October 9, 2007 (Vol. 6, No. 4)

Bronx Schoolchildren Learn with Lehman Professors

For the past two years, a group of seventh- and eighth-grade Bronx schoolchildren have spent part of their summers taking intense math and language arts courses at Lehman College. The students are members of the Bronx Institute's Center for Academically Talented Middle School Students, which works with high-performing students to give them the extra push they need to succeed in high school and beyond.

Typically, the students spent half their day in a math workshop. Professor Stanley Taback (Middle and High School Education) was particularly impressed with their ability to solve complicated math problems. "I have never had students come up with such original, interesting, and complex solutions to some of the math problems that I posed," he said.

The other half of their day was devoted to an interdisciplinary writing, history, and research workshop taught by Charles Kaczynski, an adjunct in the History Department. In the summer of 2006, students explored the genesis of freedom in the United States and the writing and impact of the Declaration of Independence, visiting Philadelphia as a culminating event. In the summer of 2007, they focused on the Bronx as a place of major urban development and as an ever-evolving home for new immigrants.

Several students took part in a television production workshop led by Professor Miguel Perez (Journalism, Communication, and Theatre) and worked as a team to produce a weekly television show for Bronxnet. On one show, they were interviewed by Professor Perez about their lives and concerns as young Bronx residents.

"There are many more students in the Bronx public schools who have great academic potential and gifts," said Professor Herminio Martinez (Middle and High School Education), executive director of the Bronx Institute. "My goal in creating this center was to provide students with a rigorous and exciting curriculum and to give them the opportunity to study with some of our wonderful faculty right here on the Lehman campus."

Now entering its third year, the Center for Academically Talented Middle School Students will offer courses throughout the academic year. For more information, call 718-960-7742.

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