by George Dimitriadis

Created on: July 04, 2008   Last Updated: December 17, 2011

It is axiomatic that teachers are entitled to have bad days. It goes with the job.

I foolishly followed my students' suggestions and ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time! Let me explain.

My school's annual Open Night was imminent and I tried to instil some enthusiasm in my students.

"As you know, Open Night is coming up," I reminded my math class. "It'll be good for our school if we all contribute in some way."

"Do we have to?" was the mood before my judicious combination of cajolery tempered with warnings of harsher math tests elicited grudging cooperation. Disappointingly, the first flourish of ideas produced the usual offerings: poster and book displays, hands-on activities and video presentations.

"What about having guest speakers?" Teng suggested.

"That's no good," Julia protested. "We're showing off the school, not outsiders. Right, sir?"

Before I could reply, Jimmy came to the rescue. "Why can't we make a maze that the parents can find their way through?" he stated excitedly.

"Yes," I said. "We can demonstrate the Wall Follower algorithm, which is that the exit can be found by continuously resting your left hand on the wall as you walk."

"How do we make the maze?" Zoran wanted to know. Several suggestions including large plants in pots, blankets draped over suspension ropes and portable whiteboards were proffered but were discarded on practical grounds. I noticed Alex surreptitiously folding a sheet of paper, the genesis of a paper plane. His origami provided the solution.

"We'll use fluted cardboard, won't we Alex?" I stated as a warning to him not to be test pilot of his model. Alex stopped and looked at me expectantly. Predictably, Jimmy was confused.

"What can you do to cardboard using a flute?"

"It means we fold the cardboard so that it can stand upright," Alex promptly disabused him as an act of redemption.

Preparations began in earnest with a contribution by Mrs Stanton's Art class of Lost, a mural reminiscent of a Salvador Dali painting. Thematically provocative, it comprised more than one hundred cardboard panels, each seven feet in length. Yao and Wen researched labyrinths and used chalk to reproduce their choice on the hall's polished floorboards. The remaining workforce painstakingly perforated and shaped each panel, contiguous sections were formed using cloth tape and the collection aligned along the contours of the chalk lines. Meanwhile, a refreshment stand was being organized by Francesca, Helda intended to supervise the

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