Meet the 16-year-old Ghanaian, Ivan the Olympiad 'king' who just became Valedictorian

During a quick conversation with his parents, Theophilus and Joan Apedo, over the phone, his mother couldn’t help confessing that her son, Ivan, has achieved so much in his young life that she even gets overwhelmed recalling them all.

And the icing on the cake, so far, was when the teenager emerged as the Valedictorian at the Ghana Christian International High School for the A-Level Class of 2024.

His is a story of grit, hard work, huge doses of smartness, and extremely supportive parents.

Ivan Elolo Apedo’s proud parents told GhanaWeb that their son loves skating, playing the guitar and fixing Rubik's cubes.

Joan Apedo added that while he was doing that recently - after he became Valedictorian, she felt compelled to ask him this question: “How do you feel about being the Valedictorian for the GCIHS A-Level Class of 2024?”

With a little grin and excitement in his response, he replied, “My class was highly competitive, with equally good students, and there were a lot of interesting challenges along the way, which thankfully, I was able to go through. I learnt a lot of valuable skills, especially relationship skills and time management, and looking forward, I hope to be able to make great use of these skills, improve on them and learn new ones.”

But why is he commonly known as the ‘king’ of Olympiads?

“In the history of the Olympiad, he is the only Ghanaian to have won the most laurels, so much that he automatically became known as the king of this extra-curricula activity,” his mother said.

Celebrating his achievements both at school, in Ghana, and internationally, the GCIHS published a blog on Ivan Apedo, describing him as “an extremely matured and determined mindset.”

And Ivan admits that his exposure to the world and other forms of knowledge acquisition have been made possible because of his participation in the Olympiads across the world.

He told his school blog that “I got to experience far tougher challenges and gain some opportunities which I normally would never have gained access to.

“For example, during the IJSO in Dubai, we travelled around, went to multiple universities and saw their programs. In addition, the IJSO and TIMO made me realise how different their education systems were from ours.”

Also asked what his biggest inspiration was, he replied: “Well, basically, as you know I like math, and, I loved to find that some mathematicians like Benard Reimann did not let ‘scientific knowledge’ stop them from believing in God. I want to be a very influential person, or in other words, a renowned mathematician, like Newton, so people can see what God has done for me.”

He was decorated at the event by Prof Stephen Adei, a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the Founder of GCIHS.

Ivan Elolo Apedo may just be 16 years old, but he dreams of becoming a computer scientist and engineer.

Here are some awards and recognitions he has received in his short life:

- Ranked 4th Best Globally in the DRCT Olympiad Olympiad 2021

- First GCIHS Student to win a medal (Bronze) at the International Science Olympiad, Dubai 2021

- Only Ghanaian candidate to have won medals in 6 International Olympiad Competitions out of 7 in 2021

- First student from the Ghana Olympiad Chapter to win three Gold Medals in SASMO, VANDA and DRCT 2022

- Most medalled Olympian - Ghana Olympiad Academy with 16 Olympiad medals

About the Ghana Olympiad Academy

It provides opportunities for students in Ghana to partake in International Olympiad examinations.

Students from Grade 2 to Grade 12 have the opportunity to take the Olympiad exams in Math, ICT and Science online.

Students can enhance their academic skills in STEM as they compete with thirty thousand and more students from over thirty countries.

See some photos and videos of Ivan Elolo Apedo below:

AE