Hard work, dedication and a passion for mathematics makes Archie Mbolekwa Public School pupil Nomthandazo Helesi a local maths olympiad champion.
Hard work, dedication and a passion for mathematics makes Archie Mbolekwa Public School pupil Nomthandazo Helesi a local maths olympiad champion.
She came out on top in a Maths Olympiad between her school and the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School on Monday 2 September. It was organised by the Rhodes University Maths Education Programme (Rumep).
After coming first at the olympiad at Archie Mbolekwa, then at the one held at the Seventh Day Adventist School, she will go on to compete at another Rumep olympiad in Queenstown in October.
"I feel greatly honoured to be part of this maths olympiad and I am grateful for coming up top," Nomthandazo said.
The Zolani school girl in Grade 9 keeps to a rigorous work timetable and sometimes goes to her maths teacher, Thembakazi Kepe-Gumenge, after hours for extra practice.
"My role model is Mrs Gumenge because she goes the extra mile in helping us as a class, especially when we do not know something," she said.
Her teacher is just as excited about Nomthandazo's success as she is. "I pray that God guides this little lady and that she cannot be involved in anything that would disturb her focus at school," Kepe-Gumenge said. "She loves her work and stays after school for extra classes and lessons if need be."
Nomthandazo says she wants to improve her life situation, but more than anything she wants to make her grandmother proud to thank her for how she raised her.
Nomthandazo wants to finish her high school studies at Nombulelo Secondary and then go on to Rhodes University. "I want to be very successful. I want to be a prosecutor," she said.
