For 31 years, Mr. Ackerman has been teaching history to students of Cardozo High School. A master of all things social studies, Mr. Ackerman teaches U.S. History, AP European History, global history, and previously taught AP African American studies.
Prior to working at Cardozo, Mr. Ackerman began his teaching career at Francis Lewis High School. Prior to that, he worked in Manhattan for a year. Since then, he has been a staple of Cardozo’s history department.
Mr. Ackerman is known for his unique teaching style, as his class is always doing new things to spice up the lesson. He does daily dedications for his students based on what their name means, playing a song for them based on this, while his students work on the lesson.
Alongside music and dedications, Mr. Ackerman has a special lesson every year for honoring September 11th, where he shares a ton of information about his experience during that time. In addition, he shares about himself, as well. He dedicates this day to his friend, who was a firefighter helping people during the tragic attacks.
Before he began his career as a teacher, Mr. Ackerman shared that he was a “hasbeen rockstar,” stating that he, “Never quite made it there in my career, although I came close.”
Mr. Ackerman can be seen on YouTube performing The Ramones’ song “Swallow My Pride,” which he sang as part of a friend’s band. Although the video is titled, “One Minute of Fame Ackerman,” the video will live on for years to come.
