by Billy Cunningham and Rachel Cunningham
Three weeks in VAMPY Mathematics goes so fast. We have seen campers master many areas of mathematical knowledge. We have seen more origami icosahedrons than we knew were possible to make. We have laughed a lot — mostly at teacher Bruce Kessler with orange hair! Most importantly, we have watched campers grow in leaps and bounds in the field of mathematics.
During the course, we have had various mathematics talks with Dr. Kessler and Dr. Wells. From discussions about birthdays, Dr. Kessler’s Mathinator, sound, and topology with Dr. Wells, our minds have been enriched. The fan-favorite talk this year seemed to be Dr. Kessler’s fractal discussion. He showed using Newton’s method that any given function has an infinite number of changes of what zero will occur, creating an astounding picture.
As with most years, campers love origami! They spent many study halls diligently folding paper in hopes of getting to make just one more icosahedron or adding just one more page to their folding origami book.
It has truly been an excellent year. As we come to the end of another year at VAMPY, Mathematics is sending home campers that are better problem solvers. They have persevered even when they struggled.
