Blog
Your English Teacher’s Role in College Preparation
A weighty concern on many teenagers' minds right now is, "How strong is my high school preparation for college?" Certainly, part of the responsibility for college readiness lies with the student: to best prepare for college while in high school, should you take college-level classes in high school or utilize some other tool? I believe that your English teacher is the key component in this preparation. English is the one discipline that crosses all subjects and is crucial for success in college—whether it’s the ability to comprehend and analyze text or to communicate your thoughts with clear, concise, effective writing. Does your high school English curriculum contain the building blocks that will benefit you the most, improving your skills and allowing you to advance your knowledge in other general education courses? Do the English activities in your high school benefit you by strengthening your foundation for higher learning? These are the questions that you, as a proactive and...read more
Dark Matter and Energy
One of the courses I teach, Astronomy, is such a delight. I get to see, again and again, the awe in my students as I show them images and videos of various objects in the universe. Just showing a close up of the Sun’s surface can elicit such gasps from them. And a few of these students have not been outside a metropolitan area with all its light pollution. They have no idea how majestic the night sky is with the Milky Way visible. Every year, however, I find that, whenever the topics of dark matter and dark energy come up, there is a momentary pause when invariably at least one student will ask whether or not these really exist. For the uninitiated, neither dark matter nor dark energy is known to actually exist. Both are theorized based on observations of the universe made within the framework of our already-developed gravitational model of reality. We see unexpected motion in galaxies that contradicts what our model predicts based on the amount of matter and energy that we can detect...read more
Are You Happy?
“Are you happy?” she said. I was in my early twenties, working on my masters degree, scraping together money where I could, and trying to figure out what to do next. I was stricken by the question, blindsided, like an interview question it had never occurred to me to prepare for. Because no one had ever asked me that. Am I happy? I reflected for a moment. Suddenly, in a cataclysmic moment of realization, thoughts flooded my brain. Among them various ideas about our culture’s relationship with happiness: studies showing that the happiest countries are not those with the most secure standard of living; studies showing that happiness, above all else, correlates with feeling that you are a part of a community; the cultural ideal of “pursuing happiness,” and how my home country latched on fervently to that ideal. And yet, no one had ever asked me. Not even me, in my years of introspection. The fact that I had not been asked to assess my life satisfaction up to this point was not born of a...read more
Questions to Ask When Searching for the Right College Prep School
Like most specialized fields, education has its buzzwords. You’ve probably heard a few of them: grit, data-driven, student-centered, inquiry-based, flipped classroom, etc. Despite taking different approaches to education, all of these new perspectives on what teaching and learning could look like seem to be adding up to one big conclusion: college. As a result of the cultural emphasis Americans place on college, a plethora of “college prep” programs and “college prep” high schools have seemingly sprung up to meet the needs of students. If all of these programs and schools are emphasizing college preparedness, how are you supposed to choose the right path? Students, parents, and teachers know that every learner has individual needs, and finding a college prep program that both supports those needs and pushes students to confront areas that need improvement is pivotal when preparing for college. There are also some high schools and nonprofit-run programs that support students with...read more
How Does Beekman Meet Individual Needs?
As New York City’s oldest and best provider of personalized education, The Beekman School offers small classes averaging 5 to 6 students, as well as one-to-one classes, to college prep high school students on a year-round, rolling admissions basis. Students can begin a course at any time during the day, and be admitted on a part-time or full-time basis. Please watch this video and contact us for additional information. read more
What Sets Beekman Apart From Other Schools
“I’ve done my homework and there isn’t another school like you in the whole country!” Yes, that mother is right. Beekman’s ability to personalize a student’s education is unmatched. As our tag line states, “One school. Infinite possibilities.” Although our college preparatory program follows the same guidelines as larger, more traditionally structured schools, Beekman’s combination of class sizes averaging 6 students, one-to-one courses, and distance learning provides us with opportunities to create a schedule as individualized and unique as each student’s needs. Since 1925, The Beekman School has set a high standard for exemplary academics in a friendly, welcoming environment. We have a 100% college acceptance rate for our graduates who apply and our college guidance program is second to none. When families are looking for a high school that has a decades-long tradition of successfully educating high school students, The Beekman School’s midtown townhouse stands alone as your...read more
Community Service from the Benevolent Blue Jays
As the oldest of three, I passed a lot of hand-me-downs to my siblings. What we didn’t share with each other, we donated to Goodwill, Catholic Charities or whatever organization put a flyer on our door saying they’d be around next week to pick up any donations. The importance of being thankful for all we had and giving back to those in need was something my parents instilled in us from a very young age. Even though we are huge Dallas Cowboys football fans, we missed the big game to participate in the annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner, which provides turkey and all the trimmings on Thanksgiving Day for senior citizens and the less fortunate. It is a huge event serving over 25,000 meals. We helped out at a soup kitchen where hunters would bring in deer they had shot that was made into venison stew for hungry families. We worked church carnivals. We provided entertainment at retirement homes for seniors (we dressed up in costumes and sang country songs-there are pictures--don...read more
Physics in Action: The Egg Drop Experiment
Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No, it’s our Physics Egg Drop Experiment! Every year, after we complete the unit on Forces, Impulse and Momentum, the students in my Physics class have an opportunity to test out their engineering and creativity skills in a project where they are tasked with protecting two eggs from breaking when dropped from the 4th floor of our townhouse building into the garden. During the design process, our budding engineers are given a list of materials that they are allowed to use such as cardboard, cotton, fabric, rubber bands, plastic bags, twine, and tape, and a list of forbidden materials such as pre-made containers, bubble wrap, helium balloons, peanut butter, Jell-O or any other type of food (in my 19 years of doing this project, there have been quite a handful “interesting” requests for materials, including a drone, which was met with a quick NO!) They are given weight restrictions for the project to ensure that they are not merely packing the entire...read more
Why Do We Study History?
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” Marcus Garvey Why history? Is the past actually relevant to today? Why do we spend so much time in middle and high school studying history? Some students see history as a boring compilation of dates, events, and dead people, even a "brain drain" on their already taxed growing minds. Why should we need to understand what happened in the past? Isn’t the future what is really important? History is much more than a series of dates, key events, or important people. It is a poignant narrative of the journey of humanity. Teaching history in my small classes at The Beekman School, I try to connect to the human aspect of the subject. My job is to bring our shared past alive and attempt to communicate the triumphs and tragedies of the human experience. It’s the small stories that matter. Winston Churchill may have been correct that “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it,”...read more
ACT Accommodations – What to Know Before You Apply
Are you a student taking the ACT with accommodations? You should know these things before you test: If you think you may need accommodations, make sure that you get the necessary paperwork to your school’s counselor or testing coordinator at least 2 months before you take the test. (Note: You must register for a test before your school can submit a request for accommodations.) It can take a while for the ACT to review all of your paperwork, so make sure you aren’t leaving it to the last minute. If you are approved for accommodations that are anything other than 50% extended time, self-paced, you cannot test at a national test center. These test centers only have proctors for test takers who need no accommodations or get time-and-a-half in one day; all other accommodations (including computer) automatically get pushed to a student’s school. You are responsible for ensuring that you have a test site. While your school will likely have this outlined already (test dates, times, etc...read more