A ten year old Jewish boy was failing his math exams. His
parents tried everything from tutors to hypnosis, but to no
avail. Finally at the insistence of a family friend, they decided
to enrol their son in a private Catholic school.
After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he
walked in from school with a stern focused and very determined
look on his face. He went straight past them, right to his room
and 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 of behavior continued until it was time for the
first term's report card. The boy walked in with it 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 large 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
shook his head and said, "No."
"Was it the one-to-one tutoring? The textbooks ? The teachers?
The curriculum?"
"No," said the son. "On the first day, when I walked in the front
door and saw that guy nailed to the plus sign. I KNEW they were serious."