Diamond Lake fourth grader is a math wiz

The number 686 is a palindrome. Quick, how many other three digit numbers are palindromes? Don't know? Don't feel bad, but there's a fourth-grader in Mundelein who has the answer.

In fact, Adam Kastler has a lot of answers.

The 10-year-old from Vernon Hills placed first in the nation on a new national math test. Kastler will be recognized by Diamond Lake Elementary District 76 officials at the school board meeting next week.

"In the seven years I've been teaching here, Adam is by far the highest math achiever I've seen," said District 76 Gifted Facilitator Val Delfino. "And he's a really nice kid too."

It's the first year for the contest sponsored by Kansas-based Noetic Learning Company. Delfino said contest organizers gear the questions for gifted and advanced students. About 2,300 second through fifth grade students from 92 schools competed. Kastler bested 640 of his fourth grade competitors.

Li Kelty, the founder of the Noetic math contest, said the title comes from the Greek word for knowledge.

"The questions are focused on advanced and logical reasoning," Kelty said. "The types of problems are not typically found in regular school curriculums."

The timed test included 20 questions in which students had 45 minutes to complete.

"I finished right on time," said Kastler, who attends Diamond Lake Elementary School. "Not early, just right on time."

The questions started out "easy," Kastler said. But then got harder toward the end. The word problems ranged from the palindrome question to others about date and number sequences and patterns.

Kastler is the oldest of his two siblings. He's a Cub Scout, likes chess, plays hockey, and is involved in his church. And, it's not just the left brain that's active. "I really like art too," he said.

Though, it might be a bit early to be thinking careers, Kastler is pretty sure about his direction.

"I really like problem solving. I like the idea that when you put numbers in the right places, it works," he said. "I think I'd like to be an architect or an engineer."