Nassakeag Elementary School sixth grader Yuming Su has been named the first-place winner in the AMC 8 Math Contest, having scored in the top 5% nationally.  

The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple-choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development of problem-solving skills. The AMC 8 provides an opportunity for students to develop positive attitudes towards analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers. Students apply classroom skills to unique problem-solving challenges in a low-stress and friendly environment.

The material covered on the AMC 8 includes topics from a typical middle school mathematics curriculum, which is impressive as Yuming is still in elementary school. Possible topics include but are not limited to counting and probability; estimation; proportional reasoning; elementary geometry, including the Pythagorean Theorem; spatial visualization; everyday applications; and reading and interpreting graphs and tables. In addition, some questions involve linear or quadratic functions and equations, coordinate geometry and other topics traditionally covered in a beginning algebra course.