by Jim Plautz
Principal Hawkins made the announcement to a stunned student assembly. After describing the problem, he got right to the point. “The SAT board wants 12 of you to retake a new test to validate the scores,” he concluded before handing the microphone to Matthew.
“I am proud of you,” Matthew started, pointing at the students. “You did better than anyone expected. Thank you,” he said, applauding the students. “You kicked ass! Come on, let’s hear it.”
“We kicked ass! We kicked ass! We kicked ass!”
“Okay, now 12 of us are being asked to do it again. Do you want to be one of the lucky 12?”
“Yes,” the students roared back in one voice.
“Well, you all won’t have this chance. Only 11 of you will have the opportunity to study with me for the next two weeks.” Laughter and cries of oh no and don’t pick me, rang out from the students, but no one really meant it. Everyone wanted the chance to kick ass one more time.
‘I’m going to read the names of the lucky-eleven and when you hear your name, come on up and face the music. The first name is; “Lisa Andrews.” Lisa shrieked and began making her way to the stage, fighting through well-wishers.
“Eric Dithers, John Feeney, Sally Adamson, …” Matthew read out the names and the reaction from each student was the same; delight at being one of the lucky eleven. When all 11 students were on stage Matthew asked for silence from the envious students. “There isn’t one of you that I wouldn’t have chosen as a teammate. I know the rest of you are disappointed, but maybe two weeks from now you will be relieved, because the 12 people up here have a lot of work to do.”
He looked at the kids on stage. “I’m going to ask you to sacrifice yourselves and study like you have never studied before. It won’t be easy and it won’t always be fun, but we will work together as a team and do our best. Is there anyone that isn’t willing to make this commitment? Eric? Lisa? Jane? Paul? Henry? Erica? …” Each person responded affirmatively as his or her name was called. It was almost like taking an oath, I thought. The student body cheered as the lucky 12 clasped hands much like our basketball team did before the opening whistle.
A week later I pulled Matthew aside. After a few pleasantries, I asked if he thought he might be pushing them to hard. “A few of the kids are looking pretty tired. Don’t you think a couple days off might be good for them?”
“You might be right, Coach. I noticed yesterday that a couple of them actually seem to be regressing. Maybe we should have a party and just try to have some fun?”
“No party, they need to be alone. Tell them to go home and relax, watch TV, go to a movie with their friends, do something with their parents, go to church, anything. Just tell them to clear their mind and forget about the test for a couple days. And whatever you do, don’t call them this weekend.”
Monday the lucky 12 went back to work. Most were putting five-hour days, in addition to their regular schoolwork. They studied and took practice tests as a team and then broke out into individual study groups to work on their weaknesses. Their support groups were fabulous and there was no shortage of student and faculty support.
The group switched from the Princeton review and the Official SAT guide used to prepare for the first test, to the Kaplan prep book. Matthews figured the SAT testing group was going to change the emphasis in this 2nd test and they needed to be prepared for all contingencies. Wednesday they took a full, five-hour practice test that was graded and reviewed with each student. The scores reflected only a slight improvement over the first tests. This was enough to validate the initial test results, but I knew Matthew wanted more. Friday was a light study day, but the big news appeared in the morning newspaper. Headlines of the Metro section proclaimed;
STUDENTS ASKED TO RETAKE SAT
AMID RUMORS OF CHEATING!
Someone had leaked the story to the media. The stakes were raised. There were sure to be cameras at the high school, which again would be used as the testing site. The team met at a small restaurant at 7 AM and ate a light breakfast. Father McGinnis said the prayer of thanks. At 7:30, the lucky 12 were driven to school in two vans and a police escort with lights flashing.
The roar started as the police car rounded the last corner and headed for the school parking lot. It was Saturday morning, but attendance was perfect, including the faculty. Kids lined the streets cheering and roaring their support. The lucky 12 waved at the crowd of well wishers as they entered the school, accompanied by a chant of; Kick Ass! Kick Ass! Kick Ass! The 20 or so television crews including the major networks, captured it all on film.
“START,” the monitor announced, and the re-testing had begun.
Matthew finished the creative writing section and scanned the room. He noticed four video cameras filming the students from every corner and assumed there were microphones set to pick up every word. “Good,” he thought, there will be no questions this time. He noticed that his entire team had put their pencils down before time was announced.
“TIME,” please turn the page and read the instructions for the next section. They were into the routine.
Matthew didn’t notice any major differences although there were a few Trig questions that were pretty difficult. He worried that some of the others might have problems. He made himself concentrate; he had done all he could.
The We Kick Ass chant started in the stadium just before the morning break was over. I was one of the room monitors and counted 12 smiles. Outside, there was still 100% attendance.
It was almost 1:00 PM when the final test section was completed and the pencils ceremoniously thrown into a disposal basket. There would be only a short delay until the exams were graded and Matthew insisted the team wait inside until they knew the results. The first half of the tests had been turned in at the break, so it shouldn’t take too long to complete the scoring. ‘We Kicked Ass’ cheers could be heard from the impatient crowd and captured by the waiting television crews.
I had been around Matthew long enough to know that when he got involved with something, it turned out well. Expecting the best, I had volunteers put everyone’s name on the football scoreboard. As each person entered the football stadium, the person’s plus score would be put posted next to the name. A zero would indicate there was no improvement over the first test. I knew I was taking a chance, but I had never been disappointed betting on Matthew.
Matthew was pacing the floor nervously when the local SAT official came in with a pool of television cameras. His cell phone rang and he handed the phone to Principal Hawkins. After a few moments, we heard Hawkins ask if he could put the call on the speaker phone.
The image of President George Bush III appeared on television as his voice came over the speaker phone. “Principal Hawkins, I want to congratulate you and these fine students on a job well done. I am told by my HEW secretary that the scores on your first SAT test were so good, we asked you to prove it to us, and you did just that. I am proud to tell you the scores from the test you just completed are 10% higher than the scores from the first test, the ones we feared were too good to be true. Eleven of the 12 students improved. Congratulations.”
“Thank you Mr. President. I am proud of these young adults, especially Matthew Wilson who I am told was the catalyst behind this achievement. “
“Matthew, can you hear me?”
“Yes I can, Mr. President.”
“I understand you are a quite a basketball player as well as a student, Matthew. Where are you going to college?”
“Well, I don’t have my SAT score yet so I’m not sure if I qualify anywhere.”
It’s hard to make an experienced politician laugh spontaneously, but this tickled the President’s funny bone. His laugh was genuine. “Well, Matthew, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you were the only one of the twelve not to improve their score. Your score was the same.”
The President waited for Matthew to respond. “Yes sir,” Matthew replied confidently. He knew what was coming.
“Your score was a perfect
2,400 on both tests. Congratulations.”
The “He Kicked Ass – He Kicked Ass” cheer resounded from the stadium and could be heard by the President.
“I like the cheer. Anyway, congratulations to all 12 of you that did so well on the SAT today; you really kicked some butt. You let me know if I can do anything for you.”
The President hung up and the kids filed out of the school into the packed stadium. One by one the kids saw their scores posted on the scoreboard and received a rousing ovation. The loudest roar was saved for Matthew, the only one that had not improved his SAT score.
I managed to corner him later that day and congratulated him on his team’s performance. “You did a great job holding them together,” I told him sincerely.
“Thanks, Coach. Was it that tough coaching our basketball team?”
“No, that was a pleasure, particularly since we didn’t get as much publicity. By the way, how do you suppose the press found out that we were asked to retake the SAT?”
Matthew just grinned.