STORIES FROMI PlPA BILL AMMIMG GRACE
Transcript of STORIES FROMI PlPA BILL AMMIMG GRACE
FROMI PlPA BILL
AMMIMG
Although Hall Callanan
Pipa Jen r~ Roosevelt,
Roosevelt
(Wellesley 1903), qualification
school instilled lawyers,
puzzles
exactly
(all 1's
invariably
"should ."
pupils
fulfillment
still
Formula.
formula. exactly
could
could ltighly
STORIES
GRACE
much fuss is often made over the pedagogy of Dorothy at
(see Stories From Bill- Callanan) and ie Brod y at one of
the greatest teachers in my education was Grace Dean Maynard, the outstanding
mathematics teacher at High School. A graduate of one of the seven
sister schools an unusual in the Des Moines
system, she in me and so many others - doctors,
engineers, and other achievers - a love of the subject and one which never left
me. I still enjoy math and do them just for the fun of it.
As a teenager in the war years 1941-1945, 1 was not a paragon of virtue
but, despite those adolescent "high-jinks," my grades were also high and
2's) and especially in mathematics. Mrs. Maynard would employ a strategy of
giving me a "2" at mid-semester (even though I "maxed" her tests) and
combined this with her remark on the report card, be 1 Then she would
create a project for me and another of her "star" in the same grade (but not
same class), Vincent Starzinger, Jr., the of which would justify the
highest grade.
One of these projects, memorable, was that of demonstrating the proof and
explaining it to the class, of Heron's Just recently, I revisited this
While it isn't a page from a rocket scientist's notebook, I was
nonetheless very pleased (and proud) that I track the development of the
proof and explain it if asked (which is unlikely). See attached
exhibit.
Vincent Starzinger, Jr. and I worked together in preparing for this presentation.
My mother was so pleased (even comforted) that I was spending time with
Taft,
(Sr.)
The
to Mount Everesf. vote
most
"zingers,"
what
1111
rrridway
Vincent instead of my delinquent compatriots. Vincent's father was the General
Counsel for The Register and Tribune, a Harvard Law School graduate where he
was on the Law Review (together with Robert son of the then President of
the U.S.). He was considered a towering and arguably the leading local
intellectual.
Vincent Jr. was first in his class at Roosevelt High School. yearbook reads:
Ambition: be the first man up He gets our
for the likely to succeed.
In fact, he came close on both counts. He was first in his class at Harvard. In
year of "singers" and the Harvard class of 1950 included Henry
Kissinger (later Secretary of State) and James Schlesinger (later Secretary of
Defense). Starzinger and Kissinger both graduated summa cum laude, but
Vincent's class standing was higher. He also received a law degree and PHD at
Harvard, ultimately teaching at Dartmouth College where he was perennially
selected the students' favorite professor. And during those years, he climbed the
Matterhorn! The North Side!
I spent only three semesters (a year and one-half) at Roosevelt when I
transferred to Shattuck School for another three semesters. When I left, Grace
Maynard said she would miss me, and I told her I would miss her and meant it.
The first semester at Shattuck, I received the highest math grades in the school
and 100 on the final exam, a result not of I learned at Shattuck, but what
Grace Maynard taught me. However, I was not given the math prize (see
7/99 letter to Peter Mansfield at Shattuck).
English was another matter. Entering at midyear when the class was
through a review of English literature and Shakespeare, I did not "hit the ground
running" in that subject.
(post Shattuck)
Amherst,
Amherst
calculus was a
Epilogue
Mathematics ushered me into U.S. Navy electronics. At
required freshman course. After my Navy recall, I returned to and
mathematics: Analytical Geometry, differential equations, and probability theory,
which boosted my average. At Harvard Business School, I received a Distinction
in Finance. Early on, Amazing Grace instilled in me a joy and a confidence in
mathematics learning.
F2 3% z% p2 wz p ; ~ $2 p::; --. -- .- -- -. -. -- -. - - -- --- - -- - +- --A.v
AND ONE TWO
'IINCENT "Vinw" Everest.
