EL CAJON, Calif. -- A 7-year-old El Cajon boy will take center stage next week at an international event in New York City, meant to inspire and share ideas.
Second grade student Jim Patrick was selected earlier this month after his speech about math at a local TedX Kids event in El Cajon.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God! How did this even happen?!’” Jim exclaimed.
Dani Hainline said her son started teaching himself math when he was just a toddler.
“He was reading things off of the TV that he shouldn’t have been able to read,” Hainline said.
“I think I started doing my zeroes when I was two to three maybe,” said the boy.
Hainline had his IQ tested.
“He was just a hair below the genius level,” she said.
Jim was encouraged by his teachers in the Cajon Valley Union School District to participate in the TedX Kids event.
“I came up with the speech myself,” Jim said.
A teacher helped him write it. Jim Patrick was selected from children’s speeches all over the world to participate in the Ted X Kids event in New York City on December 3.
“I really wouldn’t be surprised if he did it even at 14,” said Hainline who struggles with the thought. “We’re struggling with that because I like him going at his own pace. When he’s in the class he gets really bored.”
Jim said he wants to be a college mathematician and professor when he grows up.
