What are the odds?

The oddity is receiving attention from national newspapers like The Wall Street Journal.

"I didn't think it would be a huge deal," said his daughter Rachel Gordon, a sophomore at Sequoia High.

"It's a little strange, but he's odd - so it's perfect for him," she said.

Gordon teaches driver's education and biology at Sequoia and said he started noticing mathematical dates the week of 9/9/81 while signing a check. On 2/2/04 he had students stand in formation to form the square root of four.

Oddly enough, he looks forward to Even Day on 2/4/06 and the next Square Root Day on 3/3/09.

Gordon, who has taught economics and has been teaching in the Sequoia Union High School District for 34 years, said Odd Day is also special because the first three odd numbers won't be in sequence for 100 years.

He and his family spent Sunday night sending out faxes and e-mails to news organizations so they could spread the word on Odd Day.

Rachel Gordon, 15, said students in her father's classes rolled their eyes when he handed out flyers promoting the oddity.

Gordon received three e-mail entries Monday including one from Marey Richins, a kindergarten teacher at Nesbit Elementary in Belmont.

She took a photo of her third child, Nolan, holding a sign that read "I'm totally odd" on his way to school Monday morning. His birthday, 11/19/01, made him "odd since the day he was born," she said.

He stands 5 feet 11 inches, weighs 131 pounds and has a size 13 shoe, making him perfect for a 5-man basketball team, she wrote.

"It's just a fun idea," she said.

Entrants have until 3 p.m. Sunday, or 135 hours from the beginning of Odd Day, to submit pictures and explanations to rgordon@seq.org.

"It's just something to brighten their day," Linda Gordon said. She said of her husband, "He is an odd person"

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.