During their senior years, WHSAD seniors engage in collecting their work from their previous three years and select which of those works to feature in their portfolios. In the following interviews, three WHSAD seniors in Mr. Alain Codio's class, The Business of Architecture, provide insights as to how they went about creating their portfolios, challenges they faced, and why a portfolio needs to be a staple product of any architect or designer. Mekhi Brown How would you describe the process of creating your portfolio? "I’d describe this memorable process, as a trip down memory lane. I was required to search for my pieces of work, dating all the way back to freshman year. Seeing how I started out, and then, how much I’ve grown … [Read more...]
Meet WHSAD's Students
Get to know WHSAD's students, past and present.
Student Profile of Deshawn Gould, WHSAD Freshman
Below are a series of questions and responses exchanged between myself and newcomer Deshawn Gould. Why did you choose WHSAD? "I chose WHSAD because I wanted to learn about building and designing." Do you think WHSAD will help you in your career choice for college? "Yes, they will help me succeed so I can reach my goal. I would like to be an Architect. I would like to be an architect because I always loved to build things. I would build houses and cities with toys that I got, for example, I would use legos to build most of my structures." What is your favorite form of art? (Sculpture, Music, Poetry, Performance..etc) "My favorite form of art are sculptures. I like animal sculptures because it shows their pride and how … [Read more...]
WHSAD Junior, Raiven Rowl
The following is an interview with the new transfer student of WHSAD, Raiven Rowl. Learn more about the junior below. Why did you choose WHSAD? "I chose WHSAD because this school had everything I wanted in one. I saw pictures of you going on trips and not just being closed in a classroom. I saw the all the opportunities I could take to give myself an even brighter future." How do you feel about transferring during the pandemic? "How I feel about transferring during the pandemic is making me feel nervous because it’s a whole new city and I know it’s going to be different from Philly, especially with how my city is handling it differently than NY. I also don’t know too many people so that makes it a little more … [Read more...]
Interview with Vanderbilt Posse Scholar, Jonah Vasquez
How did you feel after finding out you were going to be a finalist for the Posse scholarships? Excited, very, very, excited. The whole process was a huge ego boost, as I got chosen again and again out of many other candidates through the first and second interviews. Being a finalist was like an extra ego boost because you're one of the special selected 20 out of the 3,000 something that applied. Plus, you have the opportunity of going to an elite school, like Vanderbilt, tuition free for four whole years, so, yes, I was absolutely ecstatic. What made you apply to the Posse? My guidance counselor, Ms. Terraferma, is the one who told me about Posse and encouraged me to apply. I thought I should listen to her and try it out to … [Read more...]
Senior, Daniel Rojas, Participates in Coop Tech Carpentry Program
The Coop Tech program provides students, such as Daniel Rojas, with opportunities to explore their passions. In the following narrative, the WHSAD senior shares his experience in the Carpentry program. I chose to go to Coop Tech because I wanted to learn new things. I looked at it as an opportunity to learn new things that would help me for my future. At Coop Tech, I'm in the Carpentry class. I chose Carpentry because I like to build things, and I like to work with my hands. In this class I'm learning the basics of Carpentry like how to work properly with power tools and how to read the ruler. Also, in the next term I will be learning the importance of safeness to work (OSHA). Something that I like most about my class is that all … [Read more...]
WHSAD Senior, Quiller Augustin, Participates in College Now
In the following post, Quiller Augustin shares his experience in the College Now program at The City College of New York. If interested in pursuing such an endeavor, students should speak with their guidance counselor. During the summer I took a College Now class at City College.The class was Architectural Expressions. In that one month period, we did three separate projects. We also studied and learned about drawing objects in different methods and practiced drawing objects in said methods. Our first project was making a model that would protect an egg if we dropped it at a certain height. Our second project was to draft the shape of a vegetable that we brought in. Our third project was to take a window space and construct an object … [Read more...]
Interview with WHSAD Valedictorian Tyler Ng
Before the end of the school year, I had the opportunity to sit down with the class of 2019 valedictorian, Tyler Ng. Tyler is a bright young student who says his commitment, perseverance and sense of responsibility helped him achieve the honor. From the beginning of the school year he said, "My main goal at WHSAD is to graduate and eventually achieve the role of senior Valedictorian." As ambitious as it seemed, with hard work Tyler made it possible. However there's a lot more to the Senior than meets the eye. One thing not many know about him is that Tyler doesn't live in the New York. He lives in New Jersey with his parents. He stays with his Grandmother in Brooklyn during school nights and then spends most weekends at his parents' … [Read more...]
WHSAD Senior Oscar Bejarano joins the Solar One Green Construction training program.
WHSAD Senior, Oscar Bejarano, was recently accepted into the Solar One Green Construction training program. With his acceptance, Oscar will receive four days of hands-on training at the Solar One facility, an automatic paid internship in the green construction trades at the completion of training, free industry recognized training and OSHA certification, and job placement through March 2020. The following are some thoughts from Oscar about the opportunity. The Solar One Green Construction program is both a training program and an internship opportunity. The point of the four days of training is to teach the students about safety and the many possible dangers on a construction site in varying fields (electrical, carpentry, plumbing … [Read more...]
Chandler Mclaurin-Student of the Month
My main goal in WHSAD is to stay focused and be successful by the time I graduate. This is important because it’s an independent goal I want to follow. By staying focused and saying to myself every day, "I can do this," I will achieve, and I find encouragement by reminding myself that I need to achieve this goal. I believe what makes WHSAD special is that it’s an architecture school, but it accommodates everyone and their specific goals. For example, the jobs we can get are not only architecture and design specific, but also SYEP and the community service opportunities. Also, I make the announcements for the school every morning. The school has a lot of connections that are unique and cool when it’s time for us to network. WHSAD has … [Read more...]
Emely Patino-Service in Schools Leadership Program
WHSAD Sophomore Emely Patino this past Spring Break was offered an extremely amazing opportunity to participate in a Service in Schools Leaders program in collaboration with the DOE. The program is essentially about taking students from various different backgrounds and helping them overcome many of their problems regarding public speaking in a direct way. The students in the program got to collaborate with one another and learn about how to use their voice to help in the community. Below, Emely gives insight into her experience with the program. Q: How did you get to become a Service in Schools Leader? A: So, Ms. Spaziani one day spoke to me and other groups of students during third period. She [Ms. Spaziani] wanted to tell us about … [Read more...]