[Fhsst-admin-priv] Last attempt at interesting news

[Mark Horner]

Hi guys

I don't know what was happening so here is my last attempt
at sending you a section of an email I got from Clare. Its about
a project we may be able to help or collaborate with. Also Clare
is interested in helping us. Here is an extract from her email:

I'm very impressed - it looks really cool and it's written in a nice style 
-
conversational but not patronisingly or too informally. the physics bit
looks really good - I made all sorts of favourable comparisons with those
terrible books we had when we were at school! the drawings are good too -
what did you use to do them? Smartdraw? (or are you an MS Paint maestro? 
:)

I know of someone else who might be interested in it - the son (he was
headmaster of Abbotts for 5 years) of a couple who I go to church with has
just started a school in Mowbray for gifted township kids in grades 10-12 
(I
think) and it focuses on maths and science. because a lot of their 
problems
stem from a poor command of English, I think they are doing English as
well - just those three subjects. it's intense - school from 8 until 5.15
every day. the children pay nominal fees - hardly anything, so they rely 
on
sponsorship from business and some very committed teachers. they are
affiliated to Bishops - use their facilities after normal school hours.
school began this year, with a grade 10 (or 11) class, and a new class 
will
be added each year until all three (two?) grades are there. about 120
students I think.

I have a feeling I will end up doing something to do with this school one
day, it keeps coming up in conversation and I am very curious to know more
about it.. I think it is called Leap or something.

did you know that the number of black students (from all backgrounds and 
at
private/government schools) who passed *both* maths and science on the
higher grade in the Western Cape is 5? five.

I would be happy to read over the whole thing when each section is ready 
and
edit it from an English perspective - apostrophes, etc (if you don't 
already
have someone to do that), and I would be glad to cast my beady eye more
closely over the maths section and tie that together perhaps. let me look
more closely at the trig and think about doing some writing for that... I
think that'd be fun. I always want to explain to people why I love maths 
so
much, what it reveals about the order of the world we live in, but I never
get a chance... this seems like a soapbox to climb onto :)



-- 
Mark Horner

UCT-CERN Research Centre
Physics Department
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch
7700
South Africa

Phone: +27 21 650 3366 (office)
Phone: +27 83 564 6272 (cellular)
Fax:   +27 21 650 3342
AIM:   marknewlyn

Homepage:
http://hep.phy.uct.ac.za/~horner

Co-author:
http://www.nongnu.org/fhsst
http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/fhsst

"It went well. There are no problems, and, as a bonus, it showed that I
have a brain!"
- Stormers and Springbok backrower CORNE KRIGE speaking after undergoing a
precautionary brain scan after a clash of heads during a Super 12 match.