Welcome to our Mini Beats collection for February! 

For the Mini Beats February prompt we asked our readers: 

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to Beacon teachers?

We received lovely submissions that were thoughtful and generous in their responses, crafting wonderful stories in such a tiny word limit. 

So, here are the responses we, the editors of The Beacon Beat, chose that we felt best exemplified in February’s prompt. 

A Little Empathy

I’m incredibly grateful to go to school in a building nearly full of teachers who are kind and caring and believe in their students. However, sometimes we all forget the pressures on us. As teachers face the pressures of deadlines and the DOE, students in turn feel the weight of the work consequently assigned to us.

It’s easy to go from there for teachers to get frustrated with students, and students with teachers, but a little empathy goes a long way. Like Ms. Malloy likes to say, we need to communicate “human to human.”

“Human to human” applies to the stress of PBA month and SAT prep. It’s needed in order for teachers to step into our shoes and know that we don’t expect a vacation from class, but rather a little compassion.

With a room full of juniors about to take the SAT, pushing back a deadline or a test one or two days can mean a world of difference. Lightening up on homework loads as well can allow students to do rest and focus.

I’m not writing this expecting every teacher to cancel tests, projects, and assignments during the upcoming week. I do hope that they’ll all take a moment to remember being a 16- 17 and being overwhelmed with expectations and weighed down by deadlines. — Hannah Rajalingam, 11th grade

Dear,

I said I wasn’t going to write for this month because it’s not like I have something meaningful to say. What would I know about teaching; especially at a school like Beacon? What advice could I give that could allow Beacon teachers to see new perspectives? On every first day, students are thrown the syllabus, the curriculum outline for the semester, assigned seats, and the unrealistic qualities that pertain to their classes. When giving feedback on the teachings being lectured to us, our teacher’s response is ¨ that’s how the material is constructed. So, maybe not having anything to say, speaks for itself. — Elisa Quezada, 10th grade

Thank you for these submissions!

Now for March’s Mini Beats prompt the question is:

If money wasn’t an object what career would you pursue and why?

You can submit your story through this Google Form and include a picture that matches your experience. Submissions close on March 31st.