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Shooting for the Academic Stars
By picking top students and feeding their passions, a Virginia school lands on top
By Lucia Graves
Posted November 29, 2007
When the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space, Americans were awestruck. Few would have guessed that now, just 50 years later, backpack-toting 16-year-olds would be taking their own space shots in high school science class. But in Fairfax County, Va., at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, "TJ" for short, that's exactly what's happening. Working in conjunction with Orbital Sciences Corp., a nearby tech company, students in Adam Kemp's Energy Systems class are designing their own state-of-the-art satellite, complete with a Web interface and voice digitizer that would allow science students at schools around the country to enter strings of text for broadcast.
"We want students getting their feet wet and muddy doing fun things with science in a vigorous way," says Principal Evan Glazer.
Building satellites is certainly a hands-on approach. But TJ is not, admittedly, your typical high school. Established in 1985 during Northern Virginia's population boom, TJ was designed with the area's emerging tech and science industries in mind. Tech corporations poured millions into the project. TJ, for its part, took the support and ran with it. Today, it tops our list of America's Best High Schools.
The building itself is remarkably unimpressive. With its chipped paint and trailers that serve as classrooms, it looks very much like many other public schools. That is, until you meet the students.
TJ draws applicants from across five counties and two cities in Northern Virginia, selecting 500 students from a pool of several thousand applicants. Admission is based primarily on a general achievement test and prior grades. To give a sense of student caliber: Of the 432 seniors in the Class of 2007, 158 were National Merit semifinalists, more than any other school in the nation. And the average student SAT score was a 2155 (on a 2400 scale). When they aren't shouldering their science-heavy course load, TJ students participate in a slew of extracurriculars, choosing from some 25 varsity sports and 85 clubs, including the Investment Club, the Neuroscience Society, the Entomology Club, and the Forensics Sciences Society.
People power. So the kids are smart, but what makes it a great school? The students come from the D.C. suburbs_an area with more Ph.D.'s per capita than practically anywhere else in the nation_thus many of them hail from highly educated, affluent families. And from this population, TJ collects the teen braniacs. So the important question becomes: How much educational value is added at TJ?
Well, high-powered peers are one asset. "They feed off each other and create a kind of synergy for thinking," says Glazer. Beyond that are specialized course offerings such as Artificial Intelligence, DNA Science II, and Advanced Optics with Research Applications. Matt Pearce, the mentorship coordinator, works with the school's science lab directors_whose expertise ranges from oceanography to microelectronics_to forge connections between students and some two dozen corporate, government, and university laboratories. These partner organizations_which include the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Naval Research Center, and the U.S. Naval Observatory among others_donate laboratory facilities, research space, and sometimes tutoring expertise. TJ even has a full-time fundraising director. One of the school's distinguishing features is the Senior Tech Lab, a capstone project in which students focus on a scientific area of interest, and their research culminates in a paper and presentation. Projects run the gamut, from building underwater robots to the chemistry of art preservation.
But if the sciences at TJ are strong, it's not at the expense of the humanities. "People look at our school's name on the front of the building and they focus on the 'Science and Technology' part, but they forget about the 'Thomas Jefferson' part," said Cathy Colglazier, humanities division manager. "Well, Thomas Jefferson was a Renaissance man: The way you live life fully is to study broadly!" And students do. The class listing reads like a college course catalog, with offerings in Latin, AP European history, globalization, and economics.
Students salivate for these opportunities, even though they often find the workload taxing. "The stress on a TJ kid is almost too much," says senior Ariel Lepon. "I'm really happy I'm here. This is the best place for me to be. But I wonder if I'd gone somewhere else, would I be this stressed out?" Another student responded that the pressure helps improve time management skills. "You fail or you figure it out," shrugs senior Marina Arnold. "And by fail, we mean B+," adds Lepon.
After they've graduated, many TJ alums keep up a network, and even if they lose touch, they say they know where to find one another. "Lots of TJ kids are running around elite academic institutions and also major new economy centers like Silicon Valley, New York, Washington, and Boston," says alum Andrew Winerman, class of 2000. He explains that TJ connections are like college connections, only perhaps deeper, because high school is even more formative and emotionally weighty than college for a lot of people.
