Sophomore Whiz Kid Matt Girouard is a Math Whiz

Matt Girouard is a sophomore at Peters Township High School, and being around the high school building is something to which he has become very accustomed.

While many of his classmates are experiencing their second year in the high school setting, Girouard, son of Len and Jackie Girouard, has been taking math classes at the high school since the sixth grade. By the end of this year, he will have completed every math course offered at the high school, including AP level BC Calculus. Not only is Girouard taking the classes, but he is excelling in them.

He took the SAT in seventh grade, and scored exceptionally high, making him one of Peters Township High School’s most gifted students.

For the past several years, Girouard has been participating in the University of Pittsburgh Phage Hunters, to study viruses, and has taken part in summer learning programs at Johns Hopkins University.

Outside the classroom, Girouard stays active by playing, coaching and serving as a referee in soccer. His passion is skiing, and he returned recently from a ski trip in Vail, Colo.

He’s a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Spanish Club, where he serves as treasurer, Student Council, Student Activists for the Environment and , which is part of the school’s service learning project.

Girouard took a few minutes of his time to discuss his experiences with us. 

Patch: When did you know you had this gift to be able to excel in Math?

Girouard: Probably in about the first grade. I started seeing math differently than other kids. I was able to solve everything differently than others, and probably in about the fourth grade the teachers had me helping other kids in the class.

Patch: It must have been quite an experience for you to come to classes at the high school when you were a sixth-grader.

Girouard: It really didn’t affect me that much. It was just a challenge. It was kind of hard because I didn’t know anyone in the classes, and you’d have to work with them, but I got around it and managed to do well in them.

Patch: You’re involved in the Phage Hunters program at Pitt. Tell us about that.

Girouard: It’s a bacterial research program where other high school students and I look for bacteriophages anywhere in the world. These are viruses that attack bacteria. We find them, purify them and DNA sequence them to learn more about phages in general. I was able to find one in a compost pile and took it in for research.

Patch: You’ve also done some pretty interesting things at Johns Hopkins, too.

Girouard: It was a summer camp entitled, "Investigations into Engineering." It was a college class condensed into three weeks where we built a spaghetti bridge able to sustain weight. We learned about trusses and bridge design.

Patch: How about your future? What do you want to do when you graduate from Peters Township High School?

Girouard: I’d like to go to a school like Carnegie Mellon or MIT and aim for a field in physics or engineering. Specifically, I would hope at some time to become a Disney Imagineer.

We congratulate Girouard and wish him the best of luck. Do you know of an amazing child or teen? Read how to submit your Whiz Kid nomination .