Westbrook’s entire approach to education was based upon pre-diagnosed behavior patterns, counseling, and course work designed to meet academic and behavioral deficiencies.
Peter Colmes grew up in North Carolina. He graduated with honors in psychology from North Carolina State College. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans for his master’s degree in clinical psychology and also graduated with honors from Tulane. His thesis was on child and adolescent behavioral problems. Colmes conducted extensive research on problem youth and young adults. He collected data working with youth gang prisoners in a variety of facilities including Louisiana juvenile detention facilities, older youth in Angola State Prison, the New Orleans Police Department and Child Services Administration and two private hospitals. Mr. Colmes was in the second year of his Ph.D. program at Tulane continuing similar work while preparing his dissertation on testing procedures for students with educational and behavioral problems.
The meeting with Wade, his parents and Mr. Colmes was on a Friday afternoon. As the door opened, Wade and his parents looked at Mr. Colmes and they all immediately smiled. Peter Colmes was not what they had expected. He was a short, frail, skinny man with a long neck and protruding Adams apple that moved when he spoke. He wore horned rimmed glasses and a bow tie. Peter Colmes could be a stand-in for the television comedy host at the time, “Mr. Peepers,” played by Wally Cox. He was a living caricature of “Mr. Peepers.” While students publicly called Mr. Colmes “Mr. Pete,” it was not uncommon to hear him referred to as “Mr. Peepers” behind his back.
In a quiet and almost apologetic style, Colmes started the meeting by thanking the Hanna’s for coming and said to Wade directly, “I feel I know a little about you after reading your test results, but I am glad you have come today. Feel free to call me Mr. Pete, and I want any of you to feel free to ask any questions you might have as we go through Wade’s test results.”
Wade nodded. His parents also nodded and remained silent.
Mr. Pete continued. “I will be starting with your IQ.” Wade immediately put his head in his hands, expecting the worst and ready for embarrassment in front of his parents. Mr. Pete said,” Wade, you have a very high IQ. As a matter of fact, your IQ ranks in the top 1 % of the country.”
Wade’s mother quickly interrupted, “If he is so damn smart why is he having so many problems in school?”
“We are coming to that, Ms. Hanna.” Pete resumed speaking to Wade. “You also have high math skills. Were you aware of that?”
Wade shook his head from side to side.
“You also have good English comprehensive and recognition scores. You were a little weak in spelling and sentence structure.” Mr. Pete continued, “You show strong mechanical skills. Your preference testing was extremely mixed and contradictorily. We have a lot of that in this school.”
Mr. Pete looked at Wade’s parents, “We frequently find this pattern in students with problems at home.”
You could hear a pin drop in the room as Mr. Pete looked at each family member. He continued speaking to Wade, “You show good distinction between right and wrong and do not show a tendency toward criminal behavior, although you do show strong feelings against authority. This is also not uncommon for students with problems at home.”
Mr. Pete paused to look directly at each of Wade’s parents, and then turned back to Wade, “Your aptitude and interest levels toward learning are slightly above the norm. You are quickly frustrated when you are not challenged, which is why you probably scored high in the competitive assessment ranking” He commented, “That tendency, if unchallenged and not directed can also lead to problems. You have a high score in “Investigative Curiosity” which is interesting in itself. You may find it interesting to see your results charted in terms of how they compare to national averages.”
Mr. Pete proceeded to lay out charts and graphs on the conference table.
Wade’s father stood up, taking an immediate interest in the results as he studied the charts. He commented, “This is very interesting. It definitely takes a very scientific approach.”
Wade stood with his father, overlooking the conference table and charts. His mother remained seated, showing little interest in the discussion of details. Wade’s father was more engaged. He now saw the tests results being expressed as data points similar to a scientific experiment he could understand rather than as Wade’s behavioral and academic profile.
Wade’s mother seemed left out of the discussion and looked irritated as the data discussion sailed over her head. After Mr. Pete and Wade’s father exchanged a few details comparing the scores, his mother commented, “This is all well and good, but can’t a student fake the results? I think Wade probably faked all these tests results.”
“That is a good question Mrs. Hanna. However, the answer to your question is no. It is highly unlikely that Wade could have faked his answers. These tests all have built in mechanisms to catch a person who is faking answers, and I have spent many years studying and reviewing test results. I am able to quickly spot someone who is trying to fake them. I do not believe Wade did anything like that here,”
Wade’s mother continued, “What does it mean about Wade’s acceptance in this school?”
“What it means is that Westbrook is prepared to accept Wade, and we will design a course program to address the academic areas he is behind in. And he will have to undergo counseling sessions with me twice a week or more. We’ll evaluate Wade again at the end of the school year.”
Mr. Pete paused before continuing, “There is one more condition for Wade’s acceptance.”
His mother asked, “Which is?”
“You and Mr. Hanna would have to agree to participate in several counseling sessions with me as well. These sessions may or may not include Wade. I will determine that.”
Wade’s Mother sounded defensive. “Are you saying we need counseling?”
Mr. Pete replied, “A family functions best as a unit. If there is a problem with a family member in the unit it usually involves more than one person. I can’t tell you yet how many sessions would be needed, but I need your commitment to attend at least three in order to obtain Wade’s acceptance in the school.”
His mother replied, “Yeah, we’ll do it,”
“Well then,” Mr. Pete continued, “We’ll be sending you the paperwork for Wade’s enrollment in a few weeks”.
Wade settled in with his Aunt May and his new school and would experience a year he could never have imagined. For this year there would be no beatings and no problems at home. In time, Wade even grew to like his weekly sessions with Mr. Pete.
7
Wade did well at Westbrook. His skill deficiencies improved and he moved his stronger subjects ahead by two grade levels. His separate sessions with Mr. Pete were also helping. Instead of punishment there were counseling sessions where Wade had to confront uncomfortable aspects of his childhood anger and his behavior toward others. These sessions gave Wade insight about how he approached personal problems and led to Wade making better decisions and taking responsibility for their consequences. Wade felt more confident and in control of his life. He was also away from his troubled home. Aunt May and her family also provided a much needed positive home environment.
His new school experience had its own twists. Unlike his grammar school, this school was truly co-ed, with boys and girls mixed in every class and on the playfield. Although awkward at first, Wade quickly warmed up to the idea of girls being around. He was still naive when it came to the opposite sex. His only experience with girls was with his two sisters and his female cousins, and that experience did not provide any help for the lessons he was about to learn. One of the older girls, who often saw him around the school, and on the playing field with his shirt off, took a liking to him. Her name was Janelle.