A winning formula: Gisele Chong’s story claims top honour for second year
Posted on June 17, 2025
For the second consecutive year, Gisele Chong (Kupe House) has won the Cindy Neuschwander Award in the 2025 Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition. Her creative talents and mathematical thinking have once again earned international recognition.
Gisele’s story, A Long Journey, tells the moving tale of two sisters attempting to escape a war-torn city. Through their journey, Gisele weaves concepts of time, speed and distance into the narrative, using mathematics to chart their path to safety.
The competition judges praised the story’s depth and visual presentation: ‘The illustrations for this story matched the tone of the tale with beautifully integrated math graphs and diagrams superimposed over the drawings. What a heartfelt and genuine story of family love! And how wonderful that math is so integral to its happy ending!’
The YMSA competition is an annual international event that encourages young mathematics learners aged four to 16 years old to create their own mathematical story picture books. This year’s competition received 473 entries from 57 schools across 15 countries - making Gisele’s achievement all the more impressive.
