In any professional practice, development is essential. In order to stay abreast of new ideas, reliable techniques, and valuable data points, one must work to explore what is out there so that one may provide continuously improving service to those served. On November 6th, educators from North Brooklyn received opportunities to strengthen their professional practices during Brooklyn North High School’s Day of Equity and Rigor at Brooklyn Technical High School. Hundreds of educators received insights from speakers Josh Johnson, Glenn Singleton, Dr. Gholdy Muhammed, Superintendent Janice Ross, and Executive Superintendent Karen Watts. Additionally, WHSAD's neighbor school, Brooklyn Preparatory High School showcased some of its more poetic … [Read more...]
WHSAD’s Community Service Program
Thank you to correspondent Bryant Perez for this article. Community service is a huge part of any community; it helps make a community more stable by helping people and the environment with activities such as gardening, food drives, garbage clean-ups, etc. Ms. Spaziani, WHSAD’s Career Enhancement Coordinator and Freshman Instructional Support teacher, organizes community service events and believes that community service is important because it teaches students firsthand how doing nice things for someone else, even the smallest of things, can touch life all around. Students learn important values such as cooperation, generosity, and honesty, helping them be better people for a better future. Studies also consistently show that engaging … [Read more...]
Noak Newbery – Class of 2022
Noak Newbery is currently a freshman at WHSAD. Before Noak started his freshman year at WHSAD, he was enrolled in WHSAD’s Summer Bridge Program. Below Noak recalls his process while designing a cantilever bed. I started my initial design process roughly a month ago. My inspiration for the project stems from my interests in furniture design. I wanted to design a piece of furniture which could be practical and minimalistic. My work and experience in WHSAD's Summer Bridge Program helped me in my design because I had to think of my design in a more realistic approach and how things would interact. Floor plans helped me with my design because I had to think about how the bed frame would be on the other side of the wall. During the … [Read more...]
S’well Bottles Come to WHSAD
The company S'well gave away approximately 320,000 beverage bottles to New York City schools, including one for every student at WHSAD. According to Ms. Tom, the 12th grade environmental teacher and the person in charge of recycling at WHSAD, “The CEO of S'well decided to make her initiative this year and donate bottles to every high school students in the DOE” S'well’s generosity came from the desire to eliminate 54 million Plastic bottles by giving a reusable alternative. Mike Collado, a 12th grader and member of the Y-Plan Project, uses his bottle daily and notices students do so as well; he constantly see's someone refilling their bottles and believes that this is a good sign since the bottles are serving their purpose of being … [Read more...]
WHSAD Students Visit the Department of Buildings
Student correspondent Antonio Perez reports on his and his peers' visit to the Department of Buildings. On October 2nd, WHSAD students had the opportunity to visit the Department of Buildings to attend a panel on zoning and building codes. While many people may not be aware of what building codes exactly are, they do affect everyone and the way they live their daily lives in some form. Building codes are a set of rules and a set structure that buildings must adhere to in order to be able to be constructed. Building codes help to keep safety and order by ensuring that all structures are built in a way that is ready and prepared for all possible situations. An example of such is a house which is built off the water. This house must be … [Read more...]
“Iceland’s Thriving Design and Architectural Scene” Lecture at A/D/O
Thank you to junior correspondent Bryant Perez for attending this event at A/D/O, a creative space in Greenpoint that has partnered with WHSAD on past projects. Last Saturday, A/D/O, in Greenpoint, held an event regarding Icelandic Design. This event consisted of "The Iceland Design Centre" coming over to “The States” and introducing their design and ideas such as using design to make the world a better place. This event began with the speaker, Halla Helgadóttir, Managing Director of the Iceland Design Centre, emphasizing how Iceland is a spacious place full of harsh weather with a small population of 350,000 people. The speaker continued by talking about the economic crisis that Iceland had 10 years ago, which slowed down all … [Read more...]
Van Arsdale Girls Volleyball 2018-2019 Season Preview
Last week, WHSAD student correspondent Jeremy Ceballos went to a practice of the Van Arsdale Cardinals girls volleyball team to get a feel for how the team is preparing for the upcoming season. Jeremy interviewed head coach Ms. Huguet and team captain Milana Baldizzi, a senior at WHSAD. Please keep an eye out for the season schedule and support your teams! Ms.Huguet: “Our First game was amazing. Our girls came through. We started off a little sketchy. The first match was 25 to 23. The second match was in our favor 25 to 22. But in the third match, the girls really showed their talents by leaving them with 10 points. They really pulled through and got themselves together in the third match. Our biggest challenge last year was our defense. … [Read more...]
WHSAD Holds Its First Learning Partner Intervisitation for the 2018-2019 School Year
By Antonio Perez On September 25th, 2018, WHSAD’s Intervisitation team had the privilege to host its first intervisitation of the year. Students on the team took guests from The Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering and East Williamsburg Scholars Academy to classes of their choosing to examine the overall environment and feel of each classroom. Most importantly, visitors observed students at work to get a sense of how engaged students were in discussion and whether they were actively listening. These observations allowed teachers to gain valuable feedback regarding what they can do to enhance the experience for students and improve discussion and how to integrate autonomous values into the roots of the class. An example of this … [Read more...]
School of Visual Arts Launches the Incubator Program at WHSAD
Thank you to WHSAD Junior Bryant Perez for this article, his first contribution to the WHSAD student reporting team. We look forward to future stories from Bryant. SVA (School of Visual Arts) x AREAWARE x WHSAD Entrepreneurial Product Lab!, or “Incubator” for short, is a program that is new to WHSAD this year. The goal is to help juniors develop skills in designing, marketing, branding and much more. Incubator consists of instructors coming to the school once a week in order to guide the students to sketch and develop a product of their own making. D'andra Gordon, one of the students currently participating in Incubator, described the first day of Incubator: “In our first meeting, we created a thumbnail of our own design and then we … [Read more...]
Summer Youth Employment at WHSAD
According to Ella Fitzgerald, in the summertime, "the livin' is easy," and for students and staff alike, it is an opportunity to recharge, refresh, and reflect. However, for others, it is a prime time to pursue activities for which one does not have time during the hurly-burly of the school year. This past summer, many WHSAD students took part in internships and experienced the potential rigors and rewards of the workplace. Other students took advantage of the new SYEP program and worked for various organizations, gaining valuable experience as well as a nice paycheck every couple of weeks. In its first year at the school, the SYEP program was a major success as all 150 spots allocated to WHSAD were filled and retained over the summer, and … [Read more...]