Mr. Kurzweil Shares “A Day in the Life”

By Marley Fischer ‘26
Mr. Kurzweil starts off his day at 5:30 in the morning. He eats a breakfast consisting of a muffin and either tea or coffee, and then makes his 45 minute to an hour drive to Golda Och Academy from his Staten Island, NY home. 

On Mondays he teaches three classes: Algebra 2 first period, Geometry third period and AP Calculus sixth period. During fifth period he typically has meetings, and for lunch, “it is usually either pasta or sometimes waffles,” he said. 
Mr. Kurzweil loves GOA for many reasons, one of them being the opportunity to offer office hours and one-on-one time where students can learn and grow outside of class. 
“At GOA we are all in school each day,” he said. “Students and teachers all see each other on a regular basis in and out of class. There is plenty of access for students to ask teachers for help, go over topics that are confusing, or ask about tangentially related topics that are not able to be covered in class.” 
Mr. Kurzweil has only been teaching at GOA for two years, yet in that time he has proven himself as an influential and exciting teacher. 
“There is never a dull day at GOA,” he said. “One of the things I like most about GOA is the welcoming environment and sense of community. Over the short time I have been here I have gotten to know, and been accepted by, teachers, staff, parents and students. There is a sense of belonging here that is hard to find anywhere else.”
    When his day at GOA is over, he drives down to the City University of New York, College of Staten Island where he teaches both Fundamentals of Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers and Calculus 1. He has 30-40 students per class and most lectures run between 2-4 hours. 
Mr. Kurzweil notes many differences between being a teacher and a professor. “I like each one for different reasons and the variety provided by both,” he said. 
A main difference is that of the student population. “At the college there is a wide variety of students and student backgrounds, especially apparent during evening courses” he said. “Students coming to class at night range from your typical 18-25 year old college student taking late classes due to class schedule conflicts, while others are a bit older and coming in after work to earn a degree for various reasons. There is even the not so occasional person that could be considered senior in age coming in to learn for fun or to broaden their knowledge,” he continued. 
There are some similarities, though, one being his famous chalk. “Of course, I use my chalk at college too,” he said. 
Mr. Kurzweil shares that something he loves about teaching at a college is the fact that he is able to go off on tangents and not be so time restricted. “College allows me freedom and variety in courses I teach, since every semester is different.”
     His teaching duties end at around 10:30 p.m., after which Mr. Kurzweil goes home and eats either chicken, pasta, pizza or barbeque for dinner, depending on the day. Then, he relaxes and goes to bed excited to return to GOA.