As the principal of the Charter School of Educational Excellence’s high school, Dwain Palmer strives to make education relevant to his students.
Early in his career as a math teacher, Principal Palmer struggled to help his students understand that fractions are division problems. Then he had the idea of addressing the children in terms accessible to them, so he composed and recorded a rap song whose lyrics explained how fractions work.
“Before I knew it, kids were running around singing ‘fractions are a division problem.’ And then that translated to their actual work on paper,” he said.
Principal Palmer continues that spirit of creativity by taking the restraints off teachers so that they can help students learn.
“Teachers have the freedom to be innovative with what they are teaching,” he said. “So, you’ll see a lot of project-based lessons as you walk through the building. For example, in our pre-calculus course, you’ll see students controlling robots with their calculators.”
The high school opened its new building in 2021 and it will graduate its first senior class in June. Principal Palmer joined the school in 2006 as a teaching assistant, and many seniors have known him since they were in elementary school.
Principal Palmer earned two master’s degrees in adolescent education and educational administration from Mercy College, in addition to his undergraduate degree in mathematics. He joined the CSEE in 2006 when the school operated limited elementary grades in a defunct supermarket at 260 Warburton Ave.
Since his time at the CSEE has spanned most of his education career, he’s seen big changes in the classroom.
“I’ve seen teaching move from a teacher-centered approach,” he said. “I’ve learned that my role—to best serve the students—is to help students facilitate their own education. I’ve really changed my approach as I became a math teacher to set students up and then step back and allow them to figure out what they want to learn and how they want to learn it.”
