Wang of Cherry Hill, Boyang Zhao of Mount Laurel, Diana Suralik of Voorhees, Vikram Meyappan of Voorhees of and Nathanial Newport of Moorestown. A number were included on the unveiling of the SJIC Wall of Fame at the open house earlier this month.
Chess is certainly no longer for adults only. Kids as young as 4 years old are taking up this long-standing royal tradition and the SJIC students are making moves left and right. At SJIC, the chess programs benefit all children regardless of their natural abilities or socioeconomic background. Kids not only learn to solve problems but to do so independently, quickly and in a time-sensitive pressured environment. Recognition goes to:
New Jersey State School Championship
- Ben Lauer (sixth grade) achieved 4.5 out of 5 – Junior High State Champion
- Maxwell Wang (fifth grade) 4 out of 5 – shared fifth Primary State Championship
World Amateur Team 2018:
- Boyang Zhao – earned best board performance (6 out of 6)
- Diana Suralik – achieved 5 out of 6
Chess is certainly no longer for adults only. Kids as young as four-years-old are taking up this long-standing royal tradition, and the SJIC students are making moves left and right. At SJIC, the chess programs benefit all children regardless of their natural abilities or socioeconomic background. Kids not only learn to solve problems but to do so independently, quickly and in a time-sensitive pressured environment.
In math, SJIC achievers also are leading the pack on every level. Each year students in fourth to eighth grad take part in the Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS), a math problem-solving contest to stimulate enthusiasm and a love for mathematics, introduce important mathematical concepts and teach major strategies for problem solving. The SJIC team routinely outperforms any other groups and subgroups within each category, division and grade. Perfect scorers for all 4 Olympiads are Vikram Meyappan and Boyang Zhao.
On March 22, SJIC’s latest Young Investors Club-Stock Market Challenge wrapped up its six-week educational program that teaches kids key concepts of financial literacy and helps them learn about the business world, markets and decision-making tools in a fun way. The classes address fundamental business and investment concepts in conjunction with the impact of technology, innovation, politics and more. It covers financial analysis, including revenue, expense, sales, profit and loss, as well as markets, market dynamics, valuations, risks, equity and bonds.
Each week students are encouraged to apply learned skills and analyze information from multiple outside sources. This time, Nathaniel Newport took home the trophy, having taken a more conservative investment approach.
