Return to Headlines

State Superlative

Wedgwood Elementary School Fifth-Grader Janice Chen Tops in New Jersey, Second in the Nation in First in Math

 

For Immediate Release
May 28, 2024

 

1janicechen24

Wedgwood Elementary School fifth-grader Janice Chen has earned recognition as the top First in Math student in the state of New Jersey.

 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Wedgwood Elementary School fifth-grader Janice Chen, a student in Mr. Robert Dobzanski’s class, has secured her place as the No.1 First in Math student at Wedgwood School, the No. 1 student in the state of New Jersey, and the No. 2 student in the entire nation. 

 

During the course of the school year, Chen has spent more than 830 hours using the First in Math online program and has passed 100,000 stickers earned. 

 

“I work on First in Math before I go to bed, usually for an hour,” Chen said.

 

Chen started off the school year strong, becoming a Grand Champion and earning more than 10,000 stickers during the first week of school. She rapidly completed the Very Important Facts, Skills Set, and Know and Show activities. 

 

“The goal I set for this school year was to beat the amount of stickers I got last year, which was about 80,000, but now my goal has changed,” she said. “After my goals index became 100 for all four focus modes (Early, Elementary, Advanced and Intermediate), my goal became to pass 100,000 stickers.” 

 

Chen finally reached her goal, and it went noticed by Robert Sun, the creator of the First in Math program, who reached out with his high praise.

 

“Congratulations, Janice!” Sun wrote on his X account, @RobertSun24. “You are now the first girl and third player to ever achieve 10X Grand Champion status in the two decades of First in Math History. You have learned that Cumulative Confidence and Joyous Perseverance will empower you to realize your grandest visions.”

 

As the year progressed, the more stickers Chen earned, the more challenging the skills became. She even surpassed what was going on in her own classroom studies.

 

“I learned so many new skills this year such as fractions, integers, and decimals,” she said. “I’m glad I had the chance to learn integers and how to compute them. We didn’t learn about them in my math class.”

 

While Chen often finds herself learning new math skills each day from the many First in Math games, she does have some favorites. 

 

“I suggest playing Fractions Undo, Zero Sum, and Quantum Zeroes,” she said. “These games make me think. The Fractions Undo and Quantum Zeroes games are both found within the Fraction Fest tab.”

 

First in Math is a competitive, nationwide online math program that allows students to work on various math skills in a fun and engaging way. Chen is joined by more than 180 schoolmates at Wedgwood in becoming First in Math Grand Champions, each earning more than 10,000 stickers.

 

The hard work of Chen and all other students in grades k-5 at Wedgwood Elementary School have helped Wedgwood to become the No. 1 First in Math school in New Jersey and the No. 3 school in the nation.

 

- WTPS -