Harvard Pre-Calculus a Hit with Kids
Huntington High School’s new Harvard pre-calculus course is being called a complete success after all 41 students passed the class and qualified to earn four college credits.
Wayne Edwards, the district director of the math, said the course “was a tremendous success this year.” The college credits “are transferable to virtually all colleges and universities that teach such courses for credit,” Mr. Edwards said. (One student can only use the credits at Nassau Community College.)
The course “replaced a program we added that directly fed into Calculus AB,” said teacher Monica Racz, who along with colleague Kathleen Aufiero was one of two faculty members delivering instruction. “The juniors who completed the course will continue on to Calculus AB. However 50 percent of my class was seniors. These students will either be exempt from math in college or placed directly into calculus.”
“I am really happy with the way the Harvard pre-calculus course worked out this year,” Ms. Aufiero said. “The students that were selected for the program were well prepared for the level of the material in the course.”
The Huntington students and teachers worked with Nassau Community College professor Dr. Lilia E. Orlovam who taught several classes each month. The course was given in cooperation with NCC and featured a top-of-the-line curriculum. The two Huntington teachers received training at NCC.
The Huntington teenagers should find the college credits quite useful. “One of my students is going to Cornell and will be playing lacrosse,” Ms. Racz explained. “He was directed by his coach to take courses at Nassau Community College over the summer to lighten his load during the school year. The credits he earned from this class can be used toward that effort.”
Professor Orlova, who earned her doctorate at the University of Moscow, “gave students an idea of what to expect in a college course,” Ms Aufiero said. “The textbook we used approached pre-calculus from a different perspective and the students gained a good understanding of the concepts.”
“As a teacher, I really enjoyed teaching the class, because there was a lot of time to explore a topic in a variety of different problems,” Ms. Racz said. “Many of these students had a rote approach to mathematics and this course gave them the time and variety of problems to get out of that model of thinking. I hope this program will improve our results in AP Calculus.”
Mr. Edwards was excited that all 41 Huntington students earned a passing grade in the class and so were the teachers. “The professor was impressed with the students' achievements and I think the students felt good knowing they have earned four college credits,” Ms. Aufiero said. “I look forward to teaching the course again next year and it is good to give the students a new opportunity in the math curriculum here at the high school.”
“Our students should really be congratulated on their professionalism in completing this course,” Ms. Racz said. “They were required to take four exams from the college. The final was given at Nassau. The professor came to teach once every two weeks in addition to guiding me in between. I am so proud of our students’ behavior and diligence in completing their work. The professor enjoyed working with our students very much. The best part is the students paid $200 for four college credits. In this economy where can you get that!”
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