STEARNS
i'iot
JACglYN
STOCKHAM- ~~ ~- -. -4mbition: be ambassador
Ambition: ~niqhty Inan i ~ e l d
tii*
Row
nlan
- -
STRATTON 'Zo" Rollins.
MARUEE "Mmi" A~nbilion:
CHARLENE "Chcu-Iene"
with
T H E 1 9 4 6 R O U N D U P . .. . ... . .. ..
ONE IS Amazing Grace Gives " Sta r" Another "Zinger ."
Row Five STARZINGER
Ambition: To be the first man u p Mt. He gets our vote for the most likely to succeed.
MARY LOU "Queenie" Ambition: To settle down a n d raise . . . puppies.Our boogie-woogie queen . . . has lots of pep.
SHIRLEY STEWART "Shirl" Ambition: To sew my w a y to success.
only good but good ior something.
Row Six STOLL "Jackie"
Ambition: To learn to talk---back. Sweet, friendlv and nice.
JIM "Doc" To io Paris.
I-!urnor and loyalty to his friends. ROBERT STONECIPHER "Stony"
To play football. A on the a n d a lady's on
floor.
Seven..-LOWELL
Ambition: To play tennis a t Our chief justice who is sure to succeed.
STOVER To have a date with Gregory Peck.
Until she came along the world w a s incomplete. STOLL
Ambition: To live the life of Riley. Wins many friends her likable ways.
Formula
A v' P ( P - ~ ) ( P - ~ ) ( P - ~ )
2p a+b+c
The
ughftriangle
c2
b)2
b)(a
triangles ca.lculated
(c-c,)~
Heron's
The area of a triangle can be calculated if the length of its three sides are known:
=
Where a, b and c are the sides of the triangle, is the perimeter, and p is
called the semi-perimeter.
Proof
proof follows from an extension of the Pythagorean theorem which holds that:
=
In a the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs is equal to the square
of the length of the hypotenuse.
a2 + b2 =
The proof also employs these common equations:
(a + = a2 + 2ab + b2
and (a + - b) = a2 - b2
Begin by creating the height (h) perpendicular to the base, thereby creating two right
which can be by the Pythagorean Theorem:
A) a2 = h2 +
h,b,c)
4c2:
c ) ~ a2:)[a2 c ) ~ ]
a)(b a)(a c)(a
IVow,
a + b + c = 2 p
Rearranging:
Then, of course:
Now back to Pythagoras: (and the right triangle
Multiply each "element" by
Introduce binomial analogous equations as to follow the next step
= [(b + - - (b -
Which can be broken down as follows:
(b + c + + c - + b - - b + c )
introduce
and
That
And
LU-. / I - - :-- . . : - - . C . l L n - ~ ~ n - l - ; m r - l n a ~ x r + n n
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught m y heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
grace will lead me home.
htm
PEVERILL CAPrTALL P M N I N G INCORPOPZAL
Moines, Iowa
,'.!..
\..
IVovember
0 .
"newboy"
I
--a
Enc.
Amherst,
TED
505 Fifth Avenue, Suite 906 Des 50309-2316
Tel: 515-243-1146 Fax: 515-243-2544 William J. Peverill, CFP John A. Peverill. CFP
17, 1999
Mr. Peter Mansfield Director of Development Shattuck-St. Mary's School P. Box 21 8 Faribault, Minnesota 55021
Dear Peter:
The Shattuck Crack Squad was more forgiving of my short-term status when they let me become the first t o become a member of the squad than was the academic administration and faculty of the school.
My grade in mathematics for "the year" was 97 (see attached) which was the highest mathematics grade in the school, but it was decided that I would not be awarded the mathematics prize because had only been there a half year. This was rather embarrassing after I had already told m y parents that I had won. The non-event is one of those little annoyances in life that one doesn't forget.
