New York, June 29th - New York City chancellor of Education, Joel Klein last week praised small schools citywide for achieving much of their dream of helping thousands more of the city kids to graduate from high school as against the old schools in the phase- out campuses where the new schools are situated. The chancellor praised the principals and teachers who made this possible, and, naturally, he found exceptional praise and honor for an outstanding Mathematics teacher at Bronx Aerospace High School- Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae- who does not take failure of any kid as an option, and whose outstanding commitment enables failing students succeed semester after semester.
After thanking all the principals, administrators and teachers who made this possible, the chancellor singled out for special praise a Ghanaian Math Teacher at Bronx Aerospace High School who consistently makes all levels of students succeed each semester. The chancellor expressed his heartfelt thanks, on behalf of the New York City department of Education and all the parents, to this young Ghanaian teacher by name Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae “for all the wonderful things you are doing for our kids” and “for not giving up on our city’s kids”. It was a special acknowledgement which drew sustained applause from the audience as the chancellor called out Mr. Anyimadu-Ahenkae to the podium, embraced him, thanked him warmly, and asked him to stand by his side while he recounted heartwarming stories of some of the academic wonders he makes happen at the school.
In the past few years, Bronx Aerospace High School has consistently maintained its position among the top of New York City public schools with a very high graduation rate and excellent scores on the Regents Examinations, even though, unlike Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and other high performing schools, there is no entrance examination to the school. Consequently, like some other small schools, Bronx Aerospace often gets low-performing students as freshmen, and turns them around by the end of their junior and senior years before they graduate. Many attribute the school’s success to excellent leadership of the principal, Captain Barbara Kirkweg, and the hardwork of the teachers, notably exemplary teachers like Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae who will not take failure of any kid as an option.
In an interview, Mr. Anyimadu-Ahenkae gave credit first to Jesus who gives him the love and patience that makes him not give up on any kid, even the most difficult ones, until they succeed. He then praised the Principal, Captain Barbara Kirkweg who would provide anything necessary for teachers to get the kids succeed. A modest Mr. Ahenkae then praised his colleague teachers for doing their part, especially those he claimed are also very hardworking like him and would go the extra mile to help the kids, like Mr. Njeru Waithaka, Dr. Babatunde Soleye, Ms. Georgina Appiah, Mrs M. Brito, Mr. Melecio and others. Another staff member at Aerospace who pleaded anonymity said “ we all know Mr. Augustine deserves a national best teacher or some other award. He is excellent. We have other excellent teachers in Aerospace, but everybody knows Mr. Augustine is in a different class. He is not only the most hardworking, he is also very smart. Other teachers with big degrees go to his classroom to learn from him. They tease him that he can teach Math to even a goat. I hear he is also qualified to teach English and other subjects, but what he is doing in Math nobody has done, what he achieves with the students no one has ever done, and how he sacrifices for the kids no one goes to that extent.”
New York, June 29th - New York City chancellor of Education, Joel Klein last week praised small schools citywide for achieving much of their dream of helping thousands more of the city kids to graduate from high school as against the old schools in the phase- out campuses where the new schools are situated. The chancellor praised the principals and teachers who made this possible, and, naturally, he found exceptional praise and honor for an outstanding Mathematics teacher at Bronx Aerospace High School- Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae- who does not take failure of any kid as an option, and whose outstanding commitment enables failing students succeed semester after semester.
After thanking all the principals, administrators and teachers who made this possible, the chancellor singled out for special praise a Ghanaian Math Teacher at Bronx Aerospace High School who consistently makes all levels of students succeed each semester. The chancellor expressed his heartfelt thanks, on behalf of the New York City department of Education and all the parents, to this young Ghanaian teacher by name Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae “for all the wonderful things you are doing for our kids” and “for not giving up on our city’s kids”. It was a special acknowledgement which drew sustained applause from the audience as the chancellor called out Mr. Anyimadu-Ahenkae to the podium, embraced him, thanked him warmly, and asked him to stand by his side while he recounted heartwarming stories of some of the academic wonders he makes happen at the school.
In the past few years, Bronx Aerospace High School has consistently maintained its position among the top of New York City public schools with a very high graduation rate and excellent scores on the Regents Examinations, even though, unlike Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and other high performing schools, there is no entrance examination to the school. Consequently, like some other small schools, Bronx Aerospace often gets low-performing students as freshmen, and turns them around by the end of their junior and senior years before they graduate. Many attribute the school’s success to excellent leadership of the principal, Captain Barbara Kirkweg, and the hardwork of the teachers, notably exemplary teachers like Mr. Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae who will not take failure of any kid as an option.
In an interview, Mr. Anyimadu-Ahenkae gave credit first to Jesus who gives him the love and patience that makes him not give up on any kid, even the most difficult ones, until they succeed. He then praised the Principal, Captain Barbara Kirkweg who would provide anything necessary for teachers to get the kids succeed. A modest Mr. Ahenkae then praised his colleague teachers for doing their part, especially those he claimed are also very hardworking like him and would go the extra mile to help the kids, like Mr. Njeru Waithaka, Dr. Babatunde Soleye, Ms. Georgina Appiah, Mrs M. Brito, Mr. Melecio and others. Another staff member at Aerospace who pleaded anonymity said “ we all know Mr. Augustine deserves a national best teacher or some other award. He is excellent. We have other excellent teachers in Aerospace, but everybody knows Mr. Augustine is in a different class. He is not only the most hardworking, he is also very smart. Other teachers with big degrees go to his classroom to learn from him. They tease him that he can teach Math to even a goat. I hear he is also qualified to teach English and other subjects, but what he is doing in Math nobody has done, what he achieves with the students no one has ever done, and how he sacrifices for the kids no one goes to that extent.”
