This Martin Luther King Jr. day, WHSAD students and staff traveled to Lake Como, New Jersey to begin a partnership with various stakeholders in the revitalization of the tiny town. The following are narratives from WHSAD seniors Melina Jorge, Jared Jackson, and Dariel Paulino, as well as from WHSAD's Community Schools Director for Creative Connections, Matt Auffrey. On Monday January 21st, 2019 WHSAD went on a trip to Lake Como. It was a very cold day, but that wasn’t going to stop us from doing what we came to do, which was to get a plan on how to make Lake Como a greener place. Walking into Borough Hall we saw the mayor, Kevin Higgins. He introduced himself and expressed that he and everyone who works on the council has jobs in the … [Read more...]
WHSAD Visits Kickstarter
Creativity requires a space. Virginia Woolf argued how A Room of One’s Own is essential for women to pursue their passions, Leo Tolstoy chose the marketplace to craft some of his best work, and the inception of Apple began in Steve Jobs’ garage. Whatever the space, these geniuses, as well as countless others, have flourished due to having an incubator in which to hatch their plots and plans. In this modern world, creative spaces have been taken to a sophisticated level. Many locations are similar to Santa’s workshop in which activity, energy, and idiosyncrasy feed the expressive beast. One such spot is in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at Kickstarter headquarters. Here, innovation gathers in order to make the mundane magnificent, the idea being … [Read more...]
Diego Sernadas-Class of 2020
Sophomore correspondents, Mayra Gomez and Maya Ortiz, conduct student of the month interviews and write-ups. Diego Sernadas is currently a junior at WHSAD where he was surprised to find out he had been selected as a student of a month for his communication abilities. He says his favorite class is Chemistry where Ms.Bui is a calm teacher while still being strict. He says he is trying to work on going back to what his freshman grades were. Over his last three years, his highlight is freshman year since he started out very strong. He thinks that he has had a great experience in this school while still growing as a person. He was able to put his games aside and definitely focus on his work since this is one of his most important … [Read more...]
Tyasia Brooks-Class of 2019
Sophomore correspondents, Mayra Gomez and Maya Ortiz, conduct student of the month interviews and write-ups. Tyasia Brooks, currently a senior at WHSAD, loves this school because it has a lot of great opportunities and even if you were to fall off they give you a lot of chances to rebuild. She feels like she deserves being student of the month for January because teachers have seen her at her lowest moments and have seen her grow as a person. Despite every negative thing in life, this school has helped her go through it. Although her grades may not be the best, she keeps going and she thinks many people have noticed all of her effort. She says she had this one teacher who helped learn that grit was the perseverance found within … [Read more...]
Brandon Rodriguez-Class of 2020
Brandon is hard working. He always hands in all assignments the day they are due. His advice to students who are finding their school work to be difficult is to attend office hours. One thing that helped him become a more punctual person was having a set calendar so he can visually see the exact amount of time he has for each assignment. Brandon meets once a week with this teachers as it’s his way to check on previous work. If he needs to revise it or to have a good start to new given work, these meetings allow him to stay on top of his assignments and complete them in an efficient and quality manner. He strongly believes WHSAD is widely diverse, which to him is what he likes most about our school. He also stated how there are a lot of … [Read more...]
The Park Avenue Armory Provides WHSAD Students a Creative Way to Investigate History
Recognizing the ills of the past helps to improve the present and the future is one of the core beliefs of history teachers. By considering, analyzing, interpreting, and reflecting on events from before our time, we become more cognizant of what it means to be a human being. The ability to be essentially good comes from various influences: families, friends, media, cultural constructs, etc. However, adolescents spend a large portion of their time in school, and this is where they often investigate instances of the past and acquire contexts of which they would remain ignorant. Such a story has been on display for WHSAD sophomores over the last month and a half as they have been engaging in creatively understanding the impacts of … [Read more...]
Bill Harvey, WHSAD’s NYC DOE Partner of the Year
Bill Harvey has been a supporter of and advocate for WHSAD since the inauguration of our CTE program in 2009. A long-time fixture in Williamsburg's artist community, and in the neighborhood of our school specifically, Bill has sought to create numerous opportunities for our students over the past 9 years, and continues to connect WHSAD students and teachers with professionals who care as deeply as he does about the education of the next generation's architects and designers. Bill has been instrumental in the development of our partnership with real estate development firm Heritage Equity Partners, a company that has sponsored projects and design competitions for the last four years, and has hosted interns and hired graduates. Last year he … [Read more...]
Senior of December-Justin Pazmino-Class of 2019
Justin believes that he was recognized for being punctual due to his hard work. One thing that helped him to expand his learning was getting more involved in his academics. He takes visiting his teachers very seriously, and to him it’s one of the main reasons why he is excelling in his classes. Another important factor that goes into more structured work is interacting with this peers. He gets added opinions on his work which helps him to see what he can better in his writings. If he doesn’t meet the due date for his assignments, he takes advantage of our WHSAD Gmail accounts. He sends in the work as soon as he completes it. He also emails his teachers when he needs help with a certain topic. Justin feels his experience at WHSAD was a very … [Read more...]
Jalen Vasquez-WHSAD Alumnus, Class of 2017
My name is Jalen Vasquez, and I graduated from WHSAD in June of 2017. A major goal of mine when I graduated was to use the architecture programs that we learned in the most effective way, becoming a Real Estate project manager. Right now I go to Howard University and I'm in the Architecture & Engineering program. To reach my goals I'm applying to as many scholarships as I can. I actually got an internship coming up this year at R2L:Architects in DC during the school year. Slowly but surely I am reaching my goal. A big motivation for me once I left high school was always living in NY, and seeing all these big buildings and living in a small tight apartment. I always wanted to build my own home and a place which can help … [Read more...]
WHSAD at DC9 Training Facility
Time and again, WHSAD students have opportunities to explore professional workplaces and network with those employed in such places. Learning about what the work entails and what it takes to attain such employment, students prepare themselves for life after WHSAD long before they don the cap and gown. Below, Internship Coordinator Ms. Wilson provides her take on students’ latest experience and why taking advantage of such occasions is crucial for students. On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, WHSAD students were invited to attend an Open House at the DC9 Training Facility, as part of National Apprentice Week. DC9 is the union that represents bridge painters, commercial painters, glaziers, drywall finishers, and paper hangers, and … [Read more...]