22 The Queens Courier • december 5, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS Boro teachers w in for excellence BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] Seven of the city’s top science and math teachers, including three from Queens, know the formula for success in the classroom. They accepted Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics this week for using creative methods to inspire students to make the grade and pursue careers in their field. For Thomas Sangiorgi, a Regents chemistry teacher at Townsend Harris High School, this means being a human target. The 46-year-old educator lets his students throw plastic foam balls at him in order to demonstrate the collision theory. The only way to score a point is to hit him in the head with one. “You need the right amount of energy and the right amount of aim,” said Sangiorgi, a teacher of 19 years. “The students love the idea of throwing a ball at a teacher.” The imaginative demonstration is one of many that have made Sangiorgi a living legend at the Flushing school, Sloan officials said. Other lessons include shooting balled up socks in the air through a makeshift acetylene cannon to show an organic chemistry reaction. “The louder it is, the more applause I get. It’s pretty nifty,” he said. “And at that point, I’ve got their attention. They want to know what they just saw.” Yunseon Esther Kim of Francis Lewis High School and Dorina Cheregi of Newcomers High School were also awarded this year. Kim, an integrated algebra teacher, was lauded for her eight years of “patience, perseverance and gift for lucid mathematical explanation,” according to Sloan officials. “Ms. Kim is someone who puts in every ounce of her being toward helping kids,” said Francis Lewis High School Principal David Marmor. “She stays late. She tutors on her free time. She’s a fantastic math teacher. She’s had phenomenal success.” Kim has also helped two-thirds of her second-year algebra students pass their Regents exams after they failed their first year, Marmor and Sloan officials said. Cheregi, a Romanian immigrant, has dedicated more than 17 years to teaching basic and advanced math to new immigrant teens. She is credited for her honors students’ 92 percent pass rate on the AP Calculus test, according to award officials. “To have that role model in the school is really wonderful,” said Newcomers Principal Orlando Sarmiento. “It gives the kids a very concrete example of excellence and how to use education to be successful in the United States.” The seven winners in the city, chosen by a panel of distinguished science and math educators, were honored in a ceremony December 4 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit organization, and Fund for the City of New York. Each teacher received $5,000 and another $2,500 for their school’s science and math programs. This is the program’s fifth year. Other winners were Charlene Chan of the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, Eloise Thompson of DeWitt Clinton High School, Elisabeth Jaffe of Baruch College Campus High School and Eleanor Terry of the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology. Photos by Sarah Shatz Dorina Cheregi Yunseon Esther Kim Thomas Sangiorgi Skala may retire from community board BY MELISA CHAN has been on the board for at least a [email protected] decade. Though he did not participate this year, he is well-known for Bayside activist Frank Skala may dressing up as Santa Claus during retire from Community Board 11 this Bayside’s annual tree lighting. year due to old age, the board said. “He’s our character. He was the “He’s saying he just can’t continue. community’s character,” Seinfeld He’s been having to leave early. He’s said. “You just expected him to slowed down a lot. I can understand say something out of the ordinary why he’s doing this,” said Susan every month. That’s what Seinfeld, the board’s district manager. we’ll miss at the meetings — the The ever-opinionated Skala, 76, opinions.” Photos courtesy of Rachel Xing Rachel Xing, 16, will try her luck at her first pageant in January. BAYSIDE TEEN HAS PAGEANT DREAMS BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] It would be a dream come true, literally, if Rachel Xing wins Miss New York Teen USA next year. The 16-year-old from Bayside is entering her first pageant in January to fulfill a possible prophecy her mother had while five months pregnant with her. “When I was really little, my mom told me she had a dream she would have a girl who would attend a pageant and win,” Xing said. “At the time, she didn’t even know if she was having a boy or girl.” Her mother, Bo Qian, said she woke up and “knew it would be a girl.” One month later, a doctor confirmed it. Qian said telling the story multiple times sparked her daughter’s interest in pageants. “I told her she had to get a good SAT score first,” Qian said. “She studied hard. She wants to do it, and I support her.” The borough beauty will compete for the preliminary title from January 17 to 19 at Purchase College’s Performing Arts Center. The winner of the contest will represent the state at the national 2014 Miss Teen USA pageant next summer. “I’m really excited. I can’t wait to see what will happen and what I will learn from the experience,” said Xing. “But I’m slightly nervous because I don’t have any experience whatsoever. This is completely new to me.” The teen said she plans to “look up a million videos on pageants” online, attend etiquette classes, possibly hire a pageant coach and find sponsors to help fund the $1,500 entrance fee. Xing said the coveted trophy would mean she would be a role model for other girls. The junior whiz kid has a 4.3 GPA at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and is an aspiring doctor. “If she wins, I think it’ll recognize that she can learn many things, not just academically,” Qian said. The winner of the national competition will spend a year as a teen ambassador. “I would feel like it would be an honor to represent Bayside and my state,” Xing said.
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