Texas Motor Speedway & Math

Through Mercy Street and the teachers at Carr Elementary, I had learned that Kevin was proficient in reading, but was struggling in math and science.  This is something I had been encouraging him to get excited about, but was unsure of how much progress was being made.

Recently, I offered him “the deal”.  If he would give me 3 strong weeks in these classes, I would take him to a NASCAR race.  He had never been to NASCAR, and had not followed it, but he appeared to be very excited about entering “the deal”.

After a week into “the deal”, I called him and asked how his part of the bargain was coming.  He was excited to tell me he had made a 100 on his math test the day before.  I called him the following week, which was race week and asked how the week had been going.  He reported he had made an 81 on his science test.  Needless to say, I was very excited about this.  Kevin demonstrated the capacity to make strides in subjects that are not his natural strength, thus we BOTH got to go to the NASCAR race!  I asked about how he pulled it off and he said he had studied for the test.  Yea!

             

Kevin & His New Buddy

I told him I would keep my end of the deal and would pick him up after school on Friday and we would head out to the race.  He seemed genuinely excited.  We stopped along the way and got some cokes and snacks.  When we got to Texas Motor Speedway, we toured through the vendor area.  Kevin met an interesting character along the way (see pic).    He also locked in on the Juan Pablo Montoya merchandise trailer.  He saw a t-shirt he really liked so we made another deal.  I told him I would give him so many bills and he had to tell me the change he would receive based on the price of the t-shirt.  After careful thought, he figured it out by thinking it out, no paper.  He got the shirt!

            

We went inside the track, where he learned to program a race scanner.  We were able to dial into race teams and hear their radio transmissions throughout the race.  When the cars came around to take the first green flag of the race, Kevin learned what “NASCAR Thunder” means.  The noise was deafening, as our chests vibrated from the horsepower.  I looked down and saw the biggest smile and the widest eyes I have seen on Kevin’s face.  It reminded me of my excitement, when I heard of his improved grades.

             

A NASCAR fan may have been born that night; and maybe even an engineer one day!