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Math can be tough — whether you're a 10-year-old, or even a police officer.
Fifth-grader Lena Draper was working on her homework last week when she got stuck on a math problem. Rather than ask her teacher or parents on how to solve it, she instead contacted her local police department.
The inventive student messaged the Marion, Ohio, Police Department via Facebook for help. Behind the chat screen at the police station was Lt. B.J. Gruber, who was game to help the confused student.
"I'm having trouble with my homework," Lena messaged the Police Department. "Could you help me?"
"OK, with what?" Gruber responded.
"Well I don't understand (8+29)x15," she replied.
Gruber then explained how to go about solving the problem: "Do the numbers in the parenthesis first so in essence it would be 37 X 15."
Apparently pleased with that answer, Lena pressed further. "OK, now if I had this (90+27)+(29+15)x2. Which one would I do first?" she asked.
Being ever so helpful, Gruber answered, "Take the answer from the first parenthesis plus the answer from the second parenthesis and multiply that answer times two. Work left to right doing the work inside the parenthesis first."
As plenty of people on social media later pointed out, Gruber's response to that math equation was incorrect.
"Order of operations ... PEMDAS! (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction). For future reference," one Facebook user wrote, TV station WBNS reported.
The exchange between the officer and fifth-grader went viral after Lena's mom, Molly Draper, posted screenshots of the conversation on Facebook. Draper thanked the Marion Police Department for its help in her post.
My daughter. Cause... She's my daughter. Thank you, Marion, Ohio Police Department, for truly building relationships with the community.
Posted by Molly Draper on Friday, February 17, 2017
Gruber, for his part, was good natured about getting the math wrong on the second problem.
"Hoping it is truly the thought that counts since apparently I cannot!" Gruber later wrote on the police station's Facebook page. "Especially since the answer was wrong, it was very nice for Molly to acknowledge our attempt to help her daughter with some math homework."
Gruber also took time to surprise the fifth-grader at her school Tuesday, sharing a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup together.
"This is probably the most unique message I've ever had," Gruber told Inside Edition. "This is the exact environment we try to nurture — this sense among children that not only can you come to us if you have a problem at home or at school, if we have time, we can answer homework questions, too."
http://www.sfgate.com/weird/article/10-year-old-asks-police-homework-help-10955100.php
Fifth-grader Lena Draper was working on her homework last week when she got stuck on a math problem. Rather than ask her teacher or parents on how to solve it, she instead contacted her local police department.
The inventive student messaged the Marion, Ohio, Police Department via Facebook for help. Behind the chat screen at the police station was Lt. B.J. Gruber, who was game to help the confused student.
"I'm having trouble with my homework," Lena messaged the Police Department. "Could you help me?"
"OK, with what?" Gruber responded.
"Well I don't understand (8+29)x15," she replied.
Gruber then explained how to go about solving the problem: "Do the numbers in the parenthesis first so in essence it would be 37 X 15."
Apparently pleased with that answer, Lena pressed further. "OK, now if I had this (90+27)+(29+15)x2. Which one would I do first?" she asked.
Being ever so helpful, Gruber answered, "Take the answer from the first parenthesis plus the answer from the second parenthesis and multiply that answer times two. Work left to right doing the work inside the parenthesis first."
As plenty of people on social media later pointed out, Gruber's response to that math equation was incorrect.
"Order of operations ... PEMDAS! (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication and division, addition and subtraction). For future reference," one Facebook user wrote, TV station WBNS reported.
The exchange between the officer and fifth-grader went viral after Lena's mom, Molly Draper, posted screenshots of the conversation on Facebook. Draper thanked the Marion Police Department for its help in her post.
My daughter. Cause... She's my daughter. Thank you, Marion, Ohio Police Department, for truly building relationships with the community.
Posted by Molly Draper on Friday, February 17, 2017
Gruber, for his part, was good natured about getting the math wrong on the second problem.
"Hoping it is truly the thought that counts since apparently I cannot!" Gruber later wrote on the police station's Facebook page. "Especially since the answer was wrong, it was very nice for Molly to acknowledge our attempt to help her daughter with some math homework."
Gruber also took time to surprise the fifth-grader at her school Tuesday, sharing a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup together.
"This is probably the most unique message I've ever had," Gruber told Inside Edition. "This is the exact environment we try to nurture — this sense among children that not only can you come to us if you have a problem at home or at school, if we have time, we can answer homework questions, too."
http://www.sfgate.com/weird/article/10-year-old-asks-police-homework-help-10955100.php