Walt Whitman High School students had an exciting opportunity to visit St. John’s University and attend a Red Storm Men's Basketball game at Madison Square Garden. The January 28th trip was organized by South Huntington’s Supervisor of Guidance, Mr. Corey Blair, along with proud St. John’s alum, South Huntington superintendent Dr. Vito D’Elia. The group of about 30 students was made up of mostly seniors and juniors who have either applied to St. John’s and/or been accepted, or are thinking about applying there. Dr. D’Elia was happy to help show students around his alma mater. 

 

Most of the time, students will visit a campus they’re interested in with their parents during a time when many schools are on a holiday or seasonal break. Mr. Blair believes it can be an entirely different experience for them when they can visit with fellow students, and when campus life and classes