Schools That Don't Teach

Last night we went to the Stillwater High School production of The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, a campy and cute farcical play in which our Heather preformed. The production, despite bad direction, was a lot of fun and the kids worked their asses off. Most notable was Hannah Rourke, who was delightful as the Townsperson, a kind of mediator between the cast, the audience, and the Technical Director, an unseen godlike presence who creates flashbacks and segues to not only move the story along, but to save Robin Hood and his troupe in the end...

When we first arrived, we went to the ticket box to buy our tickets, which were $5 apiece. I immediately noticed two handwritten signs on the wall:

1 Ticket = $5
2 Tickets = $10
3 Tickets = $15
4 Tickets = $20

When I asked why the sign was necessary, I was told that the students who were selling tickets the night before didn't know how to charge the theatergoers for more than one ticket.

Uh... What?

This is high school.
These kids are entering college.
These kids will soon be entering the workforce.
Soon, they will be running the country.

I remember learning to count by 5s in the 3rd Grade. How is it that our country is so hot on creating little geniuses who can read War and Peace before entering Kindergarten, but end up turning out high school grads who can't count by 5s? In the time it took someone to write those two signs, they could have explained it to these kids. It is a school, is it not?