Our Students

A Day in the Life of a Beacon Student

Wednesdays at Beacon

7:42 am - Hop on the D Riverside Green Line train from Government Center to get to Bartol Hall in just enough time.

8:06 am - Walk in, made it .. (past 8:15, you're late) Get breakfast; there's a wide variety to choose from: you can make your own waffles, get bagels, cereal from a dispenser, have a salad. There's also a lot of juice, coffee and milk dispensers, etc.

8:30 am - Breakfast is over and time to walk over to Temple Israel to start classes.

8:45 am - Morning Meeting: a member of the faculty talks about something important to them, or about current events. At the end of the year we each have to give a presentation too, about community services.

9:00 am - First Class: Girls have English. The class starts out with vocabulary. On the board Mr. Conway writes down words we've picked up from everywhere: books, conversations, and "he moves his hand" down the line asking each of us to define a few words, then moves on. Then we generally have a book discussion on last night's reading. In the discussion we cover the basic plot, find symbolism, unearth new vocabulary words to add to our lists and study the author's style of writing. These discourses help us discover the book. We're never told directly what's going on; we have to tell him. We teach ourselves, in a way, he just clarifies and adds more to what we say.

10:30 am - Second Class: We get a little break, then girls have math. We take out all our supplies and homework and get ready to discuss the problems and topics we covered last night. Generally we're asked to volunteer to answer a problem on the board or asked if we have any specific questions about a particular problem. If someone has an issue with a problem, it's up to us to explain it to them. We can go up to the board and explain the problem to them. If they are still confused, Mr. Greene steps up and clarifies it more. Once we finish discussing homework, we generally open our textbooks and discuss the topic we have trouble with or just move onto a nother topic.

At Beacon we move quickly: the first half of the year we review Pre-Algebra, then after winter break we move onto Algebra I. Although it's fast, we help each other out and make sure we're on top of our work and don't fall behind.

12:00 noon - Lunch: Now that math is over, we walk over to Bartol for lunch. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have lunch here. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have to bring our own lunch because we read to the preschoolers in the Temple.

12:45 pm - After lunch we get ready to go to the Museum of Fine Arts. Every other Wednesday we walk over and take Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) or an Artful Adventures Class. We go into a room in the museum and analyze pieces or art on slides. We try to figure out the deeper meaning in these pictures. Mr. Osborne leads the discussion by asking us simple quesions: What's going on in this picture? What do you see? We find out that, although it's the same piece, we each have different reactions and ideas about it. Then we walk around the galleries and use the VTS techniques on actual paintings. Artful Adventures is a chance for us to make art and express ourselves through art. We make prints and collages and work with clay during those classes. The whole idea is that as we grow academically, we should also grow culturally. Having access to the museum and learning how to make art is essential to a full, well-rounded Beacon.

2:30 pm - We return to the Temple and have study hall. We can get started on homework, talk to the teachers, read or have peer tutoring sessions. These study halls are extremely beneficial, so we try to use them wisely.

3:30 pm - We all gather in Mr. Conway's room, announcements are made, and we are allowed to go home. We all walk to the T or wait to get picked up. We go home, study, do our homework. The sooner you do it, the more time you have to just hang out and relax.