As an eighth-grader at Cross Timbers Middle School in 2019-2020, Eric Tong was putting the finishing touches on some incredible middle school accomplishments in math competitions. However, like so many students around GCISD, the Coronavirus pandemic put a halt to events that he and many others spent several years preparing for.
Some of Eric's incredible accomplishments included:
- Qualified for State MATHCOUNTS as a 6th, 7th, and 8th grader, something typically only accomplished by 10-15 students in the entire state.
- Scored in the top 3 individually at the Chapter MATHCOUNTS competitions as a 6th, 7th, and 8th grader.
- One of just eight students in Texas to achieve a perfect score on the AMC 8 national exam (American Mathematics Contest).
- One of 129 7th graders in the entire U.S. who qualified to take the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) last year. He did so by scoring in the top 2.5% nationally in AMC 10.
- In Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) math middle school championships, he was the 6th Grade State Champion in Number Sense, 6th Grade State Champion in Calculator, 7th Grade State Champion in Number Sense, and earned 104 First Place finishes throughout the last three years.
- He took Calculus 2 as an 8th grader in 2019-2020.
According to one of his teachers, "Above all else, Eric is one of the nicest, most respectful students that I have ever encountered."