However, rather than "go away mad," what I would like t o do is begin to develop a fund for awarding a prize to the student that receives the highest grade in a mathematics final exam.
Let's discuss this.
Kind regards. Sincerely,
William J. Peverill President
P.S. I clearly did not set any records in English that year. This improved the following year, but really I learned to write at Harvard and later in my career.
Yesnr's
11
II 84 -.
requircd for collcge. "Inc-' indicates ~nco~npletc :llncss,
Silvcr il~dicatcs Gold avcragc computcd nine
mid,.).ear csami~~ation, double final exa-minat~on. - -
the G 1-2 I
date r-
i J-
F o n l ~
I Dcmerits asigncd (year) 13 I 53 I
Gcncral . . . . . 56 -
" , :?-> ." -I
, L1.L.-
'Kl"ease Kramer i~l~lllediately
. . . . 1 11 six wceks) I
5
Summary Year Ending June 3, 1945
'"Preparing For Form
Gcncral Avcrnge .
60 is passing, 70 is certification to work becnusc of or failure to complete "outside reading". A Star Honors; a Star, High Honors. Ycnr's
is by dividing by the total of the grades for the sis periods, the and the
MERIT R A T I N G Squad I Demerits
. . .Assigned past weeks 0
VERY SIGNIFICANT
IAssigned to . . . . .
Rank in
. . . i I
Number in Form
Average (year)
Effort and Application (Past 9
, ,
notify Mr. if incorrect.
WELLESLEM
I903
1
nlJmerous
Shattuck,
1
GRACE DEAN MAYNARD
COLLEGE
CLASS OF
I wanted to find out more about Grace Maynard, so I wrote Wellesley College
whose archivist provided me several interesting bits of information. Clearly, she
was a very loyal and dedicated alumna. Both of her daughters attended
Wellesley. It is no wonder that she expressed sincere disappointment when she
learned that Katie chose Vassar.
was surprised to learn that her mathematics courses were apparently limited to
freshman year: a) Solid and spherical geometry, b) Higher algebra, c) Plane
trigonometry. While teaching in Des Moines, she acquired a master degree and
probably learned more mathematics then.
She was an athlete. She played on Wellesley's championship basketball team.
She submitted information regularly to her class notes, describing (but free of
complaint) her husband's lifetime of illness spent in a sanitarium. He
predeceased her by over fifteen years. She was a saintly survivor.
Grace received awards locally and nationally for her teaching
achievements. I found these remarks from the 1945 class note especially
interesting: "I am busy and happy in my teaching - feeling rewarded by special
commendation for the number of my boys who pass the 'Eddy' tests." This was
the same test I took after graduating from which admitted me to navy
electronics school. I would have enhanced her numbers.
She died April 5, 1958. This was unknown to me at the time. I was also
unaware of the "Grace Maynard Memorial Fund" which had I known would have
ta
32.21!
perpetuated. There are many who still remember Grace Maynard, contrary
the attached 1974 correspondence. What a fuss over $1
Hebrew hstory canaa~yto ~ o l o k o n . Woollevl
2 - iiygiene Physioiogy of fresh~~ieii; iauglit bji Eveljin E.
