Money Management

It’s that time of year again.
Only three weeks left to go.
No, I’m not talking about Passover, I’m counting down to tax filing day.

Earlier this year, the students in Personal Finance learned how declaring “allowances” on Form W-4 filed with employers, determined how much federal tax was withheld from each of their paychecks. We traced how withholdings flow from paychecks to Form 1040 filed annually, and discussed how filers have a balance due to the government, or get a refund for overpaying taxes.

A survey released this week, commissioned by NEFE, the National Endowment for Financial Education, revealed that 30% of filers intentionally withheld more from their paychecks so they can receive larger refunds when they file their returns. "Conventional advice says receiving a tax refund is like letting the IRS have your money interest-free all year," says Brent Neiser, CFP®, senior director of Strategic Programs and Alliances for NEFE. "But for most people, it makes sense to take a larger refund." Neiser says Americans should base their withholding decisions on how they will behave with their money. "If you’re afraid you’ll waste that extra money each pay period, electing to receive a refund could be a wise strategy—as long as you use the lump sum carefully toward financial goals," says Neiser.

Experts suggest several options for using your tax refund wisely.
• Pay down debt – especially balances on high interest rate credit cards
• Start an emergency fund – unexpected expenses should be anticipated, strive for accumulating six months worth of living expenses in reserve
• Save for the future – take advantage of the tax benefit of contributions to an IRA
• Prepay bills – prepaying a mortgage payment or loan can save you interest in the long run

As with all budgeting tips, the important thing to remember is to make informed decisions about money management. Hopefully, our Cardin seniors have learned that lesson well.

~Jan Schein
CFO, Instructor Personal Finance

Letters to Gilad Shalit's Parents

As all of you know, this is the fifth year that Gilad Shalit has been held captive in Gaza. Last week, people in Israel stood for 5 minutes in silence, one minute for each year.

Gilad’s mother wrote a letter to her son, though she cannot deliver it to him. A copy of the letter was forwarded to me and I shared it with my Hebrew classes. The students wrote letters in conversational Hebrew to Gilad’s parents to let them know that we are thinking of them, and we pray for his return home soon.

I share some of my students' words:

Alex H: “...my class recently read and translated your message to Gilad. It was a heart-wrenching message and I wish you all the luck in the world with getting your son back...”

Dora: “...I can’t begin to describe what must be going on in your life right now. A mother’s heart is the strongest feeling in the world. I am sure there isn’t one second when he isn’t thinking of you...”

Bobby W: “... Although he is not with you, there is a bond between mother and son and father and son that can not be broken, no matter what happened... it is important to remember the good times you have had together and hopefully God will bring him home soon.”

Yeriah R: “...I am sure during the night he is thinking of you, his friends and Israel just like you can not stopping thinking of him and trying to bring him home safely...”

Nora S: “... I have been following the news about your son and I wanted you to know that he is in my prayers. Today in my Hebrew class, my teacher read your speech. I can not even begin to imagine what you must be going through...”

Matt D: “it’s important to have a positive attitude through this hard time. I pray and hope for his return home safely and healthy...”

If any additional students want to write letters to Gilads' parents, please do so and give them to me, I will send them to his parents.

Thank you.

~Morah Zohara Chaban
Instructor of Hebrew

Cartesian Coordinate Plane

The Algebra 1 class is completing their work on the Graphs and Linear Equations unit. They have been graphing linear equations on a rectangular coordinate plane, also referred to as the Cartesian coordinate plane. The word “Cartesian” is named after the French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650). He invented the method of visualizing numbers as points on a graph and equations as geometric figures. Descartes succeeded in merging the fields of algebra and geometry to create Coordinate Geometry.

~Michelle Greenbaum
Math Instructor

Taking a Cue from Cal Ripken, Jr.

When I was a little boy, I lived and breathed Orioles baseball. I followed every game I could on the television and radio, I checked the MLB box scores and statistics in the newspaper every day, and I worshipped Brady Anderson, Robby Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, B.J. Surhoff, and Mike Bordick (even though he couldn’t hit). But there was no one—no one—more heroic to me than Cal Ripken, Jr.

