Newton Thomas Baggett: Math coach and life coach for his students

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 27, 2011 - Sitting across the table from a student he was tutoring at one of his favorite coffeehouses, Thomas Baggett would write the math formula he was explaining upside down and backward. That made the problem readable for the student and Mr. Baggett didn't need to see it.

"That was incredible," said Rick Milton, owner of Northwest Coffee Roasting in Clayton, who had observed Mr. Baggett at work for the past six or seven years.

"He knew his stuff inside and out. The guy was brilliant."

Milton did more than observe Mr. Baggett; he entrusted his son to his skills.

"He got him through math class and helped him graduate from high school," Milton laughed, his voice tinged with disbelief that Mr. Baggett had died.

Mr. Baggett, who had helped hundreds of students pass a math test or a math class or to get into college, died on Saturday at St. Louis University Hospital after being stricken ill suddenly on Thursday. His family said they still do not know the cause of death. He was 33 and had lived in south St. Louis.

Tutoring animatedly at Northwest Coffee or more recently, Sasha's in the Tower Grove neighborhood, Mr. Baggett fed students' minds, bodies and souls.

In an online directory of tutors, part of Mr. Baggett's description said simply, "(I) am successful in helping students learn to adapt their individual abilities ... to the courses at hand."

That was the modest version of what Mr. Baggett brought to his profession.

"He welcomed all kinds of people into his life with open arms."

"Thank you, Thomas. He made a big different for many, many people, our family included."

"Our journey to find a college was one of the best experiences of my life. I can't begin to say how much I will miss you."

"What made you so unique was your ability to dream and I think it was your ability to inspire others to dream that was even greater. The difference you made in kids' lives is without measure."

"You had a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart."

"You were my life's tutor."

"You helped me so much with math and crazy life's lessons."

"My daughter, your student, will be forever inspired by the passion in your teaching."

"There is a massive community who will miss the daylights out of you."

"We will all miss your kind heart, your sense of humor, your generous spirit and your passion for teaching."

"He was a gifted teacher with a rare ability to work with students struggling with math," said Claire Dickerson, former counseling department chair at Clayton High School and currently a college counselor at Villa Duchesne Oak Hill School. "He could take that kid who struggled for years and turn the situation around -- and had fun while doing it.

"We have phenomenal teachers everywhere, but he was exceptional in working with students who sometimes didn't connect with anyone else," Dickerson added. "He was a kid at heart and his loss will be significant."

He kept an eye on more than the student's math progress.

"He'd call me and say, 'Claire this kid is in trouble.' Or he'd call for my advice on how to help a student get into college. He was a problem-solver. He was a natural teacher who knew his math up one side and down the other, but what made him rare is that he loved the kids."

Around Clayton, Mr. Baggett was known simply to many as "Thomas the Tutor."

But there was nothing simple about him. He carried a bit too much weight on his medium-height frame, wore his hair pulled back in a ponytail, was known to smoke and cuss at times and he drove a pickup truck, a cool Chevy Silverado.

"He was extremely eccentric but an absolute genius," said his longtime friend, Katherine Norvell.

His eccentricity is what made him so relatable to the kids, said Carolyn Blair, counseling services director at Clayton High School.

"He was a lot of different things, but he did everything to support kids," Blair said. "Kids were drawn to him and they would tell him everything; he was their confidant. For some kids, he was just perfect."

'Thomas saved my life'

One kid for whom he may have been "just perfect" was Chase Haslett, the son of former Rams Coach Jim Haslett and Beth Haslett.

"He was a phenomenal tutor, but he was so much more," said Beth Haslett tearfully. "He was a life coach. He cared about each kid individually and he guided them in a good direction. It takes a village to raise a child and he was part of our village. I cannot ever express how much he meant to us; he was there for our kid and so many others."

Haslett said her son, who is now in college, had two mentors in his life: his football coach and Mr. Baggett.

Tony Russell, who believes he was Mr. Baggett's first student from Clayton High School, said he was more than a tutor and mentor to him.

"Thomas saved my life," said Russell, a 2006 Clayton graduate, now a Fort Smith, Ark. television reporter.

Russell was in a fight with the integrated mathematics curriculum adopted by the Clayton School District in 2000. Most Clayton high school students are enrolled in the program, which seeks to integrate the various types of math topics into a course that emphasizes problem-solving in real-world situations. The new curriculum presented a major challenge to some students, including Tony.

"It was not a fit for me," he said. "But Thomas made me get it. He punched me through it. He drove me through it. And he was an amazing advocate for me and other students; he was our voice."

Tony's mother agreed.

"All of a sudden, Tony's D's turned into A's," Elizabeth Russell said. "Thomas was a brilliant guy who understood math and he had that wonderful ability to communicate complex issues in the simplest of terms.

"He did save my son."

Because of his unique teaching ability, "he was basically creating a math tutor enterprise," Tony Russell said.

Mr. Baggett's online listing said he charged $50 an hour. He often said he earned well over six figures annually. No one knows exactly how much he made as an elite, sought-after math tutor. But it was believed to be substantial.

"Thomas did well financially," Blair said. "He earned more than most math teachers, a lot more money than any teacher."

But his high earning power is not what impressed her.

"He would take a student who couldn't afford it whenever I asked; there was no limit," Blair added. "He was awesome like that."

'Skyrocket'

Newton Thomas Baggett, called Thomas, was born Nov. 24, 1977, in Vicksburg, Miss. He grew up on a farm in Rolling Fork, Miss. His parents recognized his talents early.

"He was ambidextrous. He was a born actor. He wanted to write a novel and I think he started one; on Christmas Eve, he would be reading Shakespeare and (Charles) Dickens," said his mother, Sandra Baggett, a former librarian. "He was a remarkable fan of things he liked.

"My father was an engineer and he called Thomas 'Skyrocket' because he was so much all wrapped up in one person; there were so many ways he could go."

Mr. Baggett's parents sent him to the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, a public, residential high school for academically gifted 11th and 12th grade students. In 2000, he graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in physics and American government. Shortly after graduating, he came to St. Louis. He taught for a brief period, then he found his true calling.

"He gave his students his last full measure," Sandra Baggett said.

Mr. Baggett was also developing an online math program and he had just gone international, offering online tutoring to other countries, including South Korea and Great Britain.

"Thomas had an amazing effect on the lives of kids at the high school level," said Elizabeth Russell. "What a huge difference he made in such a short period of time on this earth."

Mr. Baggett was preceded in death by his grandparents, Jean and Lawrence Wade and Frances and Greenfield Baggett.

In addition to his mother, Sandra Baggett, Mr. Baggett is survived by his father, Greenfield Baggett, a farmer turned Episcopal priest, both of Lewiston, Idaho; two brothers, Greenfield Marion Baggett III of Springdale, Ark. and Newton Wade Townsend, of Brandon, Miss. He is also survived by his grandmother, Jane Wade of Vicksburg, Miss.

Services for Mr. Baggett will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, in the Bofinger Chapel of Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust Street.

A scholarship is being established in Mr. Baggett's name. To contribute contact: NTBaggettmemorial@gmail.com

Gloria Ross is the head of Okara Communications and the storywriter for AfterWords, an obituary-writing and production service.