And The Horse You Rode In On

He spent the rest of the hour listening to their names and their dreams for the future. He made notes on each one in a notebook he brought. When the bell rang, he stretched and waited until the fourth graders became.

He was surprised at the difference between a third and fourth grader. The younger students talked opening about themselves and had the usual assortment of practical and impractical dreams for their lives. The older students had already begun to pull inside and offer less and less about themselves and their dreams. They finished talking there was still half of the class to go.

Gerald looked at the clock and took the information he had written down and told four of the students to follow him. He told the other two that he would be right back. He and the students went up to the librarian.

Gerald asked, "Can you help these four find a book on these occupations? Something more real and less fantasy." The librarian smiled and nodded. Gerald continued to the students, "I want you to each read a book on the careers you told me about and bring me a report about what you have to do to become one. Can you do that?"

He got four "yes sirs." He smiled and nodded to the librarian who led them to the section on careers. Gerald went back to the room and sat down and looked at the two remaining ones as he composed his thoughts.

He was met by Duane saying, "Hey dude, I thought you were going to make us math geniuses." Roberto snickered.

Gerald started, "First off, I am not dude. I am Gerald. Second, I can't make you a math genius; only you can do that. All I can do is help you along right now." Roberto snickered again. Duane stopped smiling and looked at him. "What I am thinking is that the two of you are very similar both in personality and career choices."

Duane popped up and said, "No way. I want to be a famous football or basketball player. He just wants to be a crook. We ain't nothing alike!" Roberto's face broke into a smile.

"Actually, you are. Both of you are smart enough to do or be anything you want to be. For some reason, you have decided now on what your career is going to be. Both choices are very short careers. For you Duane, if you do make it to the pro level, you will be very lucky to last ten years. Most athletes have a career of three years or less. But then you will have the rest of your life with nothing to do. You might make some big money, but even if you don't spend it all, you won't have enough left to live off of. So about all you can do is go home and live off of your parents." Duane looked at him with no smile on his face.

"As for you Roberto, you want to follow your brother in his gang. There is no guarantee that they will listen to you much less follow you. And if Duane's career choice is a short one, yours is even shorter. Most gang bangers are in jail or prison or dead before they are twenty one. Once you have been to prison, you probably won't be able to get a job except labor jobs. That is no life to live if you want a family and kids of your own. You don't have to believe what I tell you but both of you are smart enough to look up information about the careers you say you want. Don't read the glamour stuff; read about how it really is. Now class is about over. Duane, I suggest you ask the librarian for a book called "Brian's Song." It is a true story about two football teammates and what happened to them. It is real and yes, one of them is in the Hall of Fame."

"What happened to the other one?"

"Read the book and you tell me."

Roberto sneered, "What do you want me to read?"

"Roberto, I don't have a suggestion for you. I have no experience at all in what you want to do. I would just suggest that you look up the facts about what happens to gang members and think about it. Tomorrow, we will start on math."

Then the bell rang and the two students left.

Gerald picked up his bag and went toward the office. He was met in the hallway by Gwen.

"Hi, how did it go today?"

"Mostly fine. I basically had them tell me about themselves and what they wanted to be when they grew up. I had the fourth graders find a book on their career choice to read and write a report on it for me."

"Having them read; that's interesting."

"Well you can't do math if you can't read; or maybe I should say, you can do math better if you look at it as telling you a story. To me the two just go together."

"What about the three I told you about?"

"Suzy was quiet so I couldn't tell much. I'll see more tomorrow and Wednesday but I have an idea I am going to try. If I can get a hook in Duane, I think I can reach him. He just needs a reality check. I don't know about Roberto; he's got some strong defensive walls built up along with the attitude to hide his fears. I've never had to deal with someone quite like him. I am just going to have to play him by ear and hope something sinks in."

"If you need any help, let me know. My planning period is in the morning, so I can help if needed."

