THE CLASS offers excellent back-to-school reading for teachers who aspire to make a difference and for parents who advocate for innovation and imagination in our children's schools. During the 2016-17 school year, former Wall Street Journal staff writer Heather Won Tesoriero immersed herself in a high school science classroom taught by Andy Bramante. She’s written a suspenseful and inspiring book focused on the complex lives of teens enrolled in an elective called Science Research. Mr. Bramante mentors self-directed students to tackle leading-edge, real-life problems: Lyme disease; cancer diagnostics; carbon capture technology; power generation using mushrooms; water purification; adhesive bandage innovation; invention of a rapid Ebola test, among others.

Mr. Bramante’s students (especially those who enroll for several years) compete in regional, national, and international science fairs, earning prizes, scholarships, and job offers. Won Tesoriero highlights myriad personal defeats and triumphs that cannot always be measured by prizes. Prom dates gleaned; afternoons in a famous NYC medical research institute learning to use new equipment; losing a home to Hurricane Sandy; figuring out Plan Z when your experiment fails many times; becoming a celebrity profiled in Teen Vogue; college rejection(s). Yes, even superstar teens with international honors get rejected from college! Won Tesoriero also explores the secret wiring inside a gifted teacher: what makes him tick, what ticks him off, and why he faces burnout out despite having helped launch hundreds of teens into brilliant science-related careers.

While this book zooms into a particular classroom (in an affluent school district), the program developed by Bramante can (and should) be scaled to every age and ability, including Kindergarten. Students need to design their own contraptions, engage with creative risk-taking. Teachers need support in order to spark every student’s intellectual curiosity. Schools must engage students early with the creative thinking process—in art, music, science, yes; and also infuse all subjects with creativity. Absolutely required reading for school administrators and policy makers. This book illuminates millions of possibilities for the future of education. Millions of young minds hold the potential to dream big and to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. The idea that one person can make a positive difference needs to be encouraged at all levels: family, classroom, school, community, globally.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this essential book.

The Class by Heather Won Tesoriero is an in depth, year-long look at Andy Bramante's science classes (Class of 2017) at Greenwich, Connecticut.
Ms Tesoriero, herself a renowned journalist, immerses the reader into the classroom of ultra-smart students who use their intelligence and grit to think of, create and pursue science projects for national and international science fairs. The projects are sophisticated; the students are both human and super human in their day to day thinking, and Andy B is a mentor extrordinaire.
Each chapter features a student who comes to Andy for his input, and help. At times, Andy must hold reins; at other times, he must "crack the whip." Each student--- from sophomore to senior level--must inform Mr B the premise and projects steps of his/her project. Not all are successful. But those who are display a depth and range of intelligence not found often in public schools. The rewards mirror that.
I was fascinated by each student's story, just as I was in awe with Andy Bramate's demeanor throughout his interactions with students and their parents.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true stories, especially about current science projects thought up by extremely brilliant high school students who actually listen to a person who strives to bring out their best.

What an incredible story beautifully told. This piece of non-fiction is about a teacher and a group of students at Greenwich (CT) High School. Totally out of the ordinary - the students are science/entrepreneur genius' and kids which is sometimes a difficult combination. Andy, is the mentor to each of them in the science research program he runs at GHS. I feel like I'm not doing a great job with this review because the book is so compelling that I don't have the right words to talk about it. Suffice it to say, IT IS A MUST READ!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Ballantine Books, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Class is about a science research class taught by Andy Bramante who “walked away from a successful run as a scientist in corporate America to each high school.” This book is a non-fiction about the teacher, Andy, and students in his unconventional class at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut. There “is no curriculum, tests, textbooks, or lectures. Students pitch individual projects that they work on throughout the entire school year with the goal of taking their discoveries and inventions out on the national and global science fair circuit.” “…he’s a one-man band to fort-eight kids with demanding projects.”

The students are bright, talented teenagers. Chapters focus on some of the students and the teacher. The chapter shares information on the student’s life including family, friends, sports, interests and trying to get into colleges of choice. This is more than just the class and science projects. It shares aspects of their lives influenced by the projects.

