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by Jennifer Chase, staff writer (June 12, 2003; p. 2)

Boston Evening Academy caters to the needs of Boston public high school students who are overage for their grade level, are parenting, or have other personal needs that require them to attend school in the evenings.

Mimi Chan qualified for enrollment in the “having other personal needs” category: she couldn’t get to her old school on time.

“At [Snowden International School], if you’re late they send you home and it counts as an absence,” Chan said lightheartedly. “I lived right next door to the school, so close that I took advantage of it. I was late all of the time and I was cutting classes.”

Chan isn’t embarrassed to admit past mistakes because tonight, at a ceremony at Roxbury Community College, after a straight-A high school career at BEA, this lifelong resident of East Berkeley Street will graduate valedictorian of her class.

What profound statements does Chan have to share about her accomplishments?

“Did you know there’s no scholarship money for valedictorians?”

That’s right: The girl’s got a sense of humor.

Chan’s conversation, in English that’s both exacting and a bit tentative, meanders around the usual high school topics. She smiles when talking about her mother, who spoils her. She jabbers about going out in the city with friends. And her face gets slightly pouty when she reveals that, after her hair was done and dress donned, her boyfriend decided not to attend last Friday’s prom. (Though she didn’t take it too hard, admitting with a smile, “We’re still talking.”)

All typical chatter for an 18-year-old such as Chan, but perhaps not typical of BEA students, whose average age is slightly older than hers. Most BEA students are between 16 and 23 years old, the younger ones entering the program at 16. It was Chan’s intelligence and diligence that helped her rise to the top of her class.

“It wasn’t really hard to be one of the youngest,” she said. “There were certain situations when they were, because they’re older, I don’t know, what is the word - bossy? But they still have more experience,” so she showed them respect.

Before landing at BEA two and a half years ago, Chan attended Boston Latin and the Snowden International School, largely because her parents wanted her to have the best education and Boston’s voucher system allowed students to apply to desirable schools.

But they realized, as did her guidance counselor at Snowden, that the regular 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule of most high schools was not allowing Chan to live up to her potential.

They moved her to BEA, one of seven Horace Mann charter schools and one of 13 Boston Pilot Schools around the city, and Chan flourished. The 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. classes and a mix of academics and extracurriculars challenged her in new ways.

“This school gave me a lot of motivation,” she said. “I was secretary of the school for two years, and for two consecutive years I was on the National Honor Roll and the Who’s Who Among American High School Students,” a designation requiring students to maintain an A average.

Chan thinks for a second when asked if she has ever missed the normalcy of “regular” high school.

“This year, I did,” she said. “I really wanted to go back. But graduating as top of my class, I guess I made the right decision.

“The academy was better for me because I could work and make money.” And because BEA is a small school, with only 205 students, Chan had the opportunity to become involved with student government, creative arts, even the prom committee.
It wasn’t hard for Chan to transition to BEA; her work ethic is in overdrive. And it’s that overdrive that helped her complete her heavy workload.

According to Chan, in order to graduate from BEA students must complete between nine and 12 “products,” projects in areas such as English, math, technology, social studies, and science. These products are not the regular garden variety homework tasks such as math equations and book reports. They often involve students getting into the community and learning more about the world around them.

What separated Chan from the pack was the swiftness with which she completed her work: After teachers handed out the syllabus, she finished her products early, much to the surprise of her other classmates.

“They’d say to me, ‘How do you do it? You go out, you have fun.’ Surprisingly, it was not hard at all,” Chan said. “But for some of my peers it was hard. I think you have to have the basic foundation of skills like math skills and writing essays. But mostly it’s just doing your work, time management.”

And she loves learning, she said.

Chan speaks Chinese at home with her parents, who immigrated to the United States approximately 20 years ago. Her dad is a chef at Main Terrace in Waltham and her mom cares for everything inside their home. Quietly, Chan said her mother has been in the hospital since February, forcing her father to spend what little free time he has with his wife.

In spite of this family upset, Chan is happy and optimistic about her summer and future. She said she and her siblings - Jeffrey, 13, and Suzy, 17 - receive nothing but support from their parents.

“Even if we do good or bad they love us.”

Love might be a constant, but Chan admits her folks might not want her brother and sister to go down her chosen path.

“Both of [my siblings] are at Latin right now, and my parents say to them, ‘Oh my God, don’t follow her!’”

Not that “following her” would be all that bad. Chan’s no slouch: during high school she worked daily at a doctor’s office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.before making the half-hour commute to get to school. In a week, she hopes to hear back from the New England Medical Center, where she has applied to work for the summer as a secretary.

Chan credits good teachers and administrators like principal Margaret Maccini and Margie Samp at BEA for making hers a positive experience.

“A lot of teachers after school go home if no one needs their help. But [Miss. Samp] would go to school even when it was closed. She’s sometimes stayed until 11 at night. I think that’s a lot.”

Chan says she knew Maccini, too, but that didn’t surprise her - the principal knows everyone. “It’s a small school!” Chan said.

Chan has specific advice for students of all ages who want to succeed at BEA, though it’s suspect whether others will find is as simple as she did: Do the work, do it fast, and do it well.

“Try to be active, and try to do your work before it’s due so people will have a good impression of you.”

This fall, Chan will be at Lesley University, where she thinks she will study psychology or law. And her plan is to live at home. Lesley is only across the river in Cambridge, but to the South End native it seems like a long way away, especially since she was used to going - or not going, depending on the day - to a school next door.

“Everyone says Lesley is close, but it’s not to me!”

© 2003 South End News