My name is Derek Ramos, and I am a member of the Youth Advisory Council. We are a group of students from different boroughs of New York City who work with DOE staff to project our voices and the voices of students all around the system. We work on finding ways to improve the overall environment of schools and find solutions to the problems we encounter as students. We strive to make schools safer and a more welcoming space for students such as ourselves with the help of Dennis Carter the director of Community Youth Development. Dennis is a senior director at the Ramapo for Children organization. He works with training, coaching and providing technical assistance to community-based organizations across New York City. Also part of our … [Read more...]
Macbeth on Broadway
Ms. Fields The students loved seeing Shakespeare come to life! They were surprised to see the modern interpretation but were very impressed. I loved watching them delight in such a classic piece of literature! Damian Dzięgielewski Macbeth was mind blowing. I'm honestly somewhat sad that Macbeth is my first play I have seen because my expectations are now through the roof for any play I see. The whole experience was incredible and once in a lifetime. Going into the play I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had never stepped foot into a Broadway theater before. On the way to the theater, we were discussing this superstition about not saying “Macbeth” in a theater, because it's bad luck, and bad things start happening. I find … [Read more...]
WHSAD College Trips
Elliana Duran, WHSAD Junior College. I feel like I've been hearing about it my whole life from the moment I stepped into school. This became even more real when I entered high school. Everywhere I turned there was something college related. It was overwhelming to be truly honest, and now as a junior the pressure is on. College is a completely different thing than high school. I felt like I wasn't ready for that cultural shock! Like, you're telling me I choose my schedule? I can live at the school? Heck, I can even walk out of the class if I really wanted to! Which I obviously would not do… but it's still shocking that I can do that! College life felt out of reach and unrelatable until we were able to attend these college trips. First … [Read more...]
High Rock 2021-2022 Culmination Presentations
This school year has been one of transition, renewal, and resurgence. WHSAD staff and students have enjoyed being back in-person, getting the opportunities that were sorely missed during remote schooling. One such opportunity is field trips, and one trip that occurred on an on-going basis was the Staten Island Greenbelt in which students worked at High Rock Park to refurbish the trails. During these Wednesday excursions, students collaborated to apply the instruction they received from High Rock environmental educators Christopher Ricker, Karen Roos, and Angel Ehlers. Filled with moments students will remember for years to come, the days provided ample occasions not only to learn about flora and fauna that were a novelty to many of our city … [Read more...]
WHSAD Junior, Marc Joseph
Throughout my years at WHSAD, I have seen myself transformed from a quiet little kid to a more ambitious public speaker. During my freshman year like most others I lacked confidence, but as time went on from during many different projects like Battery Park, Staten Island Signage project, and many others I have learned to step out that shell. WHSAD has also really been the stepping stone to help start my career in design and architecture with the different software available and the different machines such as the 3-D printer, 3-D scanner, etc. There’s always something new to learn here like currently in our 4th marking period learning how to make self portraits. Making a portrait might seem difficult at first but our great teachers came … [Read more...]
Alexander Diaz’s Residential Home Design Project
One of the first assignments in the class was to design your own floor plan. How has the project developed since then? In what way do you think that initial floor plan will play a role in your final design? The first sketch was a bit confusing as I didn’t know how rooms were connected and how they all “interacted” with each other. Right after developing an initial sketch, we started working on our site plan, drawing and analyzing the environment in our site and drawing the space for our house and our house size. This whole Autocad site plan project lasted approximately 2-3 months as we all had to learn basic commands so that the project could be completed properly. After this all students were required to make a metahuman. We could … [Read more...]
WHSAD’s March 9th Trip to Staten Island’s High Rock Park
Camila Paulino The day was Wednesday, Mar 9, 2022. It was a very cold, windy, rainy, and snowy afternoon. The people were tired and the time dragged on to feel like years. I woke up that morning ready to work and accomplish something that I had never done before. I was ready to have fun and learn something new. Little did I know it would be one of the hardest days of my life. Getting to school and the bus ride there were all easy, if anything it started off great. I felt great. Once the bus had stopped, and I saw that we were in the woods, I knew that I didn't fully know what I had signed up for. I felt the rain drop on my face one by one as the cool breeze filled my lungs. The mud gripped my boots as I took each step with my heart … [Read more...]
WHSAD Senior, Aaron Ortega, in Co-op Tech Carpentry Program
The first day I stepped into this school, the environment was so much different from my regular high school. Similar to how we have art pieces all over the school of things that were designed by students, Co-op has as well. The only difference is there are different trades in that school and so the art pieces are completely different. I applied for carpentry because it goes hand and hand with my career goal of being an architect. When I walked into the class, the sounds of drills, hammers, and all types of other noises greeted me. This surprised me because I did not think that people would be getting straight to work. My teacher, Mr. Fernandez, is honestly one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. He teaches the class more … [Read more...]
Seniors Showcase AutoCAD and Photoshop Holiday House Designs
In senior year, students in Mr. Codio's Business of Architecture class focus on developing a mastery of two crucial software applications: AutoCAD and Adobe Photoshop. Learning these two programs will provide students with a leg up when entering architecture and design programs at the college and university level. Additionally, the continued advancement of their knowledge base provides students with the fundamentals to further their ideas and inspirations, gaining a greater sense of autonomy so that they can realize creative visions attuned to their own styles. The following house design projects are perfect examples of students processing the basics of AutoCAD and Photoshop and then turning that understanding into original designs that … [Read more...]
Leins Barthe, Class of 2022
What are your strengths and what areas of yourself would you like to improve? I believe that my strengths are my communication skills, my knowledgeable nature, my maturity, and my ambition for success. However, everyone has their Achilles heel and I believe mine is my lack of organization. This lack of organization has been an issue for me and has caused me to lose track of some important deadlines. What are you looking forward to in your senior year at WHSAD?This year I am looking forward to spending my final year at WHSAD with my peers and my wonderful teachers. I have a lot of plans for this year and some of those may/may not be around the holidays of this year. I am also looking forward to the senior activities that are planned … [Read more...]