I have always wanted to teach ethics and philosophy in a high school English class, and this year I started my AP Literature class with Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics. I like to call this an “anchor-text,” as it provides a framework for understanding the literature we will be investigating throughout the course. But it is really much more powerful than this. We can use ethics to see the choices of literary characters in a more objective way, and not in a morass of relativism and emotional confusion.
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What specific lessons do you remember from your school days? I remember Mrs. Gallegos letting us watch Romeo and Juliet after reading the book in English class. In Spanish, Sra. Huerta celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a Hispanic food pot luck. The cat dissection in Anatomy and Physiology is a memory I won't soon forget. I can still recall the first 20 digits of pi thanks to the competition held in math class on Pi Day. However, while I remember the fundamentals Mrs.
The following excerpts are from a speech delivered at the 2017 Beekman graduation and awards ceremony:
Who hasn’t heard these phrases before:
Summertime—a season that conjures up mental images of long, lazy days that you never want to end. For some, it’s memories of sleepaway or day camps; for others, it’s recollections of family vacations far from school or work.
So, you know that you need to change schools – you’re transitioning from middle school to high school, you’re moving from one town to another, or you know that the current school isn’t a good fit. Which questions should you ask regarding how to transfer schools?
Whether it’s seeking personal satisfaction, meeting like-minded people, enhancing our opportunities for professional advancement, or because of a personal connection, we get involved in philanthropic causes for different reasons.
Often at this time of year parents are questioning the quality of the public school system and wondering if a move to private schools next year would be a better choice. For decades, the private vs. public schools question has been debated.
Every city has one or more top public schools where admission is highly competitive and the quality of that education is excellent. But what if your child wasn’t able to get accepted to one of the selective public schools? Would the switch to a private school then be the better choice?
This semester, a group of Beekman students have been exploring U.S. history and the history of the presidency from a new angle. In First Ladies, we are examining the evolution of the often full-time (and always unpaid) position that accompanies that of the President. At its most basic, the term merely designates the wife of a U.S. President, but it has also always signified a role as official hostess for White House events both large and small, be they social or political in nature.
By now, the letters of acceptance have been delivered and you’re choosing the high school you want your child to attend in September. Once the contract has been signed and the deposit sent, it’s time to prepare your student for the transition to high school.
Over the next several months, several things can be done to help make this move go smoothly. A little planning now will pay off in the fall.
Spring break is just around the corner, so why are we already talking about summer school curriculum?? When many people think of summer school, they envision a room filled with students who are goof-offs, woefully clueless, or angst-ridden. I’ve been a teacher or administrator of a summer school for high school students for almost 15 years, and, in my experience, the stereotypes from comedy movies are outnumbered by the students who actually populate those classrooms.