When we were trying to pick a neighborhood to investigate, Shahdi brought up Jackson Heights. I had never been to Jackson Heights, but I knew of a few people who had family in Jackson Heights. My initial observation of Jackson Heights after getting off the train was the amount of people of South Asian descent. As my partner and I walked through the neighborhood, we started to notice that the people around us began to change. We began to encounter more individuals of Hispanic and East Asian descent. It was odd to walk through enclaves of Indian, Bengali and Pakistani descent. Each block had its own distinct feel to it. Being from Long Island, I had never really experienced anything like that. My neighborhood, although diverse, looked uniform. There wasn’t really a unique feel. In Jackson Heights, just crossing the street could be a completely different culture.
The business we had chosen to interview in Jackson Heights is a tutoring center called Khan’s Tutorial. Khan’s Tutorial is a family owned and run business that provides tutoring for students from grades Kindergarten to 12th grade, as well as tutoring for major standardized tests. The local area around Khan’s Tutorial is mainly filled with stores and restaurants owned by people of South Asian descent. The customer base of Khan’s Tutorial is as diverse as Jackson Heights itself, thus the majority of the people who attend the tutoring sessions are of Bengali, Indian, Pakistani, Nepali, and Tibetan origin. We had the opportunity to interview the owner of the tutorial center, Mrs. Nayeema Khan, about how the business has influenced the local community and how the community has influenced her business.
Khan’s Tutorial originally began when Mrs. Khan and her late husband, Dr. Khan, home-tutored their son, Ivan, and his two friends for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). The SHSAT is an exam taken by students in the 8th or 9th grade, who wish to attend a highly selective high school for academically and artistically inclined students in New York City. Through Mr. Khan’s tutelage, his son Ivan and his two friends were able to perform exceedingly well on the SHSAT and were admitted into The Bronx High School of Science, a highly-acclaimed high school in New York City. Inspired by his success with his son and his friends, Dr. Khan, who was also a doctor at the time, opened a tutorial center. Since they have opened about 15 years ago, they have grown to become an integral part of the community around them. Many parents send their children to this tutoring center in order to increase their chances of getting accepted into a specialized high school. In order to give as many children in the neighborhood the best opportunity to receive proper tutoring, Khan’s Tutorial provides financial aid and scholarships for poorer families. Initially, Khan’s Tutorial consisted of a small room with one table with only one or two instructors. Since then Khan’s Tutorial has grown to occupy the entire third and fourth floor of their current building. They have also opened up other branches in other cities, but the branch is Jackson Heights remains the most popular, with students coming from everywhere in Queens and Long Island. This past year they have assisted 386 students to get into the specialized high school of their choice.
Dr. and Mrs. Khan’s life is the immigrant success story. They immigrated from Bangladesh in 1985. Dr. Khan became a highly accomplished individual and wholly dedicated to education. Dr. Khan earned a Ph.D. and three Masters Degrees in Economics and a Masters Degree in Education. Dr. Khan also served as an Assistant Principal at Wadleigh High School, a Dean of Students and Math Department Chair at the High School of Economics and Finance, as well as various teaching positions in various universities. Mrs. Khan is not without her own accolades. Mrs. Khan became a certified school teacher a few years after immigrating and earned a Masters of Science Degree in Human Resource Management. Dr. and Mrs. Khan were able to raise and educated their son, Ivan, who was able to earn his MD and MPH through Sophie Davis School of BioMedical Education and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Ivan Khan has also assumed his father’s role in Khan’s Tutorial as the current President and CEO. Through their business and as role models, they have been able to inspire many children to work hard and reach their goals past their secondary education.
