“Numbers are the most powerful language on the planet earth, and I’m going to prove it to you!” That’s what Scott Flansburg, the Human Calculator, told the Lower School girls at a surprise assembly on October 2.

And prove it he did. He showed the girls a new way to add numbers, explained how written numbers were originally derived, and discussed the special significance of the number 9. It was at the tender age of 9 that Mr. Flansburg discovered his uncanny ability to perform mathematical operations at lightning fast speeds. It was on 9/9/99 that he had an epiphany about how this magic number can be connected to any number in the universe. He demonstrated two different ways of manipulating multi-digit numbers to reveal the connection to 9. “Show your parents,” he said, “I bet they’ve never seen this before.” The girls were delighted to learn something that their parents don’t know and reveled in their “math insider” status.

Mr. Flansburg’s visit to GA was a precursor to several days of math celebrations. On October 5-6, Group IV student Melina and LS computer and math coordinator Lee Mayfield represented GA at a New York City event raising awareness for the World Education Games (WEG). Melina was selected as a WEG ambassador, for her exceptional performance on the Mathletics app. She is one of only 5 ambassadors selected from the U.S. and one of 26 selected globally. As an ambassador she will be blogging and tweeting about the WEG when they are held October 13-15.

All LS students will also participate in WEG by playing Mathletics against students worldwide. Competing on iPads and computers as Team Greenwich Academy, they will strive to earn a spot on the Mathletics international leader board. In previous years, our ambitious girls have stayed long past the close of school to give our team a boost in the rankings.

With a few new math tricks up their sleeves courtesy of the Human Calculator, the GA girls are ready to take the World Education Games by storm!