Two New Orleans students have put their math knowledge to the ultimate test and have come out favorable in the end.
Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, high schoolers at St. Mary’s Academy, have proven Pythagoras’ Theorem without circular logic, according to WWL-TV. The mathematical discovery is said to have not been proven by mathematicians for 2,000 years.
“Calcea and Ne’Kiya explained it to me like this: Basically, trigonometry is based on Pythagoras’ Theorem (A^2 + B^2 = C^2, sound familiar?), so using trigonometry to prove Pythagoras’s Theorem is what’s known as circular logic,” the outlet’s reporter stated.
During a presentation to the American Mathematical Society’s Annual Southeastern Conference, seniors Johnson and Jackson said they proved the theory using trigonometry. What’s more, they were the only high school students in the room.
“It’s really an unparalleled feeling, honestly, because there’s just nothing like being able to do something that people don’t think young people can do,” Calcea said, according to the outlet. “A lot of times you see this stuff, you don’t see kids like us doing it.”
Thanks to the encouragement from their teachers, Johnson and Jackson felt up to the challenge.
“Our slogan is ‘No Excellence Without Hard Labor.’ So, they definitely push us,” Johnson said.
“We have really great teachers,” Jackson chimed in.
Another example of Black excellence from high school students is Gloria Guerrier and Victoria Guerrier. As previously reported by AfroTech, the twin sisters are graduating as valedictorian and salutatorian of their school’s class of 2023.
“We’ve been working for this since ninth grade and we dreamed of this moment, but it actually coming into fruition and happening, it just feels so unreal,” Victoria said at the time of the news.
Now, they’re headed to attend Yale University.
