Patrick Hiatt First Central Math Student to Earn Perfect Score on USAMTS

Patrick Hiatt, an 11th grader at Roosevelt High School who studies math at Central Academy, is one of the nation’s top young mathematicians. Patrick was one of only sixteen students in the entire nation to earn a perfect score on all three rounds of the 2012-2013 United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS).

While many talented young mathematicians have passed through the doors of Central Academy over the years, Patrick’s accomplishment marks the first time a Central Academy student has earned a perfect score on the USAMTS!

(NOTE: Iowa was home to two of the 16 students who earned a perfect score on the USAMTS. In addition to Patrick Hiatt, a senior at City High in Iowa City, Boris Perkhounkov, also had a perfect score in all three rounds.)

USAMTS is a free mathematics competition open to all United States middle and high school students. It is primarily funded by the National Security Agency with the goals of developing problem solving skills, improving technical writing abilities, and fostering mathematical maturity among the top high school mathematicians in the country.

As opposed to most mathematics competitions, USAMTS allows students a full month to work out their solutions. Carefully written justifications are required for each problem. The problems range in difficulty from being within the reach of most high school students to challenging the best students in the nation. Students may use any materials – books, calculators, computers – but all the work must be their own.

Student solutions to USAMTS problems are graded by mathematicians and comments are returned to the students. The goal is to help students:

  • develop problem solving skills,
  • improve their technical writing abilities,
  • and mature mathematically.

According to USAMTS, they hope to foster not only insight, ingenuity and creativity, but also the virtue of perseverance, which is equally essential in scientific endeavors.

Additional information is available at www.usamts.org.

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