1: Tacitus:
M. Elwrina
CaroIine Breyfogle] Hubbard,
Pliny's
semester;
Mathematics 1: a) Solid and Spherical Geometry [first semester]; b) Higher Algebra; c) Plane Trigonometry [second semester]. [required of freshmen; taught by several instructors]
English1: General Survey. [required of freshmen; taught by Sophie Chantal Hart, Laura Emma Lockwood, Katherine Bates]
Biblical History 1 [Old Testament]: Studies in from the settlement of the Age of [required of freshmen; taught by Mary Emma
i: and Hygiene. [required Sherrard]
Latin Cicero: Selected Letters and De Senectute. Germania and Agricola, Capes' Early Empire. Selections from Horace. [taught by Alice Walton, Caroline Rebecca Fletcher]
German 2: Elementary Course. [taught by Louise C. Habermeyer, Elizabeth Wilhelmine Fette, Margaretha Mitzlaff]
English 2: Exposition and Criticism. [required for a degree; taught by Alice Vinton Waite, Olive Rumsey]
Biblical History 2: Studies in Hebrew history from the Age of David to the Fall of Jerusalem. [required of sophomores; taught by Adelaide Imogene Locke,
M. Zoology 1: General Biology. [taught by Marian Elizabeth Mary Alice
Bowers] German 5: Grammar and Composition (Intermediate Course). [taught by Margaretha
Elwina Mitzlaff, Frieda Reuther] German 6: Schiller (Elementary Course). [taught by Margarethe Miiller, Margaretha
Elwina Mitzlaff, Frieda Reuther] German 7: Translation and Conversation (Intermediate Course). [taught by
Margarethe Miiller, Margaretha Elwina Mitzlaff, Frieda Reuther] Latin 2: Horace: Odes and Epodes. [first semester; taught by Alice Walton, Caroline
Rebecca Fletcher] Latin 3: Epistles of Horace. Letters. [second semester; taught by Harriet Boyd
Hawcs, Alice Walton] History 1: Political History of England to 1603. [first semester; taught by Elizabeth
Kimball Kendall, Julia Swift Orvis] History 2: Political History of England from 1603 to the present time. [second
taught by Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, Julia Swift Orvis]
[taught Gause McCaulley J Adeline Locke]
Acheson McCulloch
5:
Hale
[tau@ Car'La -menci<ebachj Goethe's Margarethe Miiller]
12: Mrolsungensaga. Plautus
I-Iorace Juvenal. I-lawesl
Latin Corngosition. taughk
I~Villiam H. Florette Itaught
LI, LII. by
~ducationai Jane McKeag]
Kendal.11
%7aTnut Wellesley
English 15: Debates. by Martha Biblical History 4: Life of Christ. [taught by Imogene Philosophy 1: Introduction to Psychology. [first semester; taught by Eleanor
Gamble] Philosophy Introduction to Philosophy. [second semester; taught by Ethel Dench
Puffer] English Literature 1: Outline History of English Literature. [taught by Martha
Shackford] German 9: Advanced Course in German Composition. by German 11: Life and Works. [taught by German Germanic Mythology and [taught by Carla Wenckebach] Latin 4: Comedy. Selected plays of and Terence. [first semester; taught by
Harriet Boyd Hawes] Latin 5: Satire. Selections chiefly from and [second semester; taught
by Harriet Boyd 11: Latin Prose Intermediate Course. [first semester only; by Caroline Rebecca Fletcher]
Geology 1: Geology. [taught by Niles, Elizabeth Fisher] Art 11: An Outline Course in the History of Art. by Alice Van Vechtcn Brown] Latin 13: Livp: Books I, Study of early political institutions of Rome. Ovid: Fasti.
Study of religious institutions. [taught Caroline Rebecca Fletcher] Pedagogy 2: History of Education. theories. [taught by Anna
History 7: History of the United States from 1787. [taught by Elizabeth Kimball
Grace Dean was born on November 4,1880. She attended Hill School, Natick, MA, before coming to College.
411 Des Noines, 1 0 3 : ~ 50312 '
1974
Wellesley <..,. .. : ;,v,: .: "
_' ' .. 1 '
.. , . I !,u \ . TQ
I . Icadarn: ; $ ~ D - A ' ' 0 .-
: ~race , ,T6~nzrd , .; -.) .-, who ; .\>
? Moines, iqaynaz-d Neaorinl,Fmcln
.established. s l i z e 1 i
$10 e- G C ~ of ~ V T O Efg:i i
3 t h a yvzr,s, : .3 ? d e t a i l s NcGeorge 32
r. rr : -9 2i2<.Davis. pnst : .winter : ' 2 . 2 - ~ y h u s b a n d .
