Improving Your Math

A ten year old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything from tutors to therapy, 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 into the house with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face. He 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 only long enough to eat. After quickly cleaning his plate, he went straight back to his room, closed the door, and studied feverishly until bedtime.

This pattern continued night after night 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?

"No."

The peer-mentoring?"

"No."

"The textbooks?

"No."

The teachers?

"No."

The curriculum?"

"No."

"So what was is?" asked the father in desperation.

"Well," said the boy, "on that first day, when I walked into the classroom and saw the picture of what they'd done to the guy on the "plus sign", I just knew they meant business!"