Mr. Watkins should have delayed passing sentence until he had calmly
decided upon the best method of communicating his decision to Oscar. He
should have said to Oscar privately: “I know all of the pupils want you
to stay on the team and I do myself. I know also that you and I are
agreed that you must keep up your studies. For a week I will assign you
certain topics for review and hear you recite them here in the office or
at my home, whichever suits you better. With this extra effort and a
reasonable amount of time put on your daily lessons, you will be able to
please everyone including yourself, by both carrying your work and
playing for the school.”