CEA Spotlight Series 2 - Yusnier Viera at CEA

On October 11th, we were thrilled to welcome world-renowned mathematician, Yusnier Viera, to CEA. Mr. Viera spoke to the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade student body and the Junior Mastery Mathletes. Throughout the year, we are inviting a number of seasoned professionals from different walks of life to speak to our students about how to apply and take full advantage of all of the subjects they study in their day-to-day lives, from dance to mathematics, science to music. This is the second of the "Spotlight Series" speakers we will host this year, and it was a tremendous hit!

Mr. Viera is a Cuban-American mental calculator. In 2005 he broke the world record for calendar calculations. In 2010 he won the Mental Calculation World Cup, and in 2018 he claimed the Guinness World Record for mental calendar calculations for the seventh time. Mr. Viera has appeared on CNN and ABC, starred in the international Discovery Channel Series,Superhuman Showdown, NatGeo Latin AmericaSuper Cerebros, FoxSuperhumans, and appeared onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show. He has published several books on mathematics and currently teaches at Miami-Dade College.

Mr. Viera gave the students an impressive and charismatic presentation about his love for math, and how math is a part of every aspect of their lives in one way or another. Not only did he blow away the students with his calculations, but he also taught them useful tools for adding and multiplying and had them practice together. They were amazed at themselves and how quickly and accurately they too were able to make mental math calculations. Mr. Viera did a wonderful job putting the math into useful context, discussing pressing issues such as data security, number encryption, and even how math literally gave him freedom, as it became his passport to the world.

We are incredibly grateful to Mrs. Cuesta and Mrs. Santalo for inviting Mr. Viera to CEA and working to create this memorable experience for our students. Mr. Viera was equally impressed with how intelligent, well-prepared, confident and polite our students were, as well as how many of our 6th, 7thand 8thgraders could do difficult mental math and immediately apply the tools he provided to improve their mental calculations.

We are looking forward to continue to expose our students to experiences that will open their minds and their hearts to the world of possibilities they have before them.