Category Archives: by Pamela L ’20

BSGE Team Comes Third in Pi5 Math Competition Reply

by • by Pamela L '20 • Tags: ,

On Saturday, May 7th, 20 students from the BSGE Middle School Math Club went to compete in the New York Pi5 Math Competition, led by Mr. Mehan. The competition is a publicly held event open to students from grades 6 through 8 in any of the 5 boroughs. This year, the competition was held at The Armory (at 168th Street) in Manhattan.

Students formed four teams of five, working together to solve math problems of varying levels of difficulty to earn points. The more difficult the questions were, the more points those questions were worth. The point values ranged from 100 to 500 points. There was a total of 45 minutes per team to answer as many questions as possible. “The quicker and more accurately you answer, the better the chance you have of advancing in the competition,” said Christie Choi ‘20, who represented BSGE at the event. More…

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Lead in BSGE’s Pipes? Reply

by • by Pamela L '20 • Tags: ,

After some routine water quality testing, BSGE has recently found a hint of lead in the water pipes of the school. The lead was only found in second floor pipes, and has been specifically located in the water fountain in the yoga room.

“We had some guys come and run some tests and figure out what to do from there,” said the school’s janitor, Darnell Murray Jr. Some may wonder if these tests were run as a result of the water crises in other areas like Flint, Michigan, where high levels of lead were found in the universal drinking water of the city. The lead found in Michigan was a serious health hazard. But BSGE’s test was part of a routine examination. “In our case, it only came back positive in one location [room 214].” More…

67% of Eighth Graders Leaving BSGE Reply

by • by Pamela L '20 • Tags: , ,

This year, two-thirds of the eighth graders in BSGE will be leaving for other high schools. Since October, more than 20,000 eighth grade students from all over the city were anxiously waiting to hear if they had gained admission into 1 of the 9 glorified specialized high schools in New York City either through a performing arts audition or through the SHSAT (Specialized High School Admissions Test). Those schools include LaGuardia, Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, Lehman, and others. During the high school application process, thousands of eighth graders not only take the SHSAT, but start applying to non-specialized schools as well.

BSGE, which offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in eleventh and twelfth grade, guarantees all current eighth graders a spot to stay for high school as long as it’s listed on their high school application as their first choice. While many students decide to stay in BSGE, other students decided to attend other high schools in the fall. More…

The Geography Bee at BSGE! Reply

by • by Pamela L '20 • Tags: ,
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Top finishers, left to right: Benjamin Wong (3rd Place), Allen Wang (1st Place), and Gregory Briggler (2nd Place).

On January 26th, 64 students in BSGE attended the preliminary round of the school geography bee. 11 eighth and 53 seventh graders competed in 7 rounds of assigned questions aloud until there were 10 finalists, who would attend the school finals. The school finalists were determined through those who received 7/7 questions correct on the preliminary round, and the top scores in the tiebreaker held for those who received 6/7 questions correct. 4 eighth graders and 6 seventh graders made it into the finals.

“This is the first year BSGE has participated in the National Geographic Bee,” says Mr. Lakhaney, who held the school competition. The questions included in the bee cover different aspects of geography, ranging from landforms to culture. “The competition was structured very nicely, but the questions could have been improved because they weren’t all the same difficulty and some contestants had more leverage than others,” says Allen W. ‘20, the school winner. More…

Open House for Current 7th and 8th Graders Reply

by • by Chloe H '20, by Pamela L '20

Students, parents, faculty and alumni gathered in the cafeteria for the school’s first open house for current BSGE 7th and 8th graders on November 10th. That evening, teachers and alumni from the school spoke to 7th and 8th grade students and their families about the school, the IB program, and why they should consider staying at BSGE for high school instead of transferring.

Every fall, middle school families begin to think about applying to high schools. Open houses are conducted in other high schools for students and parents to learn about what they have to offer. This is not something BSGE has done prior to this school year. “What ends up happening is parents get a lot of information about other schools and are not getting information about our high school,” explained the guidance counselor, Timothy David Lang.

This night was a chance to speak to current 7th and 8th grade parents about the high school program here at BSGE. In the front of the cafeteria stood a panel of speakers, consisting of current BSGE students, alumni, IB coordinator Jennifer Dikes, Tim David Lang, and college counselor Peter Wilson. More…