Gerald smiled and replied, "Thanks, and I will call for help if I need it. I'll go check out with the principal and see you tonight. Do you think you and Cheri are up for tacos tonight?"

"Cheri is always up for tacos and my arm can be twisted if you make some chicken ones."

"I already planned that. Come on over when you get home."

"We'll be there."

Gerald went and checked out with the office and went home after a stop at the store.

When he arrived home, he cut more wood as he had two orders to fill after school on Tuesday. Then he stared preparing the meat for tacos and baking the shells. Chopping the lettuce, tomatoes, and grating the cheese waited until they arrived. Cherilyn and Gwen arrived at 7:00 and soon they were noshing down on his tacos. Cherilyn was till excited about the Valentines party and was pleased to see his medallion hanging on his wall next to his chair.

After they went home, Gerald sat in his chair and wrote up a variety of problems for the students to work on the next day. He wrote up special problems for Duane and Roberto to work on.

The next morning, before the third graders started he called Suzy aside and gave her a tablet. He told her to write down all of the steps in every problem they worked on today. She smiled and said that she would. He took out the beans and before long the students were talking about the answers to problems and helping each other solving their problems. When they finished, Gerald took a quick look at their work and everyone had done a good job with only a few missed answers.

The fourth graders came and they went through the same routine. Roberto looked on with a bored expression while Duane watched but didn't participate in the discussion. When Gerald handed out the work sheets, he told Roberto and Duane to work together on theirs. They each looked at the paper they held and then back at him in shock. The other children started working and talking with each other. Duane started to say something but Gerald motioned them both to the small table on the side. When they sat down, Duane said, "This isn't the same problems the others have. What's the deal?"

"The deal is that both of you have big dreams and don't want to be bothered with what the other kids are working on. These problems require exactly the same math as the others but these problems involve things that both of you need to concerned with. Both of you are capable of doing the work and need to be doing this kind of problem or you won't be very successful. Give it a try."

They had two problems. The first involved a contract for $150,000. If they got the contract, they would have to pay a percentage to an agent, a percentage to a manager, and a percentage for taxes. The question was how much money would they have left after paying these fees. The second problem was about a shipment of 100 computers at a certain cost that they ordered. When it arrived, they found that some of the computers had been damaged and some were missing. The question was what percentage of the original shipment was still good enough to sell and how much money had they lost during the shipment. The other kids had similar problems but with smaller numbers and simpler details.

When the bell rang, the other kids turned in their papers and he saw that they had done well. Duane and Roberto were still working on theirs but they were not helping each other. They handed their paper to Gerald who told them to take it home and work on it and bring it back the next day. Gerald put the papers in his bag and checked out.

On Wednesday, when the third graders arrived, he gave them a similar paper to do before they started again. The main reason he did this was to see how Suzy did. When he saw her paper, he noticed that almost all of the problems were wrong. He explained a different lesson and started them on their work sheet. He then asked the librarian to ask the principal and Gwen to come to the library. When they arrived, he showed them two papers.

"This is the paper that Suzy did when we finished yesterday. She got all of the problems right. I had her do the same problems this morning. As you said, overnight everything we did yesterday got muddled." They nodded in agreement. Gerald called Suzy out and to bring her notebook. He handed her the same set of problems and said, "Suzy, I want you to read the steps you wrote down yesterday and then do these problems again, please."

She read over what she had written the day before and then did the problems again. This time she got all but one right. Gerald smiled and sent her back with the rest of the kids.

Gwen asked, "What are you suggesting, Gerald?"

"When I was in high school, there was a girl who did something similar. They had tested her for learning disabilities and couldn't find anything. But one teacher noticed that if she took notes on what they did and used those notes for a couple of weeks, things cleared up and settled into place. I think I heard something about how our brains transfer knowledge from short term memory to long term memory. In Suzy's case, I suspect that that transfer is delayed for some reason but in a couple of weeks things will settle into place if she can use notes for reinforcement."

