Turkish 'Mathletes' Win 22 Medals in US
A team from the private İzmir Yamanlar elementary schools brought home 22 medals from the 24th International Elementary Mathematical Olympiad held at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Known as the world's most prestigious pre-collegiate mathematics competition for elementary schoolers, this year's International Elementary Mathematical Olympiad saw the participation of over 15,000 students at the elementary school level from 86 countries. İzmir Yamanlar schools were among the participating Turkish schools, and students from Yamanlar won five gold medals, 11 silver medals and six bronze medals. Other countries with students and teams that placed in the competitions were Canada, China, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan and the US.
Sebahattin Kasap, the head of the Yamanlar schools, said his students winning gold medals at a prestigious international competition was a source of pride for himself and the Turkish people, adding: "To date, our school has won 159 medals at international academic competitions, bringing Turkey more medals than any other schools. We're competing with the world for Turkey."
It is not the first time that students from Yamanlar schools have performed well in academic competitions held outside Turkey. The private Yamanlar educational foundation runs a number of schools in İzmir, from the elementary to the college level, and has a record of constituent success in international scholastic competitions. In 1993, the first-ever Turkish champion of an international physics competition was a Yamanlar high school student. Last summer, Hande Boyaci from the private Yamanlar College in İzmir became the world champion in the 39th World Chemistry Olympics in Moscow. In its 26th year, Yamanlar is continuing to add to its over 130 international and 216 national medals. (Mustafa Yüksel, İzmir)
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