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Revision as of 10:21, 18 August 2014

@@@ 鈥淢ost kids who think they鈥檙e 鈥榖ad at math鈥?simply have a poor foundation in the subject,鈥?Perkins said. 鈥淢y job is to improve their foundation.鈥?

After a one-time, non-refundable  registration fee of $50, music or math instruction is offered by 鈥渕odule,鈥?or a block of four 25-minute sessions, or approximately two total hours of instruction. Each module costs $120. Necessary materials and accessories such as reeds, mouthpieces or practice workbooks may result in nominal additional costs.
Beyond the scores of studies supporting a relationship between aptitudes for mathematics and music, Perkins observes this link daily among his students.
鈥淥ne of my students came to me when she was in the eighth grade,鈥?he recalled. 鈥淗er parents wanted her to be stronger in math and to start taking SAT practice tests as soon as possible.鈥?
When the student passed the ninth-grade STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test while still in eighth grade, Perkins had a strong inkling she would make a fine violinist or cellist.
鈥淚 asked her parents, 鈥榃ould you please allow me to teach her the cello or violin and I assure you she鈥檒l be able to play.鈥?And they allowed me. And in just two months, she was playing the cello. She is top-notch.鈥?
From Waco to the CIA
Perkins discovered his own affinity for music and math while in high school. He attended the segregated George Washington Carver High School, once part of La Vega Independent School District. Along with A.J. Moore High School, it was one of two black high schools in the Greater Waco area. Carver High remained a segregated institution until the school closed in 1970, 16 years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the 鈥淏rown vs. Board of Education鈥?case.
鈥淲hile in school, I had two great mentors,鈥?Perkins recalled. 鈥淢y math teacher was named Thomas Jefferson Washington, but we called him  鈥楾.J.鈥?And my band teacher was Robert E. Lee. Those were their real names.鈥?
In Washington鈥檚 math classes, Perkins claimed a desk on the front row each day.
鈥淚 was what you call a teacher鈥檚 pet,鈥?he said.
By the time Perkins began his sophomore year, Lee was looking for someone to help him write and arrange the music to be played at halftime at the high school football games.
鈥淭here was no music for black high school bands,鈥?Perkins said. 鈥淎ll black band directors wrote and arranged their own. (Lee) noticed I had a good ear, and he taught me how to write and arrange music.鈥?
Perkins even started his own band in high school. 鈥淲e were the Blue Panthers, after the Carver High Panthers,鈥?he said. 鈥淥ur theme song was 鈥楾he Pink Panther鈥?by Henry Mancini, and I played tenor saxophone. We even performed for the school.鈥?
After graduating in 1965, Perkins was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin, playing tenor saxophone in the Longhorn Band and paying his tuition with the money he made gigging with a local country western group.
鈥淲e played probably two times a week,鈥?he said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 pull in maybe $50 a gig. It took me six years, but I paid my own way through college like that.鈥?
In 1971, shortly after Perkins graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mathematics, he received an interesting phone call.
鈥淭he CIA had a regional agent in Austin and he had seen my picture and resum茅, and he said he was looking for new recruits in mathematics. But, I鈥檇 never heard of the CIA!鈥?Perkins said. 鈥淭hey offered me  a position. The agent said he couldn鈥檛 tell me about it over the phone, but he said the pay was $7,000 per year.鈥?
Earning only $2,000 per year at the time, Perkins nearly fell out of his chair.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 care what it is, I鈥檒l take it!鈥?鈥?
Perkins spent 33 years with the CIA, analyzing imagery collected via satellite and reporting any suspicious activity directly to the president or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Perkins witnessed and even aided advances in imaging technology, and he became an expert in identifying facilities abroad that were communicating directly with leadership in the pertinent region.
It wasn鈥檛 until his twilight years with the agency that Perkins discovered a knack for teaching.
鈥淔or my last three years there, they had me teaching trainees at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,鈥?he said. 鈥淭hey wanted me to share all I knew about imagery analysis. And it was during that time I realized, 鈥業鈥檓 a teacher!鈥?鈥?
Perkins taught math and started a band at Calvary Christian School in Triangle, Virginia. But after two years at that school, he needed to return to the Waco area to care for his aging parents.
鈥淚 came back in 2007 and immediately began my teaching credential here in Texas,鈥?he said. Perkins received offers from several area schools, including private schools Reicher Catholic High and Vanguard College Preparatory.
鈥淎quilla High School also offered me a position,鈥?he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just eight miles from my doorstep, so I went with Aquilla and I鈥檝e been there six years now.鈥?
Aquilla also offered Perkins a flexible schedule to teach math and band in the mornings and run his business in Woodway in the afternoons.