Because of a large influx of Puerto Rican students in the New York City school system, the School Board decided to insist on requiring the new students to speak in English only.

There was a young Puerto Rican boy named Samuel who was evaluated, and it was determined that he was so retarded that he was sent to "Special Education" classes.

In class one day, Samuel raised his hand. When the teacher pointed to him, he said: (in Spanish) "Professor, I have to go [to the bathroom].”

The teacher said, "Please use English, Samuel."

Samuel squirmed in his seat for awhile, raised his hand again and said (in Spanish): "Professor, I have to go."

The teacher said, "You must use English, Samuel."

Samuel went back to squirming, until finally he stood up and shouted (in Spanish) "Professor, I have to go!"

The teacher said, "You must use English."

With this, Samuel walked to a corner of the room and relieved himself.

The teacher freaked out and called on a nearby teacher (Joe) who spoke a little Spanish.

Samuel told Joe what had happened.

Joe went to the school principal and requested that Samuel be placed in his class, where he could be paired with a bilingual student.

The principal agreed and let Samuel transfer into Joe's class.

Joe’s idea about pairing Hispanic students with bilingual students proved to be a big success. Samuel made it through middle school and went on to high school.

After Joe retired, he was visiting the islands in the Caribbean.

When his plane landed in Jamaica, the chief pilot of the airplane came back to where he was sitting and asked, "Do you remember me?"

Joe told him that he had no recollection of ever seeing him before.

The airline pilot said: "I'll give you a hint — ‘Professor, I have to go!’”

Samuel then told him that he graduated high school, went into the Air Force, retired from the Air Force, and became a pilot for Eastern Airlines.

[This experience was given at a recent Men's Division Meeting.]