Chapter 102 - Strategy Meeting (1)

Danny dismissed the class for their break earlier than normally allowed. The teams decided to take their strategy meetings outside and over food. It was such a strange mix of students that had tongues wagging by the time noon came about.

The counsellor found it interesting how different team leaders approached the challenges differently. There was even a case of puppet leaders from Team Action First much to his amus.e.m.e.nt. Jun Le was certainly the dark horse for this intra-class competition. Due to his meek looks and mild temper, everyone seemed to have overlooked the chess grandmaster. When it came to strategy, nobody was better than Jun Le. Team Action First might just have a chance to avoid becoming the last team for this competition.

The team that Danny worried about the most was Team Dreamer. They had a fairly balanced set of skills but nothing very useful. None of the students stuck out to him as capable in particular and even the students from the Special Class could only be considered average when it came to tutoring. Jean was a rather level-headed and mature girl but as a leader, she lacked assertion. Alex was too afraid of taking the lead and kept her thoughts to herself even if she might have some good ideas to help everyone. Rowan and Farid were too absorbed in their own world to care about anyone else. While it looked peaceful and problem-free on the surface, the challenges Team Dreamer would face in the near future might prove crippling.

In terms of skills and resources, Team All or Nothing and Team Scarlet took the lead. Danny was interested to see how Scarlet and Jasper would fare as leaders. Both children had remarkable leadership qualities even if Scarlet's leadership quality was still dormant. One was a logical leader and the other was an intuitive leader.

The way Scarlet inspired her team by placing bets of her own was something Danny didn't foresee. He didn't think any special class student would participate but he was wrong. That was a brilliant move to pressure and motivate the students to do better. Scarlet's team consisted of rather academically strong students so there wasn't much to worry. Also, the sparkling hero of the Special Class was present. Nathan might have the highest mensa score in the school but he was severely lacking in social skills. If not dealt with properly, Danny could foresee isolation and underlying conflict between the boys. How was Scarlet going to deal with this?

On the other hand, Wilmer was right about wanting to groom Jasper. The boy had a good head on his shoulders and always made decisions after heavily considering all possibilities. He was cautious and took only calculated risk to ensure that success would always be within his grasp. Being grouped with Elfie, Jasper was like a knight who was given a godly sword. the boy knew exactly how to make full use of each individual's potential and strength while taking into consideration of their weaknesses. On the downside, Jasper's control might feel stifling to some of the boys especially the soccer star if the school. Not everyone appreciated the rigid rule that Jasper inspired even if it was the best course of action.

As Danny put down the finishing touches to his report, he wondered how many photos he should attach to the email. Philip was going to want to know everything but the email attachment had a limit. The counsellor sighed. Maybe it was better to send the email and pass the flash drive separately. For now, it was lunch and Danny decided to leave it for the day.

The leaders have added him to a private group chat and Danny couldn't help but wonder how these children manage to text during the middle of a strategy meeting. Wasn't it supposed to be team bonding time? Why were these leaders sharing intel over the chat?

Scarlet: Nathan said that he can finish the drafted study notes by today. We will be focussing on English, Math and Science first. What are the electives that your group members take? @Jasper @Jean @Rebecca

Jasper: History, Geography and Social Studies. We have Arabic and Chinese too.

Rebecca: I have someone who takes literature!

Jean: Home Economics and Design & Technology. Does Art count as an elective? It's project-based but the marks contribute towards the exams.

Scarlet: Got it. I don't know if we can help with Arabic, Chinese, Home Economics, Art or Design & technology. However, Tom and Si-Han said they can help with History, Geography, Social Studies and Literature. Didn't know Si-Han was a fan of literature.

Rebecca: <3 That's so cute! When is everyone beginning the study session? My team and I are just chilling over drinks. We're playing two truths and one lie.

Jean: Any recommendations for breaking the ice? I have rather quiet team members... TTATT

Jasper: How about some self-introduction?

Jean: Farid and Rowan are too noisy... nobody can hear over them -_-

Scarlet: What about a board game or truth and dare?

Jean: I'll try...

Danny: Leaders... I thought strategy meetings were meant to be top secret?

Jasper: It's fine. I doubt it would hurt sharing strategies. Besides, it's better if we exchanged resources. The main objective is to help the E.C. Class pass so we need all the help we can get. Also, Elfie hacked the school's wifi password to distribute it to the other teams as a form of alliance bribe. Is that ok?

Danny: ... tell that boy to see me in my office after lunch. We need to talk.

Jasper: Roger.

The counsellor groaned. While it was true that Philip and Danny's intention was to get the Special Class to help the E.C. Class to pass through a joined study session, he didn't expect things to become so complicated. From the individual leader reports, every leader was working on a different method for specialised subjects.

Jean was teaching languages to nobody's surprise. Rebecca took it upon herself to introduce spartan training for the muscle heads and students who didn't perform well. Now Danny understood why she chose the indoor sports hall as the venue. It was basically a punishment centre! Jasper volunteered to be the central testing centre for core subjects and basic knowledge. Elfie definitely stole the syllabus questions from somewhere to incorporate them with his quiz drills. Those who failed more than three times were sent to Rebecca for remedial. Last but not least, the special lessons were conducted by Scarlet's group. Everyone had to give Lin Lin their scheduled slots. The violinist had taken the role of Scarlet's secretary and the writer has volunteered to become a tutor for those who couldn't keep up with the pace.

The kids had even drawn up a detailed timetable over lunch for class and group activities. There would be two lecture sessions per day. One for the faster students and one for the slower ones. While lessons were ongoing, the other group will do mental drills prepared by Elfie in the computer lab. Following that, everyone will sit in the lab until lunch running through quiz drills while Scarlet stationed herself in the classroom. Those who performed poorly in the quiz drill have to go for special classes with Scarlet and be retested. If anyone didn't manage to score full marks for quiz drills by lunch, they would be scheduled to spend the afternoon running between Scarlet, Elfie and Rebecca. IN addition to that, all students of the E.C. class were given daily homework. Jean decided that the best way to improve in language was to write an essay every day. the linguist would spend the afternoon marking the scripts while she revised for her exams in the morning.

Danny didn't have issues with the proposal. However, he wondered what the point of the teams was. Sure, the Special Class remained in their respective groups but most times, the E.C. students would be moving around from station to station.

Then he squinted at something scribbled below the timetable.

"A point system?"