The Column

On Wednesday, July 17th WHSAD students in the Summer Bridge Program spent a day at the Park Avenue Armory. Initially, it was not known what to expect, but at the end of the day, it became clear that whatever expectations anyone had were not only fulfilled but surpassed tenfold. The experience at the Armory was nothing short of surreal from the second we walked through the door. The experience hits you like a shock-wave as the ambiance in the foyer was grander than life, and, subsequently, the entrance tells the history of the building and its previous occupants. Before any official tour and or meeting took place, peers muttered among themselves, awed by the sheer scale and beauty of the interior. From that moment on the Armory never failed … [Read more...]

Below is an interview with WHSAD Senior Reginald Huggins who was honored with a prestigious scholarship: the Walter A Hunt Jr. Scholarship. The Walter A Hunt, Jr. Scholarship is exclusively for a high school senior attending a New York City public or charter school who plans to pursue an undergraduate degree in architecture at a NAAB-accredited school within the United States. Reginald will receive $10,000 per year for the first 2 years of study to support his college tuition and other related costs. To learn more about the scholarship, read the official press release from the Center for Architecture here. Reginald recounts not only how it was that he achieved the scholarship, but also his days at WHSAD, and his future. Q: How do you … [Read more...]

Graduation is one of these experiences in a person's life that doesn’t come around frequently, so when it does, it is very special. Graduation is a time to celebrate and remember all of your accomplishments throughout the past four years. When looking back, many can get emotional at realizing not only how far they’ve come, but how much further they still have to go.  Below the Class of 2019 Seniors recount the bittersweet emotions felt on the day of their graduation. Trevon West: “Graduation day was full of mixed emotions: happiness, sadness, and most of all, hope for our future. Saying goodbye to people that I’ve struggled and grown with through the past 4 years was very hard. Because honestly, without WHSAD, I believe we … [Read more...]

If I could choose one word to explain this year, I would choose, unexpected. Because that’s honestly what my experience has been. Every day was something new in the best way. And for this, I couldn’t be more grateful. Grateful for all the opportunities I have been given, and all the amazing people I have met because of these opportunities. Looking back at this year, I don’t have many regrets. This year has given me so much. This school year saw the launch of “The Column," WHSAD’s first annual school newspaper, and to the surprise of many of my peers, myself included, it was extremely successful. The outreach and intrigue created by the paper surpassed what anybody expected. It created discussion among peers, interest in activities, and … [Read more...]

On Saturday, May 11th a team of students from WHSAD took a trip to the town of Lake Como, New Jersey to present their proposed redesigns for Lake Como to the town's committee. According to Executive Director of the project, Heather Butts, “The project is a collaboration with Lake Como, NJ, Monmouth University, H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths and the Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design. The title of the project is ‘Lake Front Fun and Wildlife Park’ and the collaboration was formed to achieve environmental, health, social and economic improvement in the town of Lake Como, NJ. The school has effectively ‘adopted’ Lake Como with an educational approach that will benefit both the students and the residents of the town.” Back in … [Read more...]

Saturday, May 11th, the day before Mother's Day, students from WHSAD's community service club, led by Ms. Spaziani, went down to the Jennings Hall Senior Citizen Housing to spend the evening with some of the residents. Additionally, the students presented flowers made from construction paper and recycled water bottles from the school. Parent Coordinator, Lai Sin Chu, approached the community service club and asked them if they wanted to learn how to make flowers with construction paper with recycled water bottles from the school. Because Mother's Day was only two weeks away, Ms. Spaziani, who directs the WHSAD community service club, suggested it would be a great idea to make and present the crafts to … [Read more...]

WHSAD students continue to work to enhance literacy throughout New York City. This time, our students, supported by Ms. Heather Butts of Health for Youths, and teachers Mr. Alain Codio and Ms. Sandra Spaziani, visited Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders in the Bronx. During this event, students and staff members from both schools collaborated to build more Little Free Libraries, read to one another, and enjoy seeing how libraries built in the past have flourished. A total of seven libraries have been built between two events. These libraries have been placed in classrooms, schools within the campus, and other local south Bronx schools. The school safety agents’ office also has one. It has generated a great interest in reading, even … [Read more...]

The Polish government and consul provided a grant to build Little Free Libraries to be housed in D14 schools and the Greenpoint community, with the goal of creating multilingual collections representative of the diversity of our students. Under the guidance of WHSAD students, teams will be formed between several high school, middle schools, and elementary schools. This will be a collaboration of the study of the diversity and culture within the district between Pilsudski Institute, District 14 Community Schools, and WHSAD. All participants will engage in programming around the building of libraries and stocking of libraries based on cultural studies. Prior to the build, high school students engaged in a cultural workshop led by … [Read more...]