Work harder. TJ does seem to work well for students and alums, but does it work well for the larger community? Some school districts are chagrined to lose their top talent to TJ, not to mention the roughly $8,000 per student in tax money for public schools. What about the economically disadvantaged? Admissions tests at TJ are based solely on academic merit, while minority enrollment remains at under 5 percent, with blacks and Hispanics conspicuously underrepresented.
Whatever the criticisms of TJ's admissions process, one thing is true: Once they get in, these kids work hard. And there's no better example of this than in their athletic programs. Unlike some private high schools that recruit athletic as well as academic talent, TJ can't rely on stars. The students find ways to win nevertheless. TJ particularly excels in endurance sports like cross country, crew, and swimming.
"We sweep everything," says senior Alexis Brown, who rows for the girls' crew team. "Some people think we must be cheating. But what they don't get is that we just work harder. We're passionate, and we work harder."
Shooting for the Academic Stars
By picking top students and feeding their passions, a Virginia school lands on top
By Lucia Graves
Posted November 29, 2007
When the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space, Americans were awestruck. Few would have guessed that now, just 50 years later, backpack-toting 16-year-olds would be taking their own space shots in high school science class. But in Fairfax County, Va., at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, "TJ" for short, that's exactly what's happening. Working in conjunction with Orbital Sciences Corp., a nearby tech company, students in Adam Kemp's Energy Systems class are designing their own state-of-the-art satellite, complete with a Web interface and voice digitizer that would allow science students at schools around the country to enter strings of text for broadcast.
"We want students getting their feet wet and muddy doing fun things with science in a vigorous way," says Principal Evan Glazer.
Building satellites is certainly a hands-on approach. But TJ is not, admittedly, your typical high school. Established in 1985 during Northern Virginia's population boom, TJ was designed with the area's emerging tech and science industries in mind. Tech corporations poured millions into the project. TJ, for its part, took the support and ran with it. Today, it tops our list of America's Best High Schools.
The building itself is remarkably unimpressive. With its chipped paint and trailers that serve as classrooms, it looks very much like many other public schools. That is, until you meet the students.
TJ draws applicants from across five counties and two cities in Northern Virginia, selecting 500 students from a pool of several thousand applicants. Admission is based primarily on a general achievement test and prior grades. To give a sense of student caliber: Of the 432 seniors in the Class of 2007, 158 were National Merit semifinalists, more than any other school in the nation. And the average student SAT score was a 2155 (on a 2400 scale). When they aren't shouldering their science-heavy course load, TJ students participate in a slew of extracurriculars, choosing from some 25 varsity sports and 85 clubs, including the Investment Club, the Neuroscience Society, the Entomology Club, and the Forensics Sciences Society.
People power. So the kids are smart, but what makes it a great school? The students come from the D.C. suburbs_an area with more Ph.D.'s per capita than practically anywhere else in the nation_thus many of them hail from highly educated, affluent families. And from this population, TJ collects the teen braniacs. So the important question becomes: How much educational value is added at TJ?
Well, high-powered peers are one asset. "They feed off each other and create a kind of synergy for thinking," says Glazer. Beyond that are specialized course offerings such as Artificial Intelligence, DNA Science II, and Advanced Optics with Research Applications. Matt Pearce, the mentorship coordinator, works with the school's science lab directors_whose expertise ranges from oceanography to microelectronics_to forge connections between students and some two dozen corporate, government, and university laboratories. These partner organizations_which include the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Naval Research Center, and the U.S. Naval Observatory among others_donate laboratory facilities, research space, and sometimes tutoring expertise. TJ even has a full-time fundraising director. One of the school's distinguishing features is the Senior Tech Lab, a capstone project in which students focus on a scientific area of interest, and their research culminates in a paper and presentation. Projects run the gamut, from building underwater robots to the chemistry of art preservation.
