Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything: tutors, flash cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, they enrolled him in the local Catholic school.
After the first day, Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't greet his mother with a kiss. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out everywhere, and Tommy was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down for dinner, and to her shock, as soon as he finished, he marched back to his room without a word and immediately resumed studying just as intensely. This pattern continued day after day, leaving his mother puzzled about what had caused such a dramatic change.
Finally, Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly placed it on the table, went up to his room, and continued studying. With great trepidation, his mother looked at it and was surprised to see that Tommy had received an A in math. She could no longer contain her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"
Tommy looked at her and shook his head. "No."
"Well then," she replied, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? What was it?"
Tommy looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."