National Math Stars

National Math Stars

February 12, 2025

Feature / The74

Program That Gives $100K to Support Young Gifted Math Students Poised to Expand

National Math Stars, which funds tutoring, enrichment and supplies for 10 years, is moving into the Midwest, adding another 100 underserved students.

By Jo Napolitano

By the time Xavier Cherkas was 5 years old, his college-educated mother, Ericka Lee, could no longer help him with his math homework. A gifted student, her little boy had already moved on to algebra.

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July 19, 2024

Op-Ed / Chalkbeat

“I skipped three grades. More gifted students need accelerated paths.”

Access to acceleration has long been wildly inequitable. Here’s what schools can do to reduce the financial and logistical barriers.

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

I went to high school at age 11.

Within two years, I had run out of math and Spanish classes there, so I walked from my public school campus to nearby Lewis and Clark College to study differential equations, symbolic logic, and the plays of 1830s Spain.

Read more...
12 Feb 25
Feature The74

Program That Gives $100K to Support Young Gifted Math Students Poised to Expand

National Math Stars, which funds tutoring, enrichment and supplies for 10 years, is moving into the Midwest, adding another 100 underserved students.

By Jo Napolitano

By the time Xavier Cherkas was 5 years old, his college-educated mother, Ericka Lee, could no longer help him with his math homework. A gifted student, her little boy had already moved on to algebra.

Read more...
20 Jan 25
News Story ETIH

National Math Stars announce US Midwestern expansion in support of gifted kids

By Emma Stokes

Gifted students in five additional US states – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin – will each receive over $100,000 in resources over ten years from the not-for-profit National Math Stars (NMS) organization. The aim of the onsite support is to help them advance from grades 2 and 3 through to high school graduation and the upper echelons of math and science.

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15 Jan 25
Press Release

National Math Stars Announces Midwest Expansion in Support of Mathematically Extraordinary Students

Students in five additional states will each receive over $100,000 in resources over ten years.

HOUSTON – National Math Stars (NMS), a not-for-profit that supports mathematically extraordinary students, today announced an American midwest expansion, beginning with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. This extension comes on the heels of early successes in NMS’s national pilot and Texas-based programs.

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30 Sep 24
Alumni Feature Olin College

Alumna Founds Nonprofit Building Pipeline of Diverse Math Students

National Math Stars is a 10-year, fully funded program that supports and inspires exceptional elementary students’ love of mathematics.

Alumna Ilana Walder-Biesanz ’13 is continuing Olin’s vision of engineering for everyone by starting a nonprofit called National Math Stars, dedicated to ensuring mathematically extraordinary students from all communities have the resources they need to reach the frontiers of math and science.

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3 Sep 24
Press Release

National Math Stars Selects 61 Extraordinary Texas Students for 10-Year Program

TEXAS – Today, National Math Stars announced that they have selected 61 Texas students as 2024 Stars. These Stars will receive a decade of intensive support, preparing them to become the next generation of leading mathematicians, scientists, and engineers.

The 2024 Stars come from 27 different Texas school districts, including public school, charter school, private school, and homeschooled students.

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19 Jul 24
Op-Ed Chalkbeat

“I skipped three grades. More gifted students need accelerated paths.”

Access to acceleration has long been wildly inequitable. Here’s what schools can do to reduce the financial and logistical barriers.

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

I went to high school at age 11.

Within two years, I had run out of math and Spanish classes there, so I walked from my public school campus to nearby Lewis and Clark College to study differential equations, symbolic logic, and the plays of 1830s Spain.

Read more...

As a parent, it becomes challenging when you have a child who’s thirsty for more. Before we found out about this program, we were not able to feed that. That has changed.

National Math Stars Parent