Most of the book’s focus is on a school year preparing for science fair presentations and attending the science fairs. It is a chronicle of a year in the lives of students. Topics for the fairs include diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s, Ebola project for Lyme disease, liquid bandage with antibiotic, detect premalignant pancreatic cancer from blood samples, and more. It dives into the details and challenges to make the project work. Andy Bramante is the winningest coach in the science fairs. “In the eleven years Andy Bramante has been teaching his science research class at Greenwich High School, 2016-17 was the most successful year in terms of wins.”

At times, the book seemed to drag with much detail about science. If science isn’t your “thing”, parts of the book may be slow.

To begin, I would like to thank Random House-Ballantine, as well as netgalley.com for allowing me to have an advanced copy of this book to review.

Unfortunately, I was not impressed with this novel. The book dealt with a group of highly intelligent students and their teacher in a Connecticut school. The teacher's class was to develop a year-long science related project that they would present and could possibly win money/scholarships. The novel goes through the stories of the various students in this class and their highs and lows throughout the school year.

I really never got into this novel. I was hoping it would have been more engaging - and although reading about the various students was somewhat interesting, the book overall never clicked with me.

This was a fascinating look at an amazing high school classroom and the teacher who taught it. To read about these brilliant kids who finally got to do what they were good at made me hopeful for our future.

This is exactly as the description states. If you are looking for how this teacher has been successful, meaning what he does, this is not the book. It is however an accounting of a few specific students and the amazing work they are doing but it is basically their story and not the teacher’s. It is broken down by each student and follows them throughout the year.

I was a little put off by the author making it appear that the teacher was struggling in a well to do area, with a salary of over $120,000 (over double the national average!) when a lot of teachers would love to break $60,000 and a per student budget that is the same as what my area high school gives to each teacher for all their entire classroom needs per semester.

It was well written and interesting but I think I would have enjoyed this more if there was more information on how the teacher carries out this idea.

I found this book compelling and as easily readable as fiction, and for many families whose children live in underfunded school districts, this indeed must seem like a work of fiction. Connecticut has a high per-student funding in education and it shows. There were so many exceptional students that even though the author focused on a handful, I understood how exceptional this science program and teacher are.

With the right amount of coaching and independence and science equipment, these students demonstrated that they were capable of achieving the seemingly impossible. When The Teacher asked for a modest raise however, he was declined which opened the door for him to begin seeking a career change, a loss for the school, the students and for science.

An educator the author interviewed acknowledged Andy’s results with his students saying, what he does is a crucial lifeline in the education system that in many areas is crumbling. “We’ve moved from education, teaching people how to think, to training, teaching people how to bark on time.” He concluded, “Which is more valuable to the person and to the society? I can memorize something and give it back to you in an orderly fashion, even in a comprehensively well-expressed fashion. Or I can think. To me, it’s not even a call.” This is an unforgettable book and a clarion call to educate our children to be independent thinkers and creative people.

You may not know the name, William Yin, but you may have read about his development of a low-cost biosensor for atherosclerosis diagnosis. That was when he was 18. At the same school was Shobhita Sundaram who developed a software algorithm that can examine mass spectroscopy data of a patient's blood, prior to the onset of any signs of pancreatic cancer, and based on inter-related presence of protein biomarkers, can predict whether that person will eventually develop pancreatic cancer. Andy Bramante is the chemistry teacher at Greenwich High, a public school in Connecticut, where students such as these two, attend his science research class. “The Class” is a story about students who are just like any other high school student, but with just a bit of a bent. The author spent a year trailing Andy Bramante with his students and wrote "The Class" which you will enjoy and marvel at, beginning to end.

I am usually a sucker for inspiring teacher stories. And I usually try to push through books for review (Thanks, NetGalley and Random House) even if I don’t enjoy it. However, this book (sort of) focusing on Andy Bramante and his super smart, motivated Greenwich students just was not my cup of tea. I abandoned it 30% of the way in.
Some of my issue was with the writing itself. There was weird time and pacing throughout and no clear organizational method. It seems like it would be organized by Andy or individual students as that was used for the chapter names. However, in those chapters they’d take lengthy tangents to other students, random information, or jumps in time. It was just poorly organized, making it hard to follow and get into a reading groove. Pieces of information are redundant. I got it the first 5 times that one competition is only for seniors. Add in the contradictions, and I just couldn’t do it any longer.
Then there’s my question regarding the point of the book. Is this about an inspiring teacher or an ad for Greenwich, CT? A lot of times it seemed like the latter.
Maybe it got into this after I quit, but what makes Andy a successful, effective teacher? The reasons brought forth in the first part of the book are that he’s working with gifted kids who are motivated and have parental support. Plus, he has a background in the sciences outside of teaching, leading to additional resources and connections for his students. But what is it about *him* that makes him such an exceptional teacher? What sets him apart that other teachers can emulate?
Some of the research the students were conducting was really interesting. However, overall, this book was a miss for me.
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As a teacher and now as a teacher educator, I have read a lot of these kinds of books about teachers doing amazing things with kids. Often, I find myself worrying about the ways in which they present teachers as saviors coming in to underresourced schools, often in urban areas, and "saving the day." I didn't have that concern about this book, but I found it hard to relate to the teacher and students in this book. To me it's not particularly surprising or inspiring that a teacher with lots of connections to scientific professionals and high end scientific equipment working in a well resourced school is successful.

As a child, I always wanted to be a teacher. From my experiences, as a student, I wanted to be that one different teacher out of hundreds, to make a difference in people's lives and do good things for myself and others. Some of these stories were a little short and impersonal for my liking despite being personal stories about the life of a teacher and his students.

I enjoyed seeing from the eyes of a teacher and seeing how he helps and guides them through snippets of history. I truly felt like I was sitting back in the classroom, looking up at one of my favorite teachers. I felt attached to this story especially since I believe a lot of people can relate. However, there were times where I felt the writing was trying to be too adult and philosophical and this truly lost me in some parts.

Overall this was a good read and I think it's mostly for readers wanting to take a trip back to history or to maybe touch upon their own experiences. A truly good read.

Excellent book! Great insight of a teacher leading his students to great things. I learned of many science fairs and other students events i did not know about.

As a teacher getting ready to begin a new school year, this book provided me with some inspiration, and it reminded me why I chose this profession. The book talks about Andy's class, which is a class where he guides students as they work on science fair projects. It also touches on the unique lives and voices of some of his students. The book was a little long for me, but I found it to be engaging for the most part. I would have liked to get more insight into Andy's family life, because I know that balancing the classroom and the home can be a challenge. I also had to wonder how Andy handles students who may not be as successful as the students who were highlighted in the book. Overall, a good read, especially for fellow educators!

I gave this book a 5 out of 5 star review. It was an enjoyable Biography and I would recommend. Generously provided to me through NetGalley.

I absolutely loved this book. I was so involved in the students and their projects and their college admissions that I could not put this book down. I loved the idea of the class and wish that i could go back in time and participate in something similar. I had some amazing teachers and classmates that would have benefited from these types of opportunities.

Outstanding true story of the creativity, brilliance, problem solving and accomplishments of the students and teacher in a single science class at Greenwich High School throughout the science fair competitions of 2016-17. In awe of these young adults preparing to change the world.

The Class should be required reading in all teacher preparation programs! I loved the dedication of Andy Bramante to his students and his program. He is exactly how all teachers should be. Think of the change in public education if his drive and dedication was the norm rather than the exception.

I enjoyed the way The Class was laid out - following the experiences of several students throughout the year. I found myself rooting for some students and worried about others. It was nice to read about where the seniors ended up going to college.

I started this but after a few pages I gave up. I just could not get interssted. Therefore I will not be reviewing this book

I found <i>The Class</i> to be wonderfully refreshing. The story centers around high school science teacher Andy Bramante and his elite, application only science research class.

Andy is that one teacher you always remember from high school—the one that always let you get away with a little bit, that gave you $1 if you needed it, granted you an extension on an essay. One of the good ones, that always has their best intentions for their students.

<i>The Class</i> weaves a wonderful story of a year in Andy’s research classes at the public school in Greenwich, CT and the 51 students that are a part of those classes. Well accomplished, smart but unmotivated—these students have little time to apply to the most prestigious science fairs in the world and possibly win them. Andy’s track record is high; amazing in fact. The number of winnners or finalists that have come from his program is unofficially legendary.

I absolutely loved this book. I love the glimpses into the real students lives outside of the classroom.!! I would recommend this to anyone! Great read!