Jesus Died for My Sums
The following article is from the Secular
Humanist Bulletin, Volume 14, Number 1.
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!"
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