It’s pretty well established that the United States is slipping behind other developed countries in education, particularly in mathematics. In 2012, American kids ranked 29^th in math, behind such countries as Poland, Vietnam and Slovenia. In a recent competition, a team of kids proved that Americans still can do long division with the best of ’em.

A collection of top U.S. math students won the International Mathematical Olympiad in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this month—topping more than 100 other countries to do so. It was the first time the United States has won the prestigious competition since 1994.

Teams were asked to work on three problems during the 12-day competition. Easy, right? Well, the problems are significantly harder than the “If a train leaves Boston at…” problems with which most of us are familiar. “If you can solve one question, you’re a bit of a genius,” says Po-Shen Loh, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the United States’ head coach. (Time)