Chapter 3 Summary

Mrs. Olinski's first teaching job was at a school where the principal had high standards and the students met those expectations. The principal's name was Margaret Draper, whose name the reader should recognize as the bride who married Izzy Diamondstein. By the time Mrs. Draper retired, things had changed, especially with sixth graders. Instead of saying "Now what?" sixth graders are asking "So what?"

Mrs. Olinski left teaching for a while because of a car accident; at the same time Mrs. Draper retired. The two women stayed in touch, even after Mrs. Draper moved to Florida, so Mrs. Olinski knows that Ethan Potter is Mrs. Draper's grandson when he enters her sixth grade homeroom. But she chooses Ethan for her Academic Bowl team because he is smart, independent and still asking, "Now what?"

At the Bowl finals, the commissioner asks a question about...