Teamwork

Just a little note of excitement that my friend Sam and I pulled off yesterday. Okay, maybe it's not that exciting to YOU, but you're talking to two people teaching 6th graders for summer school in 90 degree weather, and we take whatever we can get for a moral victory.

Sam is one of my good friends here at Institute (see pictures below of the Ba-Ba-Reeba dinner and the Sox game) and she teaches math. Since I'm doing prep during math periods, I could help her out in her delivery. Her class was working on ratios. She wanted to work out the ratio of 2/5=20/50 and asked me to work it into a baking example in a faux letter from Mario Batali to the class. I, an avid Iron Chef fan, was pleased to oblige. I wrote the letter and had her approve it (which she did) and came into her class at the beginning of the math session.

She goes, "Class, I think we  have a visitor!" I ran to the front and said, "IS THIS ROOM 303!?" They looked confused and nodded. So I proceeded to tell them that a VERY IMPORTANT message arrived like fifteen minutes ago and it was specifically meant for this very classroom. Then I read the letter:

Dear Room 303,


Mario's my name, and food is my game. I've been working like crazy here in the kitchen this summer. As you know, I'm a famous chef and I'm in high demand. I've been catering a LOT of fancy events and dinners. While math is not my strong suit, I heard that you guys are THE go-to classroom for fractions, decimals, and percents. When I ran into a little bit of trouble the other day when making my signature frosting recipe, they said, "Mario! You need to ask Ms. Handel's math class for help! They will know what to do." So I'm wondering if you can help me out. The fate of a cake depends on your math skills.


The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of vanilla for every 5 cups of sugar. I was in a rush and already threw 50 CUPS of sugar in my massive mixing bowl! So here I am, ready to put in the vanilla, but I need to make sure I follow the recipe EXACTLY because it is my top secret formula that makes the perfect combination of flavors.


Can you help? How much vanilla do I add? I am forever indebted to your math abilities.

Sincerely Yours,

Mario Batali

Then I said that I wish MY classroom was lucky enough to get a letter like this and my job was done.

Honestly, I'm thinking about renting out my services as a faux letter deliverer. You get to be there with the kids, you only have to be in charge during the fun part of the lesson, and it's not up to you to do any discipline! Perfect!