BES gifted student bags Silver Place in Int’l Tilt

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan – Io Aristotle Nikolai P. Calica, a gifted and Grade II-SPED (fast) student of Balanga Elementary School, recently bagged the Silver Place Award in the 2016 International Mathematics Wizard Challenge (IMWiC) held at Bangkok, Thailand last July 20-24.

“I am so happy that I got the second place, but my target was gold so in my next competition, I will not play during the contest anymore because I’ve got a perfect score, 100, but I was given a minus five because I played,” Io Aristotle said.

Dr. Carolina S. Violeta, Officer-in- Charge of the Schools Division Superintendent-City of Balanga, then said that it is just normal for a Grade II student to be so playful. When asked regarding what she can say about the achievement of Io Aristotle, Dr. Violeta said, “Siyempre napakasaya natin dahil sa nakamit ni Io Aristotle, dahil dun, nakilala na yung Balanga City internationally.”

“As a support, lagi lang andito ang division office to guide our students at nakikita natin na maganda ang nagiging bunga ng pagtutulungan ng local government, mga magulang at mga guro,” Dr. Violeta added.

“I am looking forward na hindi lamang si Io Aristotle ang makapag-uwi ng ganitong karangalan sa ating bayan, at nawa ay maging inspirasyon siya ng mga kabataan. At para naman sa ating mga kaguruan, eto na ang output ng kanilang mga inputs,” SDS Dr. Violeta said.

In preparing for the event, Mrs. Melissa P. Calica, mother of Io Aristotle, revealed that his son enrolled in the program handled by the Math Trainers Guild (MTG) of the Philippines. “So 12 Saturdays yung naging training nila which started August last year and natapos kami February this year, sa MTG-Olongapo siya nag-aattend. Youngster ang tawag sa grupo nila,” Mrs. Calica shared.

“Yung top scorer ang ipapadala sa Young Mathematician Intensive In-House Training Program, so dalawa silang nag-top, yung isa taga-Olongao, tapos siya,” Mrs. Calica added. Mrs. Melissa Calica also stressed that she is so proud with what has his son recently achieved that according to her, it is so surprising that at a very young age, he has given honor to the province of Bataan and to the Philippines.

One secret her mother disclosed is that she never imposed pressure on his son that he should always win. She said that she makes sure that there is still time for Io Aristotle to enjoy his childhood. Io’s father, Ianne Calica, was the one who accompany him during playtime.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jennifer de Guzman, BES Principal IV, said that they are supporting Io Aristotle morally and that every time that he has trainings, they are giving special lectures for him to cope with their everyday lessons.

“So pinapakita lang nito na yung BES talaga ay eskwelahan ng mga batang matatalino with exceptionalities, home of excellence talaga kasi yung mga nag-aaral dito ay magagaling talaga,” Dr. de Guzman said.

During the competition, there were 70 participants coming from the Philippines for the Youngster category, 20 from Grade I and 50 Grade II students. Fifteen of them got awards. Seven countries namely: Philippines, Indonesia, Macau, Hongkong, China, Thailand and Malaysia contended during the 2016 IMWiC.