I ended seventh grade on a better foot in my Math class. I was in the regular seventh grade Math class. I had tried in sixth grade to get into seventh grade accelerated Math, or even pre-algebra, but my grades weren’t high enough to warrant it. At the time for registration for eighth grade I asked my Math teacher if I could take algebra. She looked at me like I was joking. “You’re struggling to get a C in this class, Billy. There is no way I’d recommend you for algebra next year.” I told my Dad that. I also reminded him of all the electronics math formulas and calculations I knew by heart. Dad wrote a quick note to Mrs. Hawker, my math teacher. It said, “Billy is looking forward to a career in engineering. As a result, he must have math! Please recommend him for algebra next year!” I gave it to her the next day. Again the decision was the same. I kept pestering her. A week later she gave me an algebra readiness test, more to get me off her back. She thought I’d fall on my face. Even though my grades were poor, I was bored in seventh grade math. I didn’t want to languish for another year in eighth grade math. I knew I could handle algebra. A week later Mrs. Hawker got around to correcting my test. She saw me and Mom in the hall one day. (Actually it was when Mom was coming to get me after I threw up in English.) She said to Mom, “Billy took an algebra test a few days ago and did very well. I can now recommend him for algebra next year.”
The next year in Algebra I had Mrs, Peppinger for my teacher. The class had mostly ninth graders in it. I didn’t get good grades in Algebra either, but I was able to grasp the concepts of algebra. It was much more interesting than eighth grade math and I probably got better grades than if I had been sitting bored in eighth grade math. I sat on the back row of the class. Dad frowned at this and advised me to sit on the front row. He said, “The only way I got through college was to sit on the front row and I always had a sharp pencil.”
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