Shao qualifies for Mathematical Olympiad Program/ School briefs
Published 3:30 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Mercer Island High School (MIHS) sophomore Eric Shao has qualified for the Mathematical Olympiad Program (MOP), an intensive summer training experience designed to develop elite problem-solving skills.
Shao, who won a United States Math Olympiad silver medal with the highest score in Washington, participates with MIHS in the American Mathematics Competitions and qualified for the MOP during those events.
BAND STUDENTS SHINE AT CONTEST
Eighteen MIHS band students performed at the recent Washington State Solo and Ensemble Contest and a host of the musicians garnered the following awards:
Winner in the Large Brass category: The trumpet ensemble of Max Janes, Olivia Azzano, Caden Davidson, Sean Hogan, Walter Latkowski, Gitanjali Krishnan and Jibran Qadeer.
Winner in the Small Brass category: The trombone quartet of Oliver Lee, Owen Clarkson, Derek Hsi and Eva Jantos.
Winner in the trumpet category: Max Janes
Second place in the French horn category: Lucas Pae
Additional participants were the low brass ensemble of Pragna Prakash, Tristan Jay, Ben Sorensen, Leo Le and Brian Roemund; and bass clarinet player Gio Andres.
MIHS VEX ROBOTICS TEAM WINS WORLD JUDGES AWARD
The MIHS “Slippery Penguins” won a World Judges Award at the 2026 VEX Robotics High School World Championship from April 21–24 in St. Louis, Missouri.
The prestigious award is given to teams that consistently demonstrate excellence across engineering notebook, teamwork and community outreach throughout the season.
MIHS team members are sophomores Harry Nguyen (team captain and build lead), Brian Kwon (code lead), Henry Xing (notebook lead) and Til Wyss (sponsorship lead).
While competing in the strong 85-team Design Division (which competitors label the “Division of Death”), the locals notched a fourth-ranked 11-1 record in their qualification matches and advanced to the elimination rounds. They lost in the round of 16 “after an unfortunate broken power cable disabled their robot mid-match,” according to a Mercer Island School District post.
