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# School Board VP Oscar de la Torre Backs Small-Group Math Help
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/031907-story/
- Published: 2007-03-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:16:05.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

A product of the district, school board Vice President Oscar de la Torre recalls how he excelled in math in his younger years, taking pre-algebra in the seventh-grade at John Adams Middle School. But he took the course again in the 10th-grade.

Back then, seeking help from peers was frowned upon, de la Torre said. The future school board member remembers being told that he was good in English, but not in math.

It wasn’t until his college years when de la Torre regained confidence that he could excel in math with a little bit of help from his classmates. Small group instruction is key to helping pupils who are most in need of help, he said.

“I had an inferiority complex about doing math,” he said. “I’m a poster child for the system not working well in math.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 19, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)