MIST Academy Testimonials

The best testimonial for MIST Academy may be the many accomplishments of our students.

The following are testimonials about MIST Academy and its staff:

• I have taken a good number of math classes outside the institutional school setting, and Mr. Crawford is by far the best mathematics teacher I've ever had. He has a real knack for making difficult concepts within reach, and his excitement about math is contagious. I recommend his classes to anyone who wishes to excel in math.
  
  The Mathcounts class I took from Mr Crawford helped me to win a spot on my states' National Mathcounts team the first time I competed in Mathcounts. I also made a perfect 150 on the AMC 10 in 10th grade, and was in the top 10 in the Deep South Region for the AMC 12 in the 11th. And I have qualified for the USAMO in 10th and 11th grade. I have also had great success at ISEF with my 3 year research project which is math-based and for which I have applied for a patent. Although my hard work is what propelled me to these achievements, the enthusiasm which Mr Crawford showed in my first class with him is what really excited me about further studying. He certainly challenged me, which was new, and I enjoyed that challenge.
  
  -- Billy Dorminy

Mr. Dorminy, now an MIT undergraduate, is a Davidson Fellow and is distinguished as one of Bentley's Tomorrow25.

• "MISTAcademy classes have been an awesome experience. It is the best place in Alabama for students interested in math to learn, and I have learned so much about numerous mathematical concepts not touched on in school. It has also helped me better understand the math taught in school, and to see them in a different perspective. Of course, my performance on prominent competitions such as the AMC's and the AIME, in addition to the local math competitions, are much better as a result of these classes. These classes have also motivated me take more responsibility of my education. Thanks a bunch, Mr. Crawford, for making all of this possible!"
  
  Thanks
  Xinke Guo-Xue

Mr. Guo-Xue earned fourth place at the Duke Math Meet and qualified for the USA Mathematical Olympiad as a junior achieving the highest score of any Alabama student this decade. He was the only freshman on the 2008 Alabama ARML first team, the high scorer on the team in 2010, and was the highest scoring freshman in Alabama on the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME).  In 2009 he equaled the highest AMC 10 score ever achieved by an Alabama student.

• "Mathew,
  
  Thank you very much for working with Asutosh this year. He dedicates his success in the Mathcounts and other competitions to your support and encouragement... I attribute your guidance for all his success."
  
  -- Tusar Nanda

Asutosh Nanda earned a spot on the Alabama MATHCOUNTS team as bopth a 7th and 8th grader, as well as a spot on the 2010 Alabama ARML team. His brother Sid, also an alumnus of the MIST Academy program, qualified for the 2010 USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO).

• "The program is excellent; it is on a different level from anything else I know about in Huntsville. When I visited the Intermediate class, I was particularly impressed by your ability to communicate with your students. You have a unique ability to impart to your students not just knowledge, but also the realization and the confidence that he/she can achieve more than the student considered possible before studying (and enjoying it) with you. I personally wish you a highly successful long-term career because I see the difference you can make in the future of so many young math students."
  
  " Thank you for the reports on Will's and Rob's progress. It is always good to hear that they are progressing well, especially as Rob is a 5th grader working above grade level and Will is also working above grade level. Their teachers and I are seeing the development of a different way of thinking in their math work before they have completed even the first course with you. I believe that it is Will's work with you that is responsible for his earning a place in the district MATHCOUNTS competition on Saturday.
  
  The most interesting thing to me is that neither one of them realizes that what he is doing with you is work!"
  
  -- B. Caraway
  

B. Caraway is a grandparent of the 2010 Huntsville MathCounts champion.

• Thank you for all you do, I am very happy with the program you have developed. It provides a unique learning experience in a setting that is focused, but relaxed. I particularly appreciate that the classes, while given in a group setting, combine challenge with good interaction and individual help for all the students. Even when the material is new and difficult, my daughter always looks forward to going to class.
  
  -- Ona Faye-Petersen

Ona Faye-Petersen is a parent of a student who attended MIST Academy classes for nearly two years in Birmingham.

• "...I still remember the lessons you taught us. I still remember learning Moore's Law, Power of a Point, relations between volumes and surface areas of solids, and much more. And of course, I remember the games.
  
  The games might have been fun, but they always meant more of an opportunity for me. I can never forgive myself for the last day, when I picked a 5-point problem because I couldn't do anything else. Sure, we won, and others thought my plan was great, but I still wish I could erase that events of that day, and relive it again. The guilt of thinking about that last day makes me cringe, but most of all they make me want to compensate. As a result, I am determined to pursue problem solving in mathematics to take on the most challenging problems.
  
  I want to say thank you for the boost you have given me (and probably others) by teaching us. Thank you."
  
  -- Dai Yang

Dai Yang was one of Crawford's students at Avid Academy in Orange County, CA. His numerous accomplishments include an invitation to the prestigious Mathematical Olympiad Summer Training Program where the U.S. team is selected to compete at the International Mathematical Olympiad from among the participants.

• "Mr. Crawford has been working diligently toward improving Alabama student math skills and problem solving ability. He started from zero student to over a hundred students within three years. His patience, dedication, and entrepreneurship inspire people around him. With his help and influence, Alabama students are participating more national level competition. ... My son Philip personally benefits a lot from his teaching. "
  
  -- Fuling Zeng

Philip Wang is a local math competition winner, winner of national awards for performances on the AMC exams, and finished in the top 10 in Alabama at the 2011 Alabama MATHCOUNTS competition.

• Thanks for your encouragement. We are very pleased to see that Peter is making progress. Most important of all, he enjoys going to MIST! Like he said, he feels challenged at MIST. It's serious learning and it's fun too.
  
  -- Hong Liang
  

• "Thank you so much for Introduction to Number Theory. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has introduced me to form of math that I would never have discovered on my own. I have been studying the book own my own now for three weeks. In those three weeks I have learned to not only do problems I thought were impossible, but I have learned to enjoy them. I have to say this is my favorite form of math."
  
  10th grader, Fort Payne High School, Alabama