Richard Montgomery High School Senior Awarded Higher Mathematics Award

For the 27th consecutive year, a high school senior at Richard Montgomery High School has been named winner of the Sandra L. Heyman Higher Mathematics Award for their demonstrated excellence as a math student.  

Ilana Vainstein of Bethesda, Maryland, was recognized in a May 22nd ceremony at the school in Rockville.

Justin Heyman presented the award to Vainstein in front of a packed auditorium of students and parents as part of the school’s annual award ceremony. He said that Vainstein “has been a stand-out presence in the Richard Montgomery math community throughout her time at the school and is a top performer in the Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations class my mother created here at RM. Ilana also is the president of the Math Honor Society.”

Heyman noted that the award comes with a check that will help Vainstein to “buy some of those very expensive math books when she heads to Washington University in the fall, where she plans on studying applied mathematics.” 

The award was first made in 1999. It is sponsored by The Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in memory of Sandra Lee Heyman, a long-time mathematics teacher at the elementary, middle school, high school, and community college levels who passed away in 1998.

Heyman noted that “This year, the SLH Foundation is particularly excited to honor Ilana because she was also one of our Fellows. This is the first time that one of our former Fellows has also won this recognition.”

The Foundation’s fellowship supports an 18-month long STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Career Awareness Fellowship aimed at promising high school students who have the opportunity to meet with STEM leaders, visit prominent institutions, and access peers and mentors to support career exploration in STEM fields.

Begun in 2020, the fellowship program has enabled 173 high school students in Montgomery County, MD,  Baltimore, MD, and Washington, D.C., to learn more about STEM careers.