Where was this when I was 9 years old? Pokémon allowed in school? Apparently so. Lucas Ayala, a 9-year old from Queens charter school, fought to have the ban lifted on Pokémon cards at his elementary school with a simple letter. A letter that somehow struck a nerve that eventually got Pokémon cards allowed into recess and even into his math classes.

"I thought I could make my teacher realize Pokémon was educational," said Ayala. "The letter was supposed to be a joke but then my teacher gave it to other teachers.... It was amazing."

His teacher, Jennifer Toti learned that Pokémon the trading card game has a lot of addition, subtraction and multiplication involved when playing. To put the icing on the cake, he signed off his letter: "Even if you can't, you are still a great teacher!" That's some grade-A charm right there.

"He's like a little lawyer," mom Karen Marder said. "He's a very special kid. We are always very proud of him." Ayala argued his case and won. This should be a lesson to all us non-proactive people. This should have happened 15 years ago with the first wave of Pokémon fans.

[NY Daily News]