Gwen looked at him with a surprised look on her face. The principal was deep in thought.

He finally said, "We've got the tests coming up and she can't use notes during the tests. But we can arrange for her to use them up till then. Do you think that this will be enough?"

"I don't know; I'm not even sure that this will work. I just remember that girl from high school. Did you do a practice test around the holidays?"

"Yes, we did a trial test just before the Christmas break. She didn't do well; that's why she is here working with you."

"If you still have a copy of that test, have her take it over again now. I am guessing, but I'll bet she will show some level of improvement. It's worth a try anyway."

"I'll arrange for her to take it tomorrow morning. I'll also arrange for the district psychologist to come over and talk with her teachers. You might have hit on something that has fallen through the cracks."

"While we are talking, what is the story about Jimmy Thompson?"

Gwen replied, "He has always been a quiet kid but did pretty well, but after Christmas, his grades started dropping. He never said anything but I think there might be problems at home. A lot of kids don't talk about things at home and their work suffers."

"Can your nurse do an eye check?" The principal nodded. "Have her check his eyes. He seems to understand what we are doing and can read things far away but then he either puts the paper close to his face or bends over close. I think he is having trouble seeing what is on the paper."

Gwen responded, "And he is in Ms Graves' class and she expects the students to sit upright when they do their work."

The principal called Jimmy out of the room and led his down the hall to the nurse's station.

Gwen looked at Gerald and said, "If you are right, you will make a lot of us look kind of silly." She smiled.

"No, not at all. You all work with a lot of kids each day and probably don't have time to look at individuals closely unless there is an obvious problem. I am only looking at six individuals and I have fresh eyes. It is easier for me to notice things."

"Well, whatever the results are, you certainly have made an impact. Dinner at our house tonight? I think Cherilyn wants to make dinner for you. It will be surprise night at the Lambert house."

"Then I wouldn't want to miss that for any reason. I'll be there."

He did the fourth grade the same way but Duane called him over to their table.

"Hey man, I got this I think, but why did you give us one that is so hard?"

"Like I told you, it is the same problem as the other kids got; you just worked with bigger numbers. But the bigger lesson is this. You hear about athletes getting big contracts, bigger than this. But for every contract, there is an agent, a manager, and the tax man standing in line to get their piece of the pie. So, in this problem, you would only actually get about half of what the contract amount is for. Think about that the next time you start counting your money when you turn pro."

Roberto popped off, "Hey, I won't be paying any taxes in my line of work."

"Then if you don't get arrested for what you do, you will get arrested for tax evasion. The biggest criminal in American history was Al Capone. He had one of the biggest and bloodiest gangs in the country. He spent the last twenty years of his life in prison for tax evasion. They could never convict him of anything else."

Gerald was quiet for a minute, letting this sink in before he continued, "He was smart but there were people smarter than he was. That was another part of this lesson that neither one of you picked up on. Duane, if you are going to be a successful athlete you will be part of a team. By yourself, you are just another guy who can run fast or throw a ball. The team is the framework that will let you shine. Roberto, everything about you says that you will be part of a team too, although you don't see it that way. Alone you are just another street punk; as part of a group, maybe you can be successful at what you do. Either way, both of you need to learn how to get along with others and work together or you aren't going to be successful. I put you two together to see if you would work together; you chose not to. Alone you both struggled; together you might have gotten through with these problems much easier and faster. Go back to the table and let's finish the day."

That night he found Cherilyn in an apron scurrying around. Gwen was hovering around the edges, keeping an eye on everything. Cherilyn came and gave him a hug. Gwen smiled and came over to him.

"You are a hero today. The nurse checked Jimmy's eyes and found that he had a scratch on one eye and it was infected a little. His other eye was weak for short viewing anyway. They sent him to an optometrist who works with the schools and he has medicated the infection and arranged for glasses for Jimmy. His mother admitted that they had a car wreck over the holidays and that the air bag had hit Jimmy in the face. She didn't have a car or the money to take Jimmy to the doctor. Ms. Graves was mortified when she found out. Jimmy hadn't said a word about the wreck or not being able to see."

