Imagine you are a freshman, hastily walking into the cafeteria to have a peaceful lunch with your friends after just going through several hectic classes. Crashing down to your usual seat, and hoping for some peace and quiet, you are instead, overwhelmed by research articles covering every square inch of the table, an unfinished presentation waiting to be colored with images, and a friend frantically looking for people to interview. You’re surprised to see the amount of work your fellow school mates have due to the program they are in and start to wonder what would program you would end up admitting into. As the school year progresses, the time for you to choose a program is creeping in and so is the stress; you don’t want to choose the wrong program and be stuck with something unenjoyable for the next three to four years. Therefore, in order to choose the right program, it is important for students to acknowledge what each program requires to stay informed and prepared to make a decision.
There are a multitude of programs at Francis Lewis high school, all covering different aspects of studies that could branch students to a specific career in the future. Specifically, Science Research, Robotics, Virtual Enterprise, University Scholars, Journalism, and the Law program are some of all high-profile and engaging programs at this school.
Science Research
To begin, in Science Research, the program allows students to learn new techniques in the science field and get to design their own experiment.
“A typical day for me in Science Research is working on any assignments assigned by my teacher, doing my experiment in the laboratory, communicating with my teammates, and a lot of independent writing and reading,” sophomore Jocelyn Zheng mentions.
Compared to only following a strict syllabus, students in the science research program have the ability to pursue their individual interests. To an extent, they can follow their own pace. They have the freedom of creating and conducting their own experiments yet, this aspect comes with certain responsibilities.
“They do have a little bit more responsibility of planning their own schedules and time table because everyone’s project is going to take a different amount of time, take different amounts of trials,” says Science Research teacher, Dr. Cohen.
Certain students enjoy the increased responsibility due to having more educational freedom. On the other hand, others may consider it a bit of a hassle as increased responsibility also comes with the increase in workload.
“I’m not going to pretend it’s not a lot of work but what I will say is it gets easier as you move along because once you have that foundation, everything just gets streamlined and by the time you’re a senior you realize that you developed a family, you’ve developed skills,” Dr. Cohen says.
In addition to foundational skills, students in the science research program gain new abilities and learn more about their interests.
“I’ve learned many valuable research skills such as critical thinking, time management skills, and communication skills,” states Jocelyn Zheng. “It has undoubtedly expanded my perspective on science and helped me be more confident in pursuing a future in science.”
According to Dr. Cohen, the nature of the program heavily prepares the students for college-level material and makes college classes “seem so much less demanding.” Although it may seem tedious in the beginning, the knowledge given by this program has helped many students in their futures.
“If I had a nickel for every time one of my alumnus sends me an email saying that they feel so far ahead in college, I could probably fix everything around the annex,” Dr. Cohen says. “So, it really impacts them because they’re used to a heavier course load.”
Robotics
Much like the science research program, students in the robotics program have the ability to contribute their individual skills onto a project. Skills include coding, manufacturing, and creating potential designs for the robot.
“If you’re not good at one thing, you can do something else,” junior Julia Bilik says. “For example, you don’t have to be good at coding, you can instead draw or build the robot itself.”
Bilik advises to be “open to learning about new things” in the robotics program. Throughout the duration of the course, she was able to heavily expand her skill set.
“I have learned how to do the manufacturing aspects of the robot and how to excel as a builder last year,” says Bilik. “I’m also learning a new programming language that I haven’t known before, which is Java. I only knew Python before.”
The robotics program requires constant communication and group work with team members. It also requires staying late after school and working on projects, which shows the dedication students in this program have on their projects.
“I enjoy being able to cooperate with so many people because it’s so community based, but then I also dislike it because it can take a lot of my time,” mentions Bilik. “Sometimes you have to stay until 7.”
Virtual Enterprise
The Virtual Enterprising program involves public speaking and numerous presentations. The program teaches students about maintaining businesses and financial aspects such as investing and taxes.
“In freshman year, there were not a lot of presentations, we just mostly focused on how to present and all those Economics Crash Courses,” says junior Linyi Huang. “We only had a total of three presentations, two on your own and one with your group. And this year, being a junior in VE, it’s only been the second month of school and I have already had two presentations.”
While Huang doesn’t enjoy having to present on her own, this requirement allowed her to become a more “confident speaker.” The program also heavily improved the quality of her presentations.
“They were just not professional and it was whatever I wanted it to be,” says Huang. “But, after joining this program, I learned more professional ways and how to actually make good slides in a business and formal way.”
University Scholars
The University Scholars program allows students to take two language courses at once without having to handle multiple additional classes. Sometimes students are able to skip levels depending on their skills.
“I don’t really like the fact that I joined in a really inconvenient way because I skipped a level and I did a full year of Japanese already so I’m in the last level for Japanese, but I’m still in the first level for Korean,” says sophomore Sara Miura. “So there’s a huge gap in levels so that’s the only inconvenience.”
