“Innovative,” “community,” “science,” “opportunity,” “creative,” “exploration,” “challenging,” “geeky”— we asked all PRISMS students and faculty to use one word to describe PRISMS, these are their replies.
Of course, no single word can describe PRISMS, because being a PRISMer is a distinctive experience for everyone. For me, PRISMS is a campus full of surprises. The towering trees, the scent of fresh cut grass, the squirrels running around, and the countless stars are the first things I remembered about PRISMS. The best sentence to describe PRISMS would be — you can never predict what will happen next. From 2014 to 2017, PRISMS has doubled the courses it offered, established seven laboratories with equipments comparable to those in universities, and won numerous prizes in STEM competitions. What’s next?
Undoubtedly, the first graduating class of PRISMS are the true pioneers and explorers. They are the witnesses of every progress that made PRISMS a unique community. Gavin Li came to PRISMS in 2013 and he is among one of the “founders.” His first impression of the campus is much different from mine. “When we just arrived here during the summer, the wardrobes were only half-assembled. Screws scattering on the floor, planks of wardrobes missing, no beddings… We have to find the screwdrivers and build the rooms ourselves. There were literally no desk or chair in the classroom.” However, Gavin still found positivity in such tedious labor, “All those works gave us the feeling that we are the builders of PRISMS. We created something that will benefit all members of PRISMS community in the future.”
“I feel so proud that I am one of the earliest PRISMS Students,” Gavin said, “I always recall my first year in PRISMS. It was such an unforgettable experience. We went to RPS (Rutgers Preparatory School) right after lunch every day. Sometimes the schedule was so tight that we just grabbed some chicken nuggets, and we came back around 5 or 6 p. m. We worked on our research projects 7 hours every Wednesday although we barely have any lab equipments. Several students went back to China or transferred to other American high schools because of the conditions. Nonetheless, I never regret my decision.”
PRISMS also provides some unique teaching experience for faculty. Mr.Kemp has been an engineering teacher for 10 years at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology before he became to PRISMS. “The differences between engineering here at PRISMS and Thomas Jefferson evolve around the scale of the school. Thomas Jefferson has around two thousand students; here, with 65 students, PRISMS has a lot of advantages but also some disadvantages. TJ has 13 dedicated engineering laboratories that students can participate and elective courses such as robotics, prototyping, energy system, CAD and microelectronics. The advantages we have here is that because of the small student body, we have the opportunity to dedicate lots of time between each teacher and student. At Thomas Jefferson, I had 47 research students while here I only have 12 research students, and I can dedicate more time on each individual project. I am excited to offer more diverse engineering courses in the future. It’s a lot more fun to be here!” Mr.Kemp said.
What’s your PRISMS experience?