But if the sciences at TJ are strong, it's not at the expense of the humanities. "People look at our school's name on the front of the building and they focus on the 'Science and Technology' part, but they forget about the 'Thomas Jefferson' part," said Cathy Colglazier, humanities division manager. "Well, Thomas Jefferson was a Renaissance man: The way you live life fully is to study broadly!" And students do. The class listing reads like a college course catalog, with offerings in Latin, AP European history, globalization, and economics.
Students salivate for these opportunities, even though they often find the workload taxing. "The stress on a TJ kid is almost too much," says senior Ariel Lepon. "I'm really happy I'm here. This is the best place for me to be. But I wonder if I'd gone somewhere else, would I be this stressed out?" Another student responded that the pressure helps improve time management skills. "You fail or you figure it out," shrugs senior Marina Arnold. "And by fail, we mean B+," adds Lepon.
After they've graduated, many TJ alums keep up a network, and even if they lose touch, they say they know where to find one another. "Lots of TJ kids are running around elite academic institutions and also major new economy centers like Silicon Valley, New York, Washington, and Boston," says alum Andrew Winerman, class of 2000. He explains that TJ connections are like college connections, only perhaps deeper, because high school is even more formative and emotionally weighty than college for a lot of people.
Work harder. TJ does seem to work well for students and alums, but does it work well for the larger community? Some school districts are chagrined to lose their top talent to TJ, not to mention the roughly $8,000 per student in tax money for public schools. What about the economically disadvantaged? Admissions tests at TJ are based solely on academic merit, while minority enrollment remains at under 5 percent, with blacks and Hispanics conspicuously underrepresented.
Whatever the criticisms of TJ's admissions process, one thing is true: Once they get in, these kids work hard. And there's no better example of this than in their athletic programs. Unlike some private high schools that recruit athletic as well as academic talent, TJ can't rely on stars. The students find ways to win nevertheless. TJ particularly excels in endurance sports like cross country, crew, and swimming.
"We sweep everything," says senior Alexis Brown, who rows for the girls' crew team. "Some people think we must be cheating. But what they don't get is that we just work harder. We're passionate, and we work harder."
summer has taken on a completely different meaning. it seems like it wasn't that long ago (though it probably was) that summer meant time away from school, traveling, chasing ass, and playing lots of sports. thanks to my gig, this year's hot season was all about the box office. i'm not sure if you've noticed but this year has been a ceaseless procession of highly-budgeted films.
not only are beaucoup dollars involved in the realization of these productions but also there's huge allocations set aside for convincing the viewing public to get their butts in a cinema house seat. i guess i should be thankful that there's marketing budgets out there keeping me employed because things were pretty grim about 4 months ago when my lone million dollar client decided--through no fault of my own--to dump me.
as much as i appreciate my income and the fact that i'm no longer slogging it out in smut, i spend a good amount of time repressing a mean case of wanderlust. after planning this trip out and twisting arms to get friends to come with, i'm a mere week away from switching hemispheres. my bags are packed and my snowboard has a fresh coat of wax because i'm gonna ride the chilean andes. my days will be filled with huge mountains and the sound of myself slicing through the air at high speeds. the evenings will be about hot tubs, culinary gluttony, and amazing chilean wines. all indicators point to an epic journey in the making.
this winter i've got a trip to oahu in the mix because a homie is getting hitched. i'd just as soon not go to hawaii for the third straight year, those funds and super precious vacation days could be used in other pursuits. but since it is my homie and it will be oahu, i'll be spending some time at a house on the beach just steps away from the world famous banzai pipeline. i could very easily get killed by a gnarly shack or a po'd local but i figure not surfing the north shore while in oahu would be like going to mecca and seeing the wall of zamzam.
it occurs to me that these two journeys i'll be taking involve me putting myself in situations that carry potential harm for life and limb. avalanches and massive vertical drops are a big part of the andes mountains. hardly a year goes by when someone doesn't meet their maker at the north shore. i'd have to overcome some of my own personal restrictions and self preservation instincts to be in a place that would be the final stop on my life's passage. who can say i won't accept the challenge when it is before me and take on a little more risk than i'm used to. just what exactly am i trying to escape from?
