http://m.pe.com/articles/cube-762472-team-rubik.html
Hemet High School’s Rubik’s Cube competition team brought a secret weapon when it competed at the Cal State San Marcos Pi Day Super STEM event Saturday, March 14.
Rubik’s Cube prodigy Ryan Schwyzer, a fifth-grader at Valle Vista Elementary School, joined the brainy Bulldogs’ nearly all-senior team, which finished third among four high schools. Ryan contributed by finishing his three Rubik’s Cubes and helping the team with a fourth.
The quiet and friendly 10-year-old is respected by the top math students on the Hemet High squad. Ryan, who loves math, began solving the puzzle of the Rubik’s Cube only a few months ago.
He taught himself how to work the cube by watching YouTube videos. He grabs his cube whenever he has a free moment to practice, which he estimated to be about 20 time per day.
“To be in the fifth grade and practice and compete with us is really good,” said senior Marcelo Placencia, one of the most adept Rubik’s Cube players on the team.
“I never could have done it when I was in fifth grade.”
Ryan was recruited by team adviser Kristin DeWit, the chairwoman of the math department at Hemet High. She spotted Ryan clicking through a Rubik’s Cube when he sat next to her in the audience at a Valle Vista Elementary awards ceremony.
“I thought, ‘I need to have that kid. He’s fast,’” she said.
She uses the mechanical puzzle in her classes and had long wanted to form a Hemet High team.
In past years, the Pi Day event often conflicted with a Trig Star math competition at Mt. San Jacinto College. This year, Trig Star was held March 7.
DeWit prioritizes the Trig Star competition. This year, the Bulldogs won first place and Hemet High’s Alex Meyer beat more than 100 students for the top individual honor.
With this year’s open date, Hemet High students also could compete at Cal State San Marcos. DeWit recruited students for the Rubik’s Cube team.
DeWit was delighted to see 30 students try out for the eight spots on her team. She picked the seven fastest and invited Ryan to join the squad after bumping into his family again at a math competition. He quickly became the fifth-fastest on the team.
In the San Marcos competition, 25 of the colorful Rubik’s Cubes were placed on a table for the eight team members to unscramble. Teams were timed to see how long it took to complete all 25. Bulldogs who finished their cubes then helped teammates. They twisted and turned the tiny squares until each of the six sides on a cube was a solid color.
Ryan tends to complete a cube in about a minute. He clearly enjoyed the big-brother like camaraderie at practice recently. He said he was nervous at his first practice, but quickly became comfortable with his older teammates.
“He can carry on a conversation while he’s doing it,” said his mother, Traci Schwyzer, who brought him to practice after class ended at Valle Vista Elementary.
She said it is nice to see him do well despite his lifelong struggles with cystic fibrosis.
“He’s our little miracle boy,” she said.
Kritamet Malayavej said the team enjoyed having Ryan at practice. He also provided motivation.
“It makes you stay on track,” he said. “You don’t want to slack off and get beat by a fifth-grader.”
Hemet High School’s Rubik’s Cube competition team brought a secret weapon when it competed at the Cal State San Marcos Pi Day Super STEM event Saturday, March 14.
Rubik’s Cube prodigy Ryan Schwyzer, a fifth-grader at Valle Vista Elementary School, joined the brainy Bulldogs’ nearly all-senior team, which finished third among four high schools. Ryan contributed by finishing his three Rubik’s Cubes and helping the team with a fourth.
The quiet and friendly 10-year-old is respected by the top math students on the Hemet High squad. Ryan, who loves math, began solving the puzzle of the Rubik’s Cube only a few months ago.
He taught himself how to work the cube by watching YouTube videos. He grabs his cube whenever he has a free moment to practice, which he estimated to be about 20 time per day.
“To be in the fifth grade and practice and compete with us is really good,” said senior Marcelo Placencia, one of the most adept Rubik’s Cube players on the team.
“I never could have done it when I was in fifth grade.”
Ryan was recruited by team adviser Kristin DeWit, the chairwoman of the math department at Hemet High. She spotted Ryan clicking through a Rubik’s Cube when he sat next to her in the audience at a Valle Vista Elementary awards ceremony.
“I thought, ‘I need to have that kid. He’s fast,’” she said.
She uses the mechanical puzzle in her classes and had long wanted to form a Hemet High team.
In past years, the Pi Day event often conflicted with a Trig Star math competition at Mt. San Jacinto College. This year, Trig Star was held March 7.
DeWit prioritizes the Trig Star competition. This year, the Bulldogs won first place and Hemet High’s Alex Meyer beat more than 100 students for the top individual honor.
With this year’s open date, Hemet High students also could compete at Cal State San Marcos. DeWit recruited students for the Rubik’s Cube team.
DeWit was delighted to see 30 students try out for the eight spots on her team. She picked the seven fastest and invited Ryan to join the squad after bumping into his family again at a math competition. He quickly became the fifth-fastest on the team.
In the San Marcos competition, 25 of the colorful Rubik’s Cubes were placed on a table for the eight team members to unscramble. Teams were timed to see how long it took to complete all 25. Bulldogs who finished their cubes then helped teammates. They twisted and turned the tiny squares until each of the six sides on a cube was a solid color.
Ryan tends to complete a cube in about a minute. He clearly enjoyed the big-brother like camaraderie at practice recently. He said he was nervous at his first practice, but quickly became comfortable with his older teammates.
“He can carry on a conversation while he’s doing it,” said his mother, Traci Schwyzer, who brought him to practice after class ended at Valle Vista Elementary.
She said it is nice to see him do well despite his lifelong struggles with cystic fibrosis.
“He’s our little miracle boy,” she said.
Kritamet Malayavej said the team enjoyed having Ryan at practice. He also provided motivation.
“It makes you stay on track,” he said. “You don’t want to slack off and get beat by a fifth-grader.”