By Alex Jacobs

Freshman year of high school can be really tough for students. Right after breezing through middle school, a whole lot of work will come flying at you unexpectedly. There’s more-and more difficult- homework, lots of tests, and usually tougher teachers. New teachers play such a big role in a student’s school year. Ideally, you want your teacher to be really cool, funny, understanding, helpful, and for him or her to teach you well.

 Mrs. Yelena Silverman, who has replaced recent retiree Mr. Chervin and is currently teaching my Honors Biology class, demonstrates all these characteristics.

One day, two classmates and I arrived early and told the rest of the class to sit in their desks facing backwards, as a little prank. Mrs. Silverman walked in and started laughing. She actually gathered up her things and walked to the back of the class and taught from there; the whole class got a kick out of that. That is just one example of how she’s funny and cool, and she’s certainly not one to yell. Not that our class has given her a reason to but not once have I heard her raise her voice. If you hand in work late or forget to print something out, you are supposed to get the work in the next day, but the penalty each day is only one point deducted-not too harsh. Mrs. Silverman is always available for extra help or questions if you need it, but I have never felt that her class was unorganized or ineffective. She’s just a great teacher and anyone who has her is very fortunate.