• Whiz Kid
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• Math whiz chews up all school has to offer

Whiz kid

(Note: Martin Camacho was the first place winner in the State Competition and tied for 5th at the National Meet.)

By Doug Belden, Pioneer Press

Martin Camacho is a standout in the state math league, scored a perfect 800 in math on the SAT and takes classes at the U. Oh, and he's 12.

Martin Camacho taught himself to read about age 1, his parents said. By 3, he was doing multiplication. As a 5-year-old, he tested into fifth grade, and at age 10, he started classes at Central High School in St. Paul.

Now 12, Martin is tied for fourth in the state heading into the final meet of the high school math-league season.

In the 27 years of the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League, maybe four or five students have shown such prowess so young, said Wayne Roberts, the league's founder and director.

"It's an unusual talent," Roberts said. "We're going to hear a lot from him."

It may seem odd to picture a 12-year-old walking the halls of a big city high school, but "it's natural now, after three years," Martin said.

"It's my normal environment. They're very supportive," he said, referring to Central students and staff.

At first, principal Mary Mackbee was apprehensive about enrolling Martin, she said. She had never had an elementary student, and she was concerned he would be out of place among teenagers. But, she said, "The older kids kind of took him under their wing."

At 5 feet, 2½ inches and 115 pounds, Martin could get lost in the crowd of 2,000 students at Central. But to him, the jump to high school "was never a culture shock."

His parents, Patty and Fred Camacho, were concerned about how he would fit in, but they knew he could socialize well with older students. "That was extremely crucial to the whole thing," Patty Camacho said.

A couple of Central staff members said they felt like his mother rather than his teachers when he began classes. Some said he was a little immature at first. He was dropped a grade level in English early on in part because staff members thought he wasn't ready for some of the books' themes.

But most say he has grown up significantly in the past year, largely due to his involvement with the math team.

Martin only takes three classes at Central - advanced history, Spanish and literature. Officially, he's an eighth-grader, and he supplements his Central classes with home-schooling and gets math instruction at the University of Minnesota.

But he exists in somewhat of a bubble at Central.

He carries his belongings with him rather than using a locker, has homeroom with other advanced students and spends free periods studying in the library or computer lab. He tutors other students in math. He doesn't go to dances, football games or pep rallies.

He's reserved and polite, and he participates in classes. But it's after school, at math practice, where he seems to really feel at home.

On a recent afternoon, Martin and a group of seven or so other team members were clustered at the chalkboard, joking and talking over one another as they drilled on things like factorials, partitioning and something called "The Monty Hall problem" in preparation for next month's final meet.

It's the math team that Martin eats lunch with and goes sledding with and plays video games with. They're his holiday decorating partners for Christmas trees made out of Pascal's triangles. It was math team members who gave him the nickname "Air Camacho" because of his small size and fondness for Nikes.

Central's team, ranked first in the state and hoping to repeat as the top regular-season team and state tournament champion, is as intense and time-consuming and socially binding an activity as any sport or club, said senior Danie Monahan. "This is our band," she said.

And Martin is a fully integrated member.

"You just have to realize that he is younger and accept that. He's still a great guy," Danie said. "And he's also brilliant."

Martin's aptitude was apparent early on - he was calling out strings of numbers when he was still in a walker, his mom said - but he maintains his edge through hard work.

He estimates he spends upwards of 25 hours a week doing math - including Central math team practices, advanced calculus classes at the U, prepping for various exams and contests, and noodling around in free moments. Even on weekends, "basically I'll wake up and do some math and any homework I have," he said.

But he's still a 12-year-old boy, and he still spends some of his free time playing with his 5-year-old sister, bouncing around the house, playing video games or watching "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel. And he still gets together with friends his age from his old elementary school - Capitol Hill Gifted and Talented Magnet.

Martin says his main goal this season is for Central's team to win. As for his individual ranking, he doesn't expect to catch the No. 1 student - a senior from Irondale who is having a perfect season - but he wants to finish in the top 10.

That will take work and shoring up where he is weakest.

At the last meet, he missed some points on problems related to geometry. "Now I've resolved to be a good geometry student," he said. "If I don't do well on something, I'll just do more of it.

"I used to be nervous a lot. Now I'm more relaxed because I practice a ton," Martin said. "I like to relax before the meets, like I'll play cards with friends. I don't stress."

Martin has taken pretty much all the courses he can at Central, and he has earned all A's except for a B+ in history. He hopes to spend the next two years in the state's post-secondary enrollment options program, which would allow him to take classes at the U but remain a Central student.

That would be fine with math team coach Marc Schwach.

"I hope I have him for another two years. I would definitely not want him to graduate - in quotes - with my seniors. If he could be here till he's 18, that would be all right too," Schwach said.

Copyright 2008 Pioneer Press