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PEPSI Screening
Nicholas Hevrin
EDU 220
10/27/19
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Biography

Stephen Cox is an 11-year-old currently in the 6th grade. He is roughly 4 foot 5 inches

which is on the shorter side for most male children his age. The average is 4 feet 7 inches

(Growth). He is also around 80 pounds, which again is rather small for his age with the average

being around 90 pounds (Growth). I have been working with Stephen as a math tutor for over a

year now and have gotten to know his family as well. His family is Roman Catholic and he

attends St. Anne’s Catholic School. His mother does not work and his father owns a shutter

installation company called shutterscheap.com. Stephen’s father was born in America and is of

European descent and his mother is Pilipino. He has one older brother, John, who he does not get

along with very well. This appears to be due to their very different personalities and interests.

Stephen’s brother refuses to help him with classwork making him feel rejected.

Stephen is an intelligent child that struggles with paying attention and organizational

skills. We work together four times a week to improve his organizational skills to help him in his

studies. He is what most children would refer to as a “nerd.” Stephen spends most of his time

discussing computers he is thinking about building or the newest animes that he has been

watching. While he interacts with other students, he is not afraid to talk about what he enjoys

even if it seems that they are not even listening. He can be very talkative which has a tendency to

get him in trouble.

While Stephen’s family is Catholic, he does not talk about religion often and seems to

oppose religion when he does discuss this with other children in the tutoring group. Stephen does

not shy away from a debate regarding something that he is interested in. He quotes shows and

movies quite often and spends large amounts of his free time on Reddit.
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Physical Development.

Stephen is 4 foot 2 inches and just about 70 pounds he is a bit lower than the average

male his age. He is one of the smallest kids in his class. Showing that he has not begun his

typical growth spurt which should occur in soon for him (Snowman and Mccown, 2015, p93)

When observing Stephen during his physical education classes it is clear that he is not fully

developed. He is a bit slower than most students but is by no means the slowest. This may be due

to lack of any other physical activity outside of school as he does not play any sports after

school. During recess, he can be seen either playing tag or talking with other students about

computers or YouTube videos.

Stephen is also behind in his fine motor skills. He struggles with his handwriting and

making consistent letters while writing. This is also an intellectual issue but his inability to

consistently write with in the lines and shape letters suggests that there may be issues that could

need an occupational therapist in order to correct these bad habits.

One of the hindrances in Stephen’s physical development is his lack of sleep. He is

constantly tired and does have a tendency to stay up late. A child of his age should be getting 9-

12 hours of sleep a night (Gavin 2017). While his lack of sleep is a bit of concern for his

attention when he is in class, his high energy out of class is a good sign that he is still eating

healthy. High energy is a good sign of physical development for children his age (Stewart,2018).
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Emotional Development.

Stephen’s emotional development is below the average for children his age. While other

students have started to mature and care about things like their future and grades Stephen does

not seem like he wants to move forward. He often reacts childishly and attempts to deflect

homework and problem. He also does not seem to be interested in those of the other gender in

anyway.

Stephen also craves attention. He hopes to gain attention in any way he can even if it is

through getting in trouble. He shows signs of being a late maturing boy as he does tend to use

attention getting behavior often (Snowman and Mccown, 2015, p95). This is typically from

talking loudly when he should not be. I believe that part of this behavior is due to a lack of

attention in his home life as both parents work a lot and he is primarily taken care of by a nanny.

Stephen enjoys pushing others and rules as he attempts to see where the line is drawn (Morin

2019).

He also shows signs of having attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but this cannot be

confirmed. He shows symptoms listed by Mayo Clinic such as failing to pay attention, making

careless mistakes, being antsy, very talkative and having short attention span (mayoclinic.org).

These are just a few of the symptoms that he exhibits.

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Philosophical Development

Stephen’s philosophical development is currently at a stage where he is attempting to act

rebellious to stand out. While most other students also do this in his school, he attempts to act

“cool” while he gets in trouble. They also do not turn in homework stating that they did not have

time. Stephen also talks about violent things he sees on the internet or other things he should not

talk about in school blurring his lines of what is appropriate or not.

In a Catholic school he is taught about God, Stephen does seem to believe in God but

does have some doubts. By learning about religion in class and through what he sees on the

internet it has caused him to be more skeptical on his opinions of religion as a whole. His

struggle to form his own opinion on this matter is driven by his need to fit in with the other kids

as this is typical of children his age (Snowman and Mccown, 2015, p96). The school is Catholic

so his peers believe in God so he feels he must as well to fit in.

Another sign of his philosophical development is that he asks a lot of questions. When he

discovers that others know about something of interest to him, he will ask a lot of questions to

gain more knowledge. This is an excellent indicator of his development (Stanford Children). He

is not concerned currently with the future but is developing more of an interest in things that

have long term impacts such as high schools and computers. He does ask a lot of questions about

God as well. Since I am closest to him in age compared to other teachers, he does ask these

questions to me about my feelings to compare his own (Ellsworth).

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Social Development

In regards to social development Stephen seems to be in the lower end of the spectrum.

