Austin Boriack has been teaching science to students at Canyon Vista for years. Even before that, Mr. Boriack spent much of his career helping others become more successful in their lives. Mr. Boriack loves learning as a whole and wants all students to feel empowered by it. But not only does Mr. Boriack teach, inspire, and empower those who love to learn, he is also part of an organization called Mathcounts.

The Mathcounts Foundation is, “a non-profit organization that teaches students in grades 6-8 in all US states and territories with 3 extracurricular math programs”, says the Mathcounts official website. “More than a quarter-million students participate in our programs or use our resources each year”. Mathcounts is no small organization either, having been recognized as one of the nation’s most effective STEM learning programs. The White House has also recognized the Mathcounts Foundation. Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Ronald W. Reagan have all acknowledged the Mathcounts Foundation during these ceremonies.

“I have a deep passion for inspiring a hunger for learning, development, and empowerment with students of all capacities and can’t wait to pass on this passion for Science to our students”, Boriack says on his website. “I believe that results in learning are always critical, but mistakes are acceptable and lead us on the path to growth”.

Austin Boriack, as a part of the competitive Mathcounts scene, leads the Canyon Vista Middle School Mathcounts team. He has re-registered a team of 15 participants for competitions in 2021. His team is competing alongside many other schools from the Austin area, including Grisham, Cedar Valley, and Brentwood.

Mr. Boriack loves his students and values teaching them very highly. “It is my mission as the leader of my students to foster a socially authentic, peer-encouraging, and intellectually challenging environment to inspire and prepare students for everything that lies ahead,” Boriack says on his website. His students seem to enjoy his presence as a teacher as well. “I think he’s really cool,” Leo Blomgren (8) said. “He’s pretty chill,” Tamerlan Belyalov (8) said.

Among other things, Mr. Boriack also helps out with the Canyon Vista Science Fair. He has provided a detailed infographic on his website all about how to sign up, and when it will take place. He also helps out with the Austin Energy Regional Science Festival, one of Texas’ largest regional science fairs with almost 3,000 students from 3rd through 12th grade. “It encourages and rewards innovative student research and provides scientists, engineers, and other professionals a chance to volunteer in the community,” says the official Austin Energy Regional Science Festival website.

“The Science fair was stressful,” an 8th-grade student said. “Some kid was arguing with me about my own topic when I’m the one that actually did the research. But besides that, it was pretty exciting.”