Office aide is a popular “class” when there is great temptation to take easier classes during a hectic senior year. However, there is a different way to relax during the day and help others. The lesser-known aide classes are a relief to students and teachers alike.
Chemistry aide, for example, was established by former science teacher Mr. Ken Greathouse. He would ask one of the office aides every semester if they would spend their class with him so they could help set up and take down labs. Eventually, students started signing up for that responsibility themselves.
“Chemistry is a prep-intensive course, so it’s a big help to set up labs,” science teacher Mr. Lee Johnson said.
For seniors like Andrew Matusofsky and Jalisa Cherry, every day spent with Johnson and science teacher Mrs. Beth Karfs is an adventure.
“I liked chemistry a lot last year so I wanted to continue doing it,” Cherry said. “I love mixing chemicals and watching reactions.”
Aside from playing with chemicals and getting ready for experiments, the class consists of organizing supplies, cleaning up from the labs and testing the new labs so that the students are actually able to execute them.
“Mrs. Karfs is rewriting a lab for dissolving a penny this year and I get to be the guinea pig,” Matusofsky said. “I’m really excited.”
Having an aide is not only a stress reliever for teachers but an opportunity for students to prepare themselves for a career in science. Because their time is spent almost exclusively in the lab, the class provides a lot of exposure to that environment, which Matusofsky and Cherry agree is a great thing. This gives students a leg up on other students whose first lengthened time in a lab could be in college.
“I want to go into science as a career, so it’s good practice for what I’ll be doing later,” Matusofsky said. “It’s a really educational experience.”
In much the same way, students who are math aides are helpful to both students and teachers.
A math aide’s purpose is to help students struggling in math by giving them more individualized time in an extra math class.
“I work in an algebra lab,” senior Leeore Levinstein said, “which reinforces the math skills students learn in their regular class. Every day we review homework and Mr. [Kurt] Lehmann teaches them a mini-lesson and assigns them extra problems.”
Levinstein’s math aide class is similar to tutoring; she walks around for a majority of the hour answering questions, explaining concepts and making sure that students have the correct answers to their homework.
Levinstein said she enjoys teaching and helping the students understand a subject she enjoys more than she would like running around doing errands. Levinstein said she also believes that the specific help and extra practice the students received is good for them.
“I think it helps them because they have a math class every day, and it’s fresh in their minds,” Levinstein said. “It’s more beneficial to more people.”