When partners are being chosen for group work, he is typically chosen last. While not having

much of an interest in sports he tries to play and interact with the other boys that are playing to

build friendships with them (cdc.gov).

He does not appear to have many close friends and most conversations he has at

superficial in nature. His conversations are typically related to current events or things he finds

funny online. Occasionally he will choose conversations in an attempt to “troll” other students.

This typically means he is saying things to anger others on purpose and to get a reaction for his

own enjoyment. This social tactic has a tendency to push away other students. This is a signal of

him again being a late maturing boy as he is not a popular child (Snowman and Mccown, 2015,

p95).

His social development seems to be an extension of his poor interactions with family

members and only interacting with others on the internet or just with a nanny. Stephen’s

organizational skills are also a deterrent for others as he is messy and this is off putting to others

as things, they work on may get lost or he may not be able to assist because he is missing

something. Stephen is late in behind in regards to his Eriksonian Stages as he does not attempt to

be more responsible for his actions among his peers he attempts to deflect towards others

(scholastic.com).
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Intellectual Development

Stephen possesses intelligence above the norm. He quickly picks up lessons when kept on

task. As a student he has begun using complex thinking and applying this to his work (Fraser

Health). Stephen’s poor grades are due to his lack of motivation and organizational skills. He

does not keep his planner up to date which causes him to miss assignments or not study the

correct lessons for tests.

Motivation is lacking for him, so he does not try his hardest, just enough not fail his

classes. In the text it is discussed that he needs a more challenging environment to succeed or

this will result in lack of motivation (Snowman and Mccown, 2015, p99). I feel this is the case

with Stephen as the lack of challenge in the daily classroom decreases his motivation. When

giving challenging puzzles that are not school related, he excels. He also shows an aptitude

towards engineering.

One of Stephen’s biggest struggles is his handwriting. When interviewing teachers, they

talk about the constant struggle of trying to read his writing in order to give him a grade. His

math homework is occasionally so poorly written answers and problems cannot be distinguished

so he cannot be given a grade. At times his handwriting is due to him not trying but it is also due

to this not being worked on at home. His handwriting is also due to a lack of attention. He is

lacking in his typical attention development (Developmental Milestones).

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Recommendations

For teachers I would recommend trying to keep Stephen engaged in lessons. While this

may be difficult in a classroom setting it is good to call his name once in a while to avoid having

his mind wander. He will attempt to avoid doing work which is also something that needs to be

monitored.

Group work will be beneficial as he will feel accountable for his actions since those in the

group will be dependent on him. Rewarding Stephen with difficult puzzles can also help

motivate him as he does enjoy a challenge. Having Stephen’s parents closely monitor his

homework time will also be very beneficial to his grades and work habits.

The next important topic would be improving his organizational skills. As his tutor, I

have been working with him on this by rewarding him with games or treats for keeping his

folders organized. Teachers could give him stickers and parents could also reward him with

treats.

Finally, his handwriting must be improved. Rather than having him attempt to learn

cursive he should be going back to the basics of using wide rules paper. Focus on writing

between the lines and putting the appropriate amount of space between each word. Also, he will

need to work on reducing the size of his words as a simple seven-word sentence can take him

two or more lines for him to write. This creates more paper for him to keep track of crossing over

into his organizational problems.

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Graphs

Height in Centimeters

Height (cm)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

5th Percentile 50th Percentile Stephen 98th Percentile

Weight in Pounds

Weight Lbs.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

5th Percentile 50th Percentile Stephen 98th Percentile

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Citations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. (2019, June 25). Retrieved from

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350889.

Brennan, D. (2019, March 21). Your Son at 11: Milestones. Retrieved from
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/son-11-milestones#2-5.

default - Stanford Children's Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=cognitive-development-90-P01594.

Developmental Milestones: 11 Year Olds. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.fundamentallychildren.com/child-development-advice-including-special-
needs/child-development-by-age/11-year-olds/.

Ellsworth, J. A. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year11.html.

Gavin, M. L. (Ed.). (2017, July). Your Child's Checkup: 11 Years (for Parents). Retrieved from
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/checkup-11yrs.html.

Intellectual development in children. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-

topics-a-to-z/children-and-youth/intellectual-development-in-children#.XbZj1uhKiUk.

Middle Childhood (9-11 years old). (2019, February 6). Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle2.html.

Morin, A. (2019, October 16). Developmental Milestones for Fourth and Fifth Graders.
Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/signs-
symptoms/developmental-milestones/developmental-milestones-for-typical-fourth-and-fifth-
graders.
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Social Development in 11-13 Year Olds. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/social-emotional-learning/development-
milestones/social-development-11-13-year-olds.html.

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Pages 93,95,96,99

Stewart, J., & Michigan State University. (2018, September 20). 9- to 11-year-olds: Ages and
stages of youth development. Retrieved from
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/9_to_11_year_olds_ages_and_stages_of_youth_development.

Graph Citation:
Growth BMI Boy. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/parents/mch/mchgrowthbmiboy18yrs.p
df.