*J mater- : \) f. -.. -., : -;&j;$ial : f .:, ,,,awards the .. . t he -.- .;'i ?&'count $0
- ::..-; \ . - , % , L!%
qlJ ; <21n with T4r. 2 ' *ison, Iqathematics Department ~t :$ ' :'$the
s i c c e noone ; a w a ~ d
given
d l f f i c u l t app2o- .' 3 '... - p r i a t e sGudents :..- .\. . '
t . . ~. .. ; .;;i' 29, 1974 -:-'? . . - h
*..'.,.. l., - ,, r :. t h z t r.
\ . , w a s Y..: '-2 - :;'C ,.
! l e t ~ a 2 s ., {"It
', \ , , I , 'and whom ,.Li 'i' \ 1 ' C
'? \A . \ ,& (GcriC,) I .- J ~ L ! ~ U C . ~ <
, I ,... ht I,'..;.. 4
! ? 1 , ,I,3 :j X r s . W, X, Bbeock (1940j .\ _ ^___.. _ _ - ..
56th S t .
Kay 20,
College . . Wellesley, Mass,
At tent ion: Scholarship P r i z e Chairnan
. . Dear 3
$ A Upon t h e death of ' a Wellesley
, alumna, had taught inathematics a t t h e
Roosevelt High School i n D e s Iowa, c a l l e d t h e "Grace
For many years t hen p l u s a p in w a s presented t o
s tuden t s i n mathematics a t Roosevelt a t graduat ion time. For p a s t s e v e r a l
of t h i s w a s handled by Marie , Upon h e r death t h i s h e r
Blaine Davis. passed t h e custody of t h e account a long t o m e . Included i n t h e
I received. is t h e no ta t i on t h a t should t h e be discont inued, ,balance i n ac.-. . .could r e v e r t t h e col lege:
.
a conversat ion today Cl in ton Ander-head of t h e
high school. it w a s decided t o d iscont inue t h e awards. M r . Anderson f e e l s t h z t t h e r e remembers M r s , Maynard t h e i s now meaningless and t h e money should be t o Wellesley Ins tead, H e a l s o s a i d it is o f t e n
o r Impossible t o s e l e c t t h e ,t o r ece ive t h e awards. .
. . . .
. A bank statement dated March s t a t e s t h a t t h e balance i n t h e account a t t ime
, . $132.31, There a r e a l s o f o u r gold p i n s , , ..
. I would l i k e t o send t h i s t o you i f you w i l l
me know how t h e check should be out! , t o it should be addressed.
S incere ly yours. .
. . . . _ _ . . . . . - _ _ -
. ,
.. . .
I
Em. Babcock:
k!s b v 0 hand Z133-37 used
Eaynard '00'3, be Q
&hie amount Xith Conmencenent p o t ,
behind work,
Howsuer, know immediately have received nornine gold
pina k o m e r l p been h o s e - v a l t H i g h as pr izes me%heoletfes.
see t h a t they are a a f e l y p l a c d Vel- l e s l e y Archiass, with o nanorandum
sL- l~ifuchcd c-5, ,Lor c&,;L? c-
e m t e f u l thanfrs t o mnttor
manner, h o w t h a t Eahrie c lassna te , would tho u l t ima te d i s p o s a l
Mrs. BOAp Butchmn
E m o K i l l i a m R. Babcock Street
Dea Koin&a, Iowa
June 5 , 1974
Dear
i n t h e check f o r to be as a scho la r sh ip gift i n memory of Grace
and you w i l l r ece iv ing r e c e i p t f o r soon. and Reunion weekend just w e are a l i t t l e
i n o u r
I wanted you t o that I t h i s the f o u r
which hod awarded t o School s t u d e n t s i n
I w i l l i n the along expla in ing
then.
Bag I edd o u r t o you f o r a t t e n d i n g t h i s i n such a n expedi t ious
I Davis, ny have been pleased w i t h
o f t h e prize,
Sincere ly yours,
Research Coordinator
411 56th