When great minds think alike

Monday March 26, 2012

When great minds think alike

By KANG SOON CHEN
educate@thestar.com.my

SEREMBAN: SMK King George V teacher Fadhilah Muhamad found herself in a dilem-ma before the RHB-The Star Mighty Minds Negri Sembilan state challenge.

There were too many students who wanted to sign up for the competition and she could only choose three teams for each category.

It was a tough decision for any teacher to make, so she organised a mini Mighty Minds competition in her school.

“Through the competition, I was able to mix and match the abilities of the best students to form a stronger team,” said Fadhilah.

Elated champs: (From left) Fadhilah, Jingming, Veerashni and Vishaali cheering when SMK King George V was announced as champion in the lower secondary category of the RHB-The Star Mighty Minds Negri Sembilan state challenge.

She did not realise that a rival school also employed a similar strategy.

Tunku Kurshiah College student Ilmira Murni Mohd Hareeff said the teams from her school had the dynamic combination of students of different forms and strengths.

Both plans worked out well. SMK King George V and Tunku Kurshiah College emerged as champions in the lower and upper secondary categories respectively.

Lower secondary champion Veerashni Karuppaiah said she and her teammates Vishaali C. Gandhi and See Jingming divided the preparations according to their strengths.

“I concentrated on hands-on challenge while my teammates read extensively to prepare for the quiz challenges,” said Veerashni, 15.

During the hands-on challenge, the lower secondary students constructed a ramp model in pyramid building while the upper secondary students built a red and green lights signal model.

Tunku Kurshiah College and SMK King George V emerged runner-ups in the lower and upper secondary categories respectively.

The third place in the lower and upper secondary categories were won by SMK Bukit Saujana and MRSM Serting respectively.

The champion team won RM5,000 while the second and third place teams won RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively.

The three teams also took home book vouchers worth RM300 per team. School prizes of RM2,000, RM1,000, and RM750 were awarded to the top three schools.

The upper secondary winners at the National Challenge will win a trip to the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Ireland, sponsored by Penang Medical College.

Jointly organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd and RHB Banking Group, the science, mathematics and general knowledge competition will be held in all 14 states before culminating in the National Finals in Kuala Lumpur.

The next state challenge will be held in Terengganu (March 31) and Kuantan (April 7and 8).