A ten year old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything from
tutors to hypnosis, but to no avail. Finally, at the insistence of a
family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic
school.
After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in
after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his
face, and went right past them, straight to his room, where he quietly
closed the door.
For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn
about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat,
and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room,
closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime. This
pattern continued ceaselessly until it
was time for the first quarter report card.
The boy walked in with his report card -- unopened -- laid it on the
dinner table and went straight to his room. Cautiously, his mother opened
it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red "A" under the subject of
MATH. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room,
thrilled at his remarkable progress.
"Was it the nuns that did it?", the father asked. The boy only shook his
head and said, "No."
"Was it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?"
"No."
"The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?"
"Nope," said the son. "On that first day, when I walked in the front door
and saw that guy they nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant
business!" |
