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Brianna Medeiros‘ 17 Associate Editor
Abington High School recently added a computer science class that introduces students to the world of computer programming, and Mr. Jayakumar is its teacher. This is Mr. " J ' s " second year teaching at AHS, and he is excited to introduce this subject to the school. "( Computer Science is) a field where students can see the results of their effort in a relatively fast, fun and practical way," said Mr. J during a recent interview. Students learn to write " code " that creates websites and games. " Students learn all the basic elements and then get to practice designing their own working creations," said Mr. J. Mr. J ' s education helped prepare him to teach this class and as well as the mathematics classes he teaches at AHS and at the Frolio Middle School. He attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, majoring in computer science. Carnegie Mellon is also where Randy
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Pausch taught computer science. Pausch, is known for his inspiring“ Last Lecture,” delivered not long before he died of pancreatic cancer at age 47 in 2008. Mr. J attended Carnegie Mellon while Pausch was teaching there, but unfortunately did not have him for any classes. Mr. J grew up in Pittsburgh where he attended Montour High School. In addition to playing soccer and being a member of the math team, Mr. J was also a peer tutor. It was then that he first became interested in teaching. In addition to computer science class, Mr. J teaches Algebra II & Trigonometry at the high school and Grade 7 math at the Frolio. He says he enjoys teaching computer science the most. And, given the opportunity, he would like to introduce a coding class at the middle school so the students could get early exposure to it. Mr. J became interested in computers at an early age.“ I started using |
my family ' s PC when I was about 5- years-old, and was amazed by everything it could do. Ever since then, I ' ve been fascinated by computers and have always enjoyed exploring how they work,” said Mr. J. They say that if you enjoy what you do, then you have found success. Mr. J is successful because he enjoys teaching and finds it fulfilling compared to software engineering. Although he does enjoy both. " This year I ' ve been fortunate to be able to combine the two interests together by teaching a computer science class." In his spare time Mr. J enjoys finding new shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime just like so many of us. He is also a big sports fan, especially baseball, hockey and football, and he is currently teaching himself the guitar.
Abington is lucky to have Mr. J sharing his passion and knowledge in school every day.
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Mr. Jayakumar( GWG)
“ I ' ve been fortunate to be able to combine the two interests together by teaching a computer science class.”
Mr. Jayakumar
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before and went through the process already gives the newcomers hope. " I dream of becoming fluent by the time I graduate and then go to college," said Alvares.
This experience is special for the student and the teacher. Ms. Despres teaches ELL at AHS. " As an ELL teacher, I learn so much from my students. Sometimes I feel like I learn more from them than they do from me. They have taught me about their native languages and cultures," said Ms. Despres.
From the student ' s perspective, Carvalho Pinto thinks that the schooling in the U. S. is a good difference. " I like the different method of teaching, because here, the teacher interacts with the student and I didn’ t have that
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in Brazil," said Carvalho Pinto.
Leticia Da ' Silva ' 18 is an example of a student who was able to progress from knowing little to no English, to being fluent in English with help from the ELL program. She came to the U. S. when she was 14-years-old and only knew how to say " Hi." Today, she is a junior with a full class schedule. She sets the standard for other ELL students to work towards. During a brief interview, she told us about her experience.
How much English did you know when you arrived?
I knew how to say " Hi."
How difficult was that for you?
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It was so hard and scary. How did you cope?
I listened to music and looked for the lyrics. I would look up the translation of the song, and that would help me a lot.
Were your ELL teachers helpful?
Yes a lot, because they always did things to help me.
What are you most proud of at this point?
I passed MCAS( Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System). And, with that, I can see how much progress I have made in almost three years in America.
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Ms. Despres and Ms. Scofano work with English Language Learners at AHS( Staff)
“ I dream of becoming fluent by the time I graduate and then go to college.”
Matheus Alvarez‘ 20
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