"I'm sorry for Jimmy but I'm glad it got caught before something permanent set in."

"That and Suzy's teacher was OK with trying the notebook with her and see how she does. She will monitor her work more closely and try to find out when things get sorted out."

"That's even better news. She's a nice girl and probably had no way to realize what was happening to her."

Cherilyn proudly announced, "Dinner is ready." She fixed their plates with a grilled Cheri Bun filled with cheese and deli meat and vegetables. Along with that was a scoop of flavored rice with Lawman beans on top. She also had a small dinner salad set at each place.

Gerald was pleased with the grilled sandwich as he had never tried that before with his buns. And the beans and rice made a nice change from plain beans. The flavoring of the rice mixed well with the beans and tasted really good. He had two helpings of the rice and beans.

Cherilyn also said that they were starting on Geometry and that both she and Jenny had some questions. She asked if they could come over on Thursday and get some help. Gerald smiled and said, "Of course. Bring your books." Gwen had a PTA meeting to attend so Gerald agreed to feed the girls dinner.

Cherilyn's reply was "Homemade pizza!"

Gerald smiled because he was expecting that response.

When the girls arrived after school, they spent a half hour unwinding before Gerald subtly talking about Geometry. He started by taking them out to the garden to pick some lettuce.

"How far do you suppose this row is?" He asked.

Jenny replied, "I guess it is about 20 feet long."

Gerald nodded, "That's not a bad guess; but how could you be sure?"

Cherilyn said, "Well if you had a tape measure, you could measure it."

"Good. Is there another way?"

Jenny answered, "We planted the lettuce seeds one foot apart. We could count the lettuce plants and that would tell us how long the row is."

"That's a really good answer too. Anything else?"

Neither girl had another answer. Gerald said, "There are lots of different ways to measure things and that is what Geometry is all about. '-metry' means to measure and 'Geo-" means the earth. So geometry means to measure the earth. Sometimes things like this row are easy because you can take a tape measure and check it but sometimes it is much harder to measure. Look at that tree over there; how tall is it?"

The girls really looked confused.

"With Geometry, you can find the height of the tree without a tape measure. You can also figure out a lot of things. I always liked Geometry because you can do so many things with it. Let's go inside and see where you are starting."

With that introduction and thirty minutes of drawing and talking, both girls understood the lesson and finished their homework quickly. Then they pestered Gerald into letting them fix the pizzas. It didn't actually take much pestering for Gerald to relent.

As he watched them, he had an idea. "Jenny, how many table spoons of sauce do you think you will need for each pizza?" She looked at him. He continued, "Cheri, how many slices of cheese will it take to cover the pizza?" She too looked at him also. It was obvious that neither girl had an inkling of the answer. They stopped to wait for him to answer. Instead he got up and picked him a knife and drew three lines on each crust crossing about in the middle.

"Jenny, get a spoon and put sauce in one of these sections. Cheri, you do the same with cheese." They did as he asked. "Jenny, how many spoons of sauce did it take to do one section?"

"Three."

"Cheri, how many slices of cheese?"

"About four and a half. I had to break one to make the curve."

"So how many spoons of sauce and pieces of cheese will it take to make one pizza?"

The girls looked at each other and grinned. Jenny said, "Eighteen." Cherilyn said, "Twenty Seven."

"If you had a pizza parlor and you knew that you would make 50 pizzas tonight, you would know exactly how much sauce you needed and how many slices of cheese you needed to slice every night. Right?"

"Yes."

"This is a very practical use of Geometry. You probably won't get to this until high school but it is called surface area. If you know the area you need to cover with sauce, cheese, paint, fabric, or anything else and you know how much the item covers, you can easily figure out how much paint or fabric to buy. Every business uses this every day and most people don't even realize that they are using Geometry."