Cal was an All-Star virtually every season he played, a two-time Gold Glove winner and is one of the few MLB players to exceed 3,000 career hits. Still, he is probably most famous for breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record—Cal started and played in 2,632 consecutive games for the Orioles. He was an insane work horse who did not quit, and for this he earned the nickname Iron Man.

One day, my father told me something about Cal that surprised me—that although he was easily the strongest fielder on the Orioles, he was known for being the first to arrive to fielding practice and the last to leave. Although Cal was the best, he practiced the most. (Incidentally, my father could have been making all this up. Do fathers make up life lessons? Perhaps this is a topic for another post. Suffice it to say that I believed him at the time and still do.)
The idea of godlike Cal Ripken repeatedly drilling a basic baseball movement has shaped the way I view learning. A lot of people—high schoolers, college students, and adults—see learning as a race. It’s not. Masterful knowledge of a subject requires deep, unshakable fundamentals. We acquire those fundamentals only through long, patient experience.

The past two years at Cardin have really driven this point home for me. In them, I’ve become a tremendously stronger mathematician, and I happen to have done this all while teaching subject matter I already knew cold. Rereading, relearning, and expressing mathematical ideas in front of a class for three hours a day has expanded and strengthened my fundamentals immeasurably. This has been true of every class I’ve taught, even areas I considered completely elementary. I’ve been taking ground ball after ground ball for two years, and suddenly I’m a much better shortstop.

Deep mastery of any field is terribly expensive and can only be bought with time. So find something you love and approach it with patience and thoroughness. Read, reread, then come back later and reread some more. If it’s an option, spend a semester in college to revisit the material you learned in your high school AP class—you will be surprised by how much new insight you get out of a new professor, a different book and a fresh look at the subject. Work slowly through your exercises instead of rushing through them like they’re chores. Learn patiently and thoroughly.

Long, patient learning does not offer immediate satisfaction, but it pays off huge over time. So come to practice early, take a million and one ground balls, and leave late. Learn to love taking little steps forward instead of carelessly racing ahead. One day, you’ll wake up surprised at how far you’ve come.

~Todd Bryant
Math Instructor

In Times of Crisis

Following the accident that involved Nathan Krasnopoler, an ’09 alum, I’ve been thinking a lot about how precious life is. I’ve been so worried about him and hoping for healing and recovery but also concerned about the unexpected events that life throws at us. I’ve been feeling vulnerable, worrying about the idea that such a devastating event could happen to one of my kids, putting myself in Nathan’s parents’ shoes. My heart goes out to them and they are constantly on my mind. The fact that they are handling this tragedy with such bravery and strength is comforting to me. They are masterfully towing the line between being hopeful and realistic.

I’ve also felt comforted by the outpouring of support from the Cardin community, including students, faculty, and all of our families. It’s crises like these that illuminate the care, compassion, and kindness that we share and for me, that helps ease my mind, if even for just the smallest way.

~Jackie Villet
School Counselor

Eggs… Essential for any scientist tool kit

Our Honors Physics class is currently embroiled in an ‘egg drop’ project where they are tasked with building a contraption built of soda straws that can save an egg from a great fall. This project is just one of many amazing opportunities for study using eggs. Here are a few to try at home.

1. Getting a hard boiled egg into a bottle (a wonderful demonstration of vacuum, atmospheric pressure, temperature as it relates to pressure, and kinetic theory of gasses):
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-an-Egg-Into-a-Bottle

2. Dissolving the shell of a raw egg (a wonderful exploration of acid base reactions):

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/activity-naked.html

3. Examining the interior structures and characteristics of a raw egg (use a flashlight, light table, or window after dissolving the egg above):

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/182/The-structural-components-of-an-egg

Hope you enjoy your egg explorations!

~Cardin Science Department