"A mathematician is cautious
In the presence of the obvious"

that appeared from 1993 to 2003 in the logo of the Canada/USA Mathcamp, a leading program for gifted high school students. The rhyme summarizes his vision of the habit that needs to be inculcated early in students in working out mathematics proofs. He stresses to students that "mathematics is the language of form." He believes that a summer program for gifted young students is necessary:

"In providing a summer program for the highly gifted, one is not depriving the youngster of a normal childhood. Rather, such a student, possessing a higher mental faculty, is strong in several areas of learning, including mathematics, has the capacity to absorb at a faster rate, and needs to be challenged, provided with the fundamental concepts, and encouraged to form proper habits, social and academic. The student, faced with the higher expectation at the intensive summer program, will rise to meet it."

Mr. Sumner was a great camp director. He is well suited for his position. His personality is very forward and very explicit about what needs to be done. This is good to have as stability for the camp. Many staff felt he did not do very much seeing that all the other positions seemed to have a clear-cut definition on what is to be expected. But he did a lot of work that was not seen. He worked closely with the university on various issues such as food, keys, dorm life, and facilities. He did well in those meetings and the success transferred over to our day-to-day camp life. He was blunt and frank about what he wanted and that was good in establishing a sense of overall direction of the camp. He was pretty flexible on most issues and asked the input of the staff. Mr. Sumner can be very convincing with the campers on issues he felt should have been obvious decisions. But I think he was a calm, and smart director, he helped me out in solidifying the camp this year.
-- Jordan Wan, Third year undergrad, MIT, Counselor at MathPath in 2002 and 2003