Story Problems

Carlos Fowbush teaches math at Volvo River HS.

He is still steaming.

Last night he watched the CBS News because he thinks Katie Couric is cute. They ran a piece about a man who has a boat building business on the Ohio River. He hires kids who have dropped out and gotten into trouble with the law, and teaches them boat building. Carlos couldn't believe it. There were Mandy Manush and Xavier Brown and Bret Norris, his former students. He had wondered what happened to them.

"What is different and satisfying for you as you build these boats?" Katie asked.

"Well," said Mandy, "we're learning a lot of math, and that's fun." "Yeah," said Xavier, "we have to get the math just right or things don't go together right." "It's not like math class in school," added Bret. "Here we're actually applying what we learn to a real situation."

"You idiots," Carlos Fowbush yelled at the TV. "What do you think story problems are? They apply what you learn to a real situation! That's why we do story problems in math class. And you were the worst, always complaining about how you'd never need to know this stuff. You ingrates!"

"How wonderful," Katie beamed. "A real education with a real teacher, a boat builder."

For Carlos, it was a teachable moment. Katie Couric wasn't nearly as cute as he had thought she was.