June 8, 2008 -
The 3rd National UCMAS Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Competition - 2008 was held at the Ontario Science Centre on Sunday the 8th of June 2008. More than 1100 students in 35 competing categories participated from across the country. Over 200 trophies were distributed to the winners (Champions to 5th Runners-Up) and Merit awards were declared for successful participants. To appreciate the hard work put in by all the students and their parents, this year it was decided to award medals and certificates to all the 1100+ participants.
The event was attended by Dr. Dino Wong and Ms. Susan Tan from the Global Head Office - Malaysia. Dr. Dino is the Founder and President of UCMAS Worldwide and Ms. Susan is Executive Director. It was their first visit to Canada and they were impressed by the speed and accuracy demonstrated by the Canadian UCMAS kids.
Prof. Dr. David Barner from the University of Toronto was also amongst the invitees for the competition. Dr. David is currently undergoing a research on the benefits of UCMAS Abacus Learning on young children. Dr. David was accompanied by his wife - Julie, and his research team member - Pierina.
The audience of more than 1500 parents and children were entertained by a group of young UCMAS kids from Gujarat, India who had graced the occassion by coming all the way from India to demonstrate their unbelievable UCMAS skills. These kids were accompanied by their UCMAS Centre Owner (Ms. Kinjal Patel) and their Course Instructor (Mr. Sharad Patel). The parents saw live demo being performed by these kids and were then told by the Indian UCMAS franchisee that with proper practice and dedication every child worldwide can perform similar feats.
Special recognition "Graduation Certificates" were issued to 17 UCMAS children who had completed all the 10 levels of UCMAS Mental Math program. Dr. Dino Wong presented certificates to these 17 proud students and congratulated them on their dedication and zeal in completing the entire program.
Best Franchisee (Winner, 1st Runner-Up, and 2nd Runner-Up) and the Best Course Instructor (Winner and 1st Runner-Up) awards were announced at the end of the event.
Overall the event was a grand success wherein all the activities like the competition, paper marking, computer entries, result tabulation, and prize distribution to all the 200+ winners was completed in less than 9 hours. The audience cheered the winners and took photographs with Dr. Dino and Ms. Susan.
Stay tuned for pictures of the competition, coming shortly.
