The Column

As part of last year's summer bridge program, our incoming freshman class began their work in designing a new green roof at the Newtown Creek Alliance headquarters in Greenpoint. This project immediately exposed these students to one of the many opportunities WHSAD has to offer. Over the years working with NCA, our students have designed and launched floating docks, landscaped nature walks, and cultivated a crucial partnership with an organization that aims to improve the environmental landscape of an area that has incurred tremendous damage from human activity. Acting as both stewards of sustainability and engineers of innovation, WHSAD students continue to aid Newtown Creek Alliance's mission "to restore community health, water quality, … [Read more...]

While New York City is vibrant, exciting, and diverse, it is nice to get away from the hustle and bustle. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Excursions into nature offer us an arena for reflection and meditation, and such journeys are particularly important for adolescents who rarely travel beyond the concrete urban landscape. On their trip to Manitoga-The Russel Wright Design Center, located 50 miles north of the city, students encountered a landscape that showcases humans' ability to blend architecture with nature. The retreat … [Read more...]

Here is the latest issue of WHSAD’s student-run newspaper, The Column. … [Read more...]

As members of the WHSAD student body embark on their first foray into the world of dramatic performance, they took in a performance of Othello at Erasmus High School. Learning the intricacies of putting on a production, students looked for elements they have been exploring for their production of the one-act version of Ian McWethy's Last Day of School. Thank you to Erasmus High School, Mr. Marlin D. Slack, and WHSAD teachers Mrs. Silverstein and Mr. Crockford for assisting students with their own performance and set designs. Stay tuned for the date and time announcement for WHSAD's first ever play, and please check out the following link for more information about Erasmus' performance of … [Read more...]

WHSAD's partnership with Park Avenue Armory is one of its longest running, with benefits consisting of annual artist residencies, internship opportunities in the Youth Corps program, networking that often leads to post-high school employment, and attendance at Armory performances and exhibitions. For this year's sophomores, they have had two chances to visit the Armory with the latest being witnessing Anne Imhoff's latest work, "Doom: House of Hope". The work is immersive, thought-provoking, and emotional as it explores various aspects of the American adolescent experience, based loosely on Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. In the following narratives, Alison Sanchez (AS), Kyanna Mardenbrough (KM), and Bella Pierre (BP) share their … [Read more...]

Last Wednesday, January 29th, a group of WHSAD students took a trip to the Bronx to see the Bartow-Pell Mansion and Museum. The house and gardens are now part of Pelham Bay Park but once served as a high-class family home. Thomas Pell acquired the land the park now sits on through a treaty with the Lenape, the Native American tribe that controlled the land, in 1654. In 1836, Robert Bartow, a descendant of Tomas Pell, used the land to build the mansion. After the family sold the property to the city in 1888, the house served as the headquarters for the International Garden Club, who decided to restore the mansion to its former glory, and open it as a museum.  Although none of the furnishings inside the mansion are original, they … [Read more...]

Thanks to the NYU College of Dentistry, WHSAD is now offering free dental services to all students. Services include: examinations, x-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatment, sealants, oral hygiene instruction, fillings, extractions, and some prosthetics (dentures). It’s important for people of all ages to get regular dental checkups, so if you don’t already have a dentist this is a free and easy way to maintain your oral hygiene. The dentists visit in a van you’ll sometimes see parked outside the school, and all students are eligible. The next visit is February 7th, 2025, and you can speak with Ms. Martinez in room 227 for more information and to pick up permission slips. There will also be another visit February 28th, and every month … [Read more...]

Thanks to our Assistant Principal, Mr. D’Amato, and the connections he’s made, WHSAD had the opportunity to host a visiting Italian school. I.I.S. Pomponio Leto Teggiano is a fellow architecture and design school, located in Salerno, that we’ve been in communication with for a few years now. Coming in on Saturday, December 7th, the students spent the whole week together, exploring the city, creating lasting connections, and learning about one another’s cultures. They went to the Statue of Liberty, saw MacBeth, and wandered around the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the end of the week, both groups of students collaborated to create a presentation using Lucid, showcasing what they learned through their shared time. WHSAD was … [Read more...]

Sophomore, Julian Spiro, wrote the following narrative. Below this are questions other WHSAD Sophomores answered about their experiences. Thank you to Hebrew Union College, Musicians Elad Kabilio and Jonathan Boyer, and The Harry Chapin Foundation, which sponsored a grant for this event. This past Thursday, January 9th students attended a concert done by the Holocaust Music Lost & Found at Hebrew Union College on 1 West 4th St. The eight song program told the stories of composers who had suffered through the Holocaust and how the remembrance of these songs highlights the importance of hope and the ability to dance shines in a time of darkness. Before you enter the doors of the college, a sort of shelved brick building on the … [Read more...]

Chelsea Garcia, WHSAD Senior How can 23 letters be expressed in an hour? How can the depth of the human experience be fully conveyed through dance? Does the prayer, “Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful” have to be spoken, or can the heavens understand human emotion through movement alone? Kyle Abraham’s art piece explores themes such as life, death, metamorphosis, and growth. He portrayed these concepts through utilizing  modern dance as well as live music. By blending media such as lighting and sound he creates an other worldly experience, yet one that feels so close to home. In an artist talk I attended, Mr. Abraham revealed that this piece is dedicated to his late father. Yet he allows the piece to be interpreted freely by the audience … [Read more...]