not only are beaucoup dollars involved in the realization of these productions but also there's huge allocations set aside for convincing the viewing public to get their butts in a cinema house seat. i guess i should be thankful that there's marketing budgets out there keeping me employed because things were pretty grim about 4 months ago when my lone million dollar client decided--through no fault of my own--to dump me.
as much as i appreciate my income and the fact that i'm no longer slogging it out in smut, i spend a good amount of time repressing a mean case of wanderlust. after planning this trip out and twisting arms to get friends to come with, i'm a mere week away from switching hemispheres. my bags are packed and my snowboard has a fresh coat of wax because i'm gonna ride the chilean andes. my days will be filled with huge mountains and the sound of myself slicing through the air at high speeds. the evenings will be about hot tubs, culinary gluttony, and amazing chilean wines. all indicators point to an epic journey in the making.
this winter i've got a trip to oahu in the mix because a homie is getting hitched. i'd just as soon not go to hawaii for the third straight year, those funds and super precious vacation days could be used in other pursuits. but since it is my homie and it will be oahu, i'll be spending some time at a house on the beach just steps away from the world famous banzai pipeline. i could very easily get killed by a gnarly shack or a po'd local but i figure not surfing the north shore while in oahu would be like going to mecca and seeing the wall of zamzam.
it occurs to me that these two journeys i'll be taking involve me putting myself in situations that carry potential harm for life and limb. avalanches and massive vertical drops are a big part of the andes mountains. hardly a year goes by when someone doesn't meet their maker at the north shore. i'd have to overcome some of my own personal restrictions and self preservation instincts to be in a place that would be the final stop on my life's passage. who can say i won't accept the challenge when it is before me and take on a little more risk than i'm used to. just what exactly am i trying to escape from?
the waves may have sucked today but at least i got to meet 2004 world champ sofia mulanovich
she like totally rips
she like totally rips
on the eve of the 30th anniversary of my birth i think that the basic summation i have is; same, but different.
i never had in mind that it would be a trans formative moment upon ascending to three decades of age. koreans are born one year old--gestation does count for aging if you think about it--so its really all a matter of perspective.
but in many ways the notion that something is supposed to happen holds more truth than i'm willing to admit. the time that school used to consume has been replaced by a new gig. i've swapped p's (paramount for porn) as the most significant contributors to my manner of supporting myself.
in years past i had a jenna jameson story to tell when people asked me about how i made my living. now i've got a peter guber story. though the jenna story is still better
i still surf as often as i can. but with this new gig that's not terribly often. shifting the balance more towards the radical is my newest pursuit, snowboarding. i've sesh'd big bear, mammoth, mt hood and am plotting an assault on central chile in a few months time.
what really holds everything together is the presence of an amazing spirit. i'd forgotten what its like to miss someone and i miss this one a whole lot when she's not by my side or in my arms or riding my face
despite the progression of age (but when don't we age?) i remain very much my same self. got the same friends. still love the hollywood bowl and in-n-out.
and i still wish all of my friends the very best in life.
namaste
i never had in mind that it would be a trans formative moment upon ascending to three decades of age. koreans are born one year old--gestation does count for aging if you think about it--so its really all a matter of perspective.
but in many ways the notion that something is supposed to happen holds more truth than i'm willing to admit. the time that school used to consume has been replaced by a new gig. i've swapped p's (paramount for porn) as the most significant contributors to my manner of supporting myself.
in years past i had a jenna jameson story to tell when people asked me about how i made my living. now i've got a peter guber story. though the jenna story is still better
i still surf as often as i can. but with this new gig that's not terribly often. shifting the balance more towards the radical is my newest pursuit, snowboarding. i've sesh'd big bear, mammoth, mt hood and am plotting an assault on central chile in a few months time.
what really holds everything together is the presence of an amazing spirit. i'd forgotten what its like to miss someone and i miss this one a whole lot when she's not by my side or in my arms or riding my face
despite the progression of age (but when don't we age?) i remain very much my same self. got the same friends. still love the hollywood bowl and in-n-out.
and i still wish all of my friends the very best in life.
namaste
JUNE 2008
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