Though you’ve long forgotten why the Wars of the Roses began, there are some lessons that linger, some teachers who will never be forgotten.
Esther Kurtz
“You guys are making so much noise — even Esther can’t sleep!” I quote my 11th-grade math teacher all the time when I try to explain the type of student I was in high school. She said this on a day that I actually happened to be awake in her class… hmmm maybe because everyone was talking so much? The whole class laughed myself included.
I was a terrible student but I saved most of my antipathy for math. I was not a “math person ” and I’d proclaim it with pride. This went back years from the first time I expressed frustration with math (I think every kid does — even those who love math) and my mother responded with “It’s okay Esther we’re not a math family. Just do your best.” I know my mother meant well but that just got me off the hook mentally.
When we took the Iowa achievement tests in elementary school I’d fastidiously fill in the black circles making sure they were dark and complete so my answers would be recorded correctly. When it came to the math section though I’d make a pattern with each successive answer so there’d be a zigzag flowing though the answer sheet. If the answers weren’t going to be correct at least the paper would be pretty right?
In ninth grade, my math teacher tried to argue sense into me: “You’re smart, Esther. You can understand math; you just don’t want to.”
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