Whiz Kid: Meet Nicholas Rauen

A true math genius, Nick Rauen age 13, won second place in the Pennsylvania State MATHCOUNTS competition this past weekend. Nick will be representing Pennsbury at the National MATHCOUNTS in Washington, D.C., in May.

"There were two spots left, and I and my friend Jacob were sitting there hoping we’d make it," Nick said. "Jacob got called and then I got called and I was so happy."

Coordinator of Communications for the Pennsbury School District Ann Langtry said that this is the first time that Pennsbury had three out of the top four winners, and just the second time in 28 years to have a student move on to nationals.

"When I graduate, I would like to be an architect because since I was young I always loved to build things from Imagenext to making giant Kin’ex towers," Nick said.

"I wanted to take a drafting course at the high school but I haven’t been able to do so due to scheduling issues but I’d like to do so next year," Nick said.

Nick’s talent doesn’t stop with math. He also plays the alto saxophone in the jazz band. He is in the choir and the honors choir. Outside of school, Nick does karate and has a black belt. He also plays long pole lacrosse for a local team and then still finds time for more math by being part of a math club called the Leigh Valley ARML team.

Know someone you want to nominate for our next Patch Whiz Kid? Tell us about it!