In the University Scholars program, students are also required to be a part of the AP Capstone program which involves taking AP Seminar and AP Research. The AP Capstone courses replace regular English classes and are equivalent to the work done in college, more specifically work done to get a PhD.
“AP Seminar, which is an English course, is very different from English honors,” says Miura. “You get to talk to different people who have a better understanding or more of a dedication to the subject.”
Journalism
The Journalism program is another elective, which teaches students essential skills surrounding reporting and publishing stories. Students start off with the course “Introduction to Journalism ” where they learn essential skills and are then able to move onto the courses “Journalism Writing” and “Multimedia” where they are given more creative freedom.
“A major skill I learned was the importance of connecting with community, either large or small,” says Alumni of the Journalism program and current NBC editor, Yasmeen Persaud. “Francis Lewis was its own close-knit, diverse community of students. The program definitely shows students how to exercise empathy — especially when reporting on difficult subjects.”
Yasmeen Persaud feels as if she isn’t “finished learning” and every day “feels like taking the first step” in her career.
“It’s also difficult to know the truth in an age where we have access to so much information,” adds Yasmeen Persaud.“Definitely in the beginning of my journey I learned the importance of reading everything to know both sides of the story, and to know the importance of sources. It’s also imperative to understand the impact your words will have on audiences everywhere.”
As a result of the journalism program, Yasmeen Persaud majored in journalism and creative writing while in college as well as wrote for Baruch’s newspaper. She was then able to join NBC news and become one of the editors.
“As an Assignment Editor for NBC News, I feel prepared to cover a range of stories because of my experience interviewing so many different people throughout high school and college,” adds Yasmeen Persaud. “I don’t aim to be a perfect journalist and understand that there is always room for improvement. In realizing this, I aim for truth, understanding and clarity in my reporting. I am willing to learn from all of the amazing colleagues I work with everyday.”
Jacob Javits Law
In the Jacob Javits Law Program, students participate in “hands on” projects and mock trials. Students cooperate with each other as they mimic the roles of lawyers and judges in a courtroom.
“My year two students, in criminal justice, right now they’re working in teams of eight,” says law teacher Mr. Buckley. “They’re working together to prepare a case to conduct a mock trial, so there’s a lot of collaboration, teamwork, and communication required.”
The law program provides students with college credit, therefore a lot of the material is as rigorous and challenging as a usual college class. Additionally, the program includes many presentations which serve as assessments and depend on how well you perform.
“If you’re uncomfortable presenting or performing, you’re going to get a lot of practice at that and you’re going to become comfortable,” says Mr. Buckley.
Pretima Persaud, alumni of the law program and current law student, recalls how the program allowed her to get ahead and learn about significant topics.
“As a proud product of the public school system, the law program is a memory that I often share with so many people because at the age of fourteen I was learning the material of first year law students,” says Pretima Persaud. “At the age of fourteen I was learning about the United States judicial system and my rights as an American citizen, something many adults never learn.”
Persaud adds that the law program prepared her to be “a model citizen of society” and recalls the many other benefits that the program brought her.
“The law program helped me build character and presence,” says Pretima Persaud. “I grew out of my shell and became confident that my voice mattered in a room full of strangers. In addition, the law program taught me public speaking and advocacy skills. I learned how to brief a case, something many first year law school students struggle with. Most importantly, the law program taught me to always consider both sides to a situation before I speak or act.”
Persaud advises students to “approach this opportunity with an open mind” and take advantage of all the opportunities that the program provides.
“Lastly, take advantage of the many opportunities the law program has to offer. Ask your questions, attend the field trips, and learn how to make connections. Learn how to find our voice and confidence in a room of strangers. Allow yourself to make mistakes because those are the lessons that will remain with you throughout your career.”
Like other programs at Francis Lewis, the law program serves to give students a bigger insight about their future and potential careers.
“I think for some students, it encourages them and allows them to want to go deeper if they really like the work,” says Mr. Buckley. “For others, it’s a sort of process of elimination. It helps them realize that they don’t want to be a lawyer, and that’s equally valuable.”
Persaud adds on to Mr. Buckley’s ideas and describes how the law program gave her a bigger insight about her career.
“The Jacob Javits Law Program solidified my dream of becoming an attorney, more specifically, becoming a voice for those who feel silenced,” mentions Persaud. “From my internships to the various conversations with my teachers, I was confident that I wanted to go to law school and become an advocate in New York City.”
Francis Lewis High School provides a wide spectrum of programs and academies to choose from. Why not utilize them and choose something you like or would want to do in the future? For Yasmeen Persuad, “it definitely felt like a ‘this is your destiny’ moment.” Maybe you will have one of these moments as well.
