FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1999

Governor to Honor Jefferson Middle School Math Phenoms

Governor Tommy Thompson will honor siblings Po-Ru Loh and Po-Ling Loh for earning perfect scores on a national mathematics test at a ceremony in the State Capitol on Friday, March 19 at 3 p.m.

Po-Ru Loh, an eighth grade student at Jefferson Middle School, had a perfect score for the second year in a row on the American Junior High School Mathematics Examination (AJHSME). Po-Ru also took the American High School Mathematics Examination and achieved a rare feat for a middle school student taking a high school-level exam as he aced that test as well.

Po-Ru competed in the national MathCounts contest last spring as a member of an eight-student team representing Wisconsin. Wisconsin's team finished first in the nation and Po-Ru finished second in the nation individually.

Po-Ling Loh, who is in her first year of middle school as a sixth grader at Jefferson, also earned a perfect score on the AJHSME.

Po-Ru and Po-Ling have an older brother, Po-Shen, who has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments himself. Now a junior at Memorial High School, Po-Shen was one of only 30 students chosen from among 350,000 contestants to participate in the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last June. Po-Shen qualified for the month-long enrichment program by scoring in the top 30 nationally on a series of math tests.

Last week, the district announced that Po-Shen was selected as one of six students from across the nation – and the first ever from Wisconsin – to represent the United States at the International Olympiad in Informatics, a worldwide computer competition to be held in Latvia in April.

In December, Po-Shen teamed with three other Memorial students to win a statewide computer competition sponsored by the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

The ceremony honoring Po-Ru and Po-Ling Loh will be held in the governor's office, Room 115 East, in the State Capitol.


Madison Metropolitan School District

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Last Modified: 1999-03-15
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