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Ponoka County student scores 100% on math diploma exam

Student Nick de Gier had a perfect score on the exam
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Ponoka County home school student Nick de Gier celebrated a major accomplishment in the provincial PAT Grade 12 math test with a solid 100 per cent. Photo submitted

Ponoka County teen Nick de Gier, 17, scored 100 per cent on his math diploma.

The Grade 12 student is enrolled in the Hope Christian School’s online learning program and he was fairly excited about the grade. “It was absolutely mind-blowing,” said de Gier of when he saw the score.

“I actually had a fairly good feeling when I came home,” he added, pointing out that generally with mathematics, it’s all about doing the concepts.

The test isn’t an easy one; it’s set for six hours with 30 questions and five written response questions. It’s all the maths such as algebra, complicated trigonometry and a bit more, but the test doesn’t include calculus. De Gier did the work in four hours.

The biggest issue is ensuring there is no error in the work otherwise the whole question could be wrong.

The Ponoka County teen appears to be on an upward trajectory in his career. De Gier was recently in Ottawa for an event called The Forum for Young Canadians. It gave him a chance to get a feel for Canadian politics and even meet MP Maxime Bernier and speaker of the house Geoff Regan.

Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins also met with de Gier at a later date as the MP wasn’t in Ottawa at the time.

De Geir’s growth doesn’t stop there. He has been chosen to take in a trip to the Juno Beach Centre in France with other Canadian youths to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the the D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy. This is a pretty bid deal for de Gier who was picked after making an application to go. The trip is in July and is dubbed a student pilgrimage.

He looks forward to learning more at the centre as de Gier is passionate about history. A big part of the excitement for de Gier is in being able to speak to the veterans. He would like to pass on their learning to others.

What’s next for de Gier?

The youth plans on studying at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Engineering, however, he says the trip to Ottawa also has him interested in political science. For now he’ll take in the engineering courses but says he has his eyes on politics as well.



jeff.heyden-kaye@ponokanews.com

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