Following the suspension of a Bronx English teacher who assigned 11th graders a short story about tragic masturbation attempts, students have defended the instructor while adults have expressed skepticism over his decision. Louella Hatch, whose grandson attends the Bronx School of Law and Finance, is one of the adults who objects to teacher Greg Van Voorhis’ assignment of “Guts” by “Fight Club” author Chuck Palahniuk. “Well, I really don’t go for that. Well, I’m old fashioned anyway, but I don’t like things like that,” she said. “If it is true, he can’t still be around the school, you know?” she added.
But kids are supporting their teacher, both to the press, and in more colorful language on the Facebook group “Save Mr. V.”
“c’mon people, it’s 2009 - not 1809. check out what even little elementary kids are watching and playing on a daily basis. at least these kids were READING.”
“Okay so its a gross short story from a very popular author. Perhaps a poor choice, but it’s 11th grade and its the Bronx, not 6th grade in Kentucky.”
“if your 17 years old i think u should know how to masturbate….soo its pathetic that there giving him shitt =D” Read more..
NEW YORK, NY December 15, 2008 —In today’s financial crisis, regulators and mutual fund managers are throwing out their playbooks. So are high school economics teachers. WNYC’s Lisa Chow goes up to the Bronx and finds out how one group of students is reacting to the troubles down on Wall Street.
REPORTER: Well, one thing’s clear. So far, nothing has discouraged students like Somora Burgess from wanting to pursue a career in finance.
BURGESS: The excitement of Wall Street is amazing.
REPORTER: Cemi Gonzalez also looks to downtown Manhattan for his future plans.
GONZALEZ: I think Wall Street gives you a lot of opportunities.
REPORTER: And Daquane Mays continues to believe, the financial industry is where it’s at.
MAYS: I want to work on Wall Street because it has a whole lot of competition. Read more..
Students attend an accounting class at the career-focused Bronx School of Law and Finance in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx.
Vocational Is Old School! They Are Now Called ‘Career Schools’
Eyeing a scrolling stock ticker flashing the latest prices, a 16-year-old high school junior, Raymond Rodriguez, said the other day: “That’s like my morning coffee.”
Wendys International was down; Intel was down; Allied Waste was down, and then another announcement rolled across the ticker:
Graduation is June 5. It was 10:30 a.m. at the Bronx School of Law and Finance, a small high school on the eighth floor of the gigantic John F. Kennedy campus in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx where students choose between two majors — law or finance — and then rack up a laundry list of practical skills, from how to wear a suit to how to trade stocks. (Mr. Rodriguez, a finance major, has invested about $100,000 in virtual dollars in Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and Xerox.)
This is the new face of vocational education, updated for the 21 st century, where securities class replaces shop and, rather than heading to factories, students serve summer internships at places such as McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, and Citi.
“Vocational — that word is out. They’re now career schools,” the school’s principal, Evan Schwartz, said.
Having posted among the most remarkable results in the city — Regents scores and graduation rates are well above the citywide average — the new schools, known by the name career and technical education, could also become the new face of New York City’s public schools. In his State of the City address this year, Mayor Bloomberg named expanding CTE schools a main priority, announcing that three CTE “demonstration” schools would be opened by 2009.
“Traditionally, such career and technical education has been seen as an educational dead-end,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “We’re going to change that.”
Although not technically accredited as a CTE school (that requires going through a Byzantine process the state Board of Regents is looking to revamp), Law and Finance is part of the National Academy Foundation, a national umbrella group for CTE, and it receives federal vocational education grants.
It has also caught the attention of CTE’s chief proponent at City Hall, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who dropped in unannounced for a visit last month.
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