Personal Introduction

Ed Bujak - Mathematics Coach - HOPE Charter School, Philadelphia

HOPE Charter School is a grade 9-12 high school serving at risk students, limited to 440 students.

My primary hopes and goals for our STUDENTS is to become caring, responsible citizens with an appreciation for lifelong learning.

The most pressing issues/obstacles in our CLASSROOM are lack of equipment, no money, and student apathy.

The most pressing issues/obstacles in our SCHOOL is that the children have adult issues.  HOPE is a school run by the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) of Philadelphia.  JJC is a non-profit, multi-service agency that serves the needs of disadvantaged children, youth and families.

The most pressing issues/obstacles in your DISTRICT - N/A - charter school

The most pressing issues/obstacles NATIONWIDE are:

• Students appear to lack an appreciation/desire for self-motivated learning 
• Social promotion – students lack the prerequisites for the next level (starts in early elementary level)

I am a firm believer in creating and modeling lifelong learning.

I career shifted from engineering after 25 years.  I love teaching all ages; especially anything to do with science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM), and especially with concrete or virtual manipulatives to facilitate inquiry, but also to make experimenting, data collection, and presentation easier and faster.