I Hope You Will Never Regret

Four years later……

Principal Glen was in his office with Grade 00 class teacher, Mrs Carrie Cope, discussing Avery Martins. She looked at Principal Glen and said, “Principal Glen, I have a learner in my class who is highly intelligent. I think it is a waste of time to keep her in Grade 00.”

Principal Glen replied, “Mrs Cope, why don’t you assess her to see if she can cope in Grade 0. Then I will support your decision.” Mrs Cope smiled and replied, “Principal Glen, it’s been a while since I saw anyone so intelligent. Do you remember Xavier Taylor? We have another genius at our school. I have already assessed her until Grade 2. She passed with flying colours. Why don’t we move her to Grade 1 after the second term school holidays?”

Principal Glen smiled broadly when he thought about Xavier Taylor. His grandfather took him out of school and he arranged tutors for him. He was highly intelligent, and he was easy on the eye.

He smiled and said, “I trust your judgement, Mrs Cope. I will call Avery’s father, Mr Martins, to discuss this matter with him. Then I will come back to you.” Mrs Cope thanked Principal Glen and left his office.

Principal Glen dialed Mr Martins’ number. When it was connected, he said, “Hello Mr Martins, sorry to trouble you. We had a meeting with Miss Martins’ class teacher, Mrs Cope. She indicated that your daughter, Miss Martins, is highly intelligent for Grade 00. She conducted some assessment from Grade R to Grade 2 and she passed with flying colours. How would you feel if we moved her to Grade 1 in the third term?”

Mr Martins wasn’t surprised when he heard Principal Glen’s words and replied, “Principal Glen, my concern is that her brother is currently in Grade 1. I don’t want her to finish high school before him. Please move her to Grade R, then the following year she can go to Grade 1. Thank you for calling me.” Then they hung up.

During the second term school holidays, Avery spent time watching high school educational channels on the television. One day, she approached her father with a list of books she wanted her father to buy for her. Her father was surprised when he saw the list. They were Grade 8 to Grade 12 books. He looked at her and asked, “Sweetheart, why are you looking for these books?”

Avery smiled at her father and replied, “I have been studying these subjects on television, but I don’t have any foundation. I believe that these books will increase my understanding and knowledge of the subject.” Her father looked at her with a smile on his face and said, “Sweetheart, follow me.”

They went to his father’s study room. He picked her up, and then he showed her the books on the top shelf. Her eyes lit up when she saw Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Accounting books from Grade 8 to university. She was overjoyed. She asked her father to pack them up for her.

The following year, on the 10th of February, it was Mr Martins’ birthday. He told the family driver that he would take his children to school. When they arrived at school, Mr Martins went to Aiden’s class to drop him. Then he held her daughter’s hand and said, “Sweetheart, let’s go to your class.”

Avery refused to go to her class and said, “Daddy, I don’t want to go to my class because I am not learning anything. It is boring. May I go to my brother’s class?”

Her father looked at her and replied, “Sweetheart, you can’t go to your brother’s class because of your age. You just turned five years old. Also, you have just started in Grade 1. Why don’t you paint if you feel bored?”

Her brother was doing Grade 2; her father was in a dilemma. He knew that his daughter was a genius. She would be bored, and then they would move her to the next grade. He was scared that it would put more pressure on his eldest son.

He went to Principal Glen’s office with his daughter. He knocked on the door, Principal Glen said, “Come in.” Mr Martins greeted Principal Glen with a smile and said, “Apologies for budging into your office without making an appointment. Is it possible to move my daughter, Avery, to her brother’s class? Maybe she will change her mind and go back to her class when she is bored.”

Principal Glen smiled and replied, “Mr Martins, your daughter is highly intelligent, and I think she will go far in life. I believe that being in the same class with her brother would be a good idea.”

Principal Glen immediately called the Grade 2 class teacher to his office. A few minutes later, Mr Joel Jacobs entered Principal Glen’s office. He greeted everyone then Principal Glen told him about Mr Martins’ request. Mr Jacobs took Avery to his class; he arranged for her to sit beside her brother. She was grinning from ear to ear.

By the end of the week, Mr Jacobs realized that Avery was very intelligent. He saw her solving an Algebra problem. She was solving a simultaneous equations problem. He was so shocked; he realized that Avery was good at Mathematics. She was a quick thinker.

In the staff room, Principal Glen looked at Mr Jacobs and said, “How is Miss Martins doing?” Mr Jacobs smiled and replied, “We have another genius in our school. Principal Glen, it’s been a while since our school won the Mathematics Olympiad. I was thinking, why don’t we include Miss Martins in our selection?”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Principal Glen looked at Mr Jacobs puzzled and asked, “Why are you saying that Mr Jacobs?” He told Principal Glen that he saw Miss Martins solving Mathematics problems with ease.

Trinity Leadership Academy was preparing to enter the Mathematics Olympiad competition. They had selected learners from Grade 8 to Grade 12 who were good at Mathematics to compete with other schools. Principal Glen asked Mr Jacobs to bring Miss Martins to his office.

When he saw her, he smiled and said, “Good morning, Miss Martins, I heard that you are good at Mathematics. Have you heard about the Mathematics Olympiad competition?” Avery smiled back and replied, “Yes Sir, I have.”

Principal Glen asked, “Our school is going to take part in the Mathematics Olympiad competition. Are you interested in being part of the learners who will compete this year?” Avery smiled brightly and replied, “Really? It will be fun.”

The following day in the school assembly, Principal Glen said, “Our school will be competing with other schools in the Mathematics Olympiad competition three weeks from now. We have selected learners from Grade 8 to Grade 12. However, if you feel that you were overlooked, feel free to give your name to your class teacher.”

He took a sip of water from the mineral water bottle and said, “Next week, Thursday at 10 am, we will be conducting a two-hour examination to test your knowledge. The pass mark will be 60% and those learners who will obtain 60% and above will represent our school. Study hard and make our school proud. I wish you all the best in advance.” The learners were so excited they clapped their hands.