Although the temperature is still in the 90s and summer vacations are still being planned, before you know it September will be here and schools will re-open. For some, now is the time to begin planning for extra-educational programs in chess, math, reading, writing, SAT prep, public speaking, or debate programs. Cornerstone Educational Testing in Plainsboro is holding open houses on Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26, and September 8 and 9, from noon to 4 p.m.##M:[more]##
Cornerstone opened in March with an emphasis on small group teaching (three to five students). The approach involves working with students in the same grade and one subject, says Peter Huang, a West Windsor resident and one of the organizers of the group.
Other institutions also offer small group sessions; however, they usually mix different grades or different contents in one group. For example, a group may contain one third grade student, one fifth grader, and one eighth grader; or one group is simultaneously conducting subjects of algebra, writing, and pre-algebra. Therefore, it is very difficult for both the instructor and the students.
Huang believes that most students benefit from practice exams and that scores rise each time a student takes the same test — practice makes perfect.
Cornerstone also offers help for New Jersey state assessment test, such NJASK, as well as school placement tests, including A&E math.
Huang was born in Nanjing, the southern capital of China, and raised in various cities along east coast of China. His father was an air force officer, a World War II anti-Japanese war veteran, who was wounded several times during the war. His mother was a head nurse, and later became a hospital manager.
Huang graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai with a bachelor of science degree in biophysics. He received his doctorate degree in biophysical and biochemical sciences from University of Houston, University Park.
He joined Carter-Wallace in 1992 and became an employee of Church & Dwight when they split in 2000. Huang, who has lived in West Windsor since 1999, left the company in 2005 when he founded HYTE Research.
One of his products is a herbal-based nasal spray for allergic rhinitis, allergies, and asthma. After suffering from severe allergies for more than 10 years, he was the first individual who tested this spray in 2005. “I believe I have cured myself,” he says. “Because it is a nasal spray it requires FDA approval to put into market. It is a too big a hurdle for me to pass the FDA process — but I am still trying.”
He is also in the process of developing a food supplement to treat type II diabetes. “The preliminary result is very good, however, I did not find funding to support my research,” he says.
Huang is married to Shen Huang, a computer software engineer. Their children are Norman, a rising junior at Rutgers University; and Veronica, a rising eighth grade student at Community Middle School.
— Lynn Miller
Open House, CornerStone Educational Testing, 666 Plainsboro Road, Suite 605, Plainsboro, 609-275-4515. www.cornerstoneeducation.com. Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26; September 8 and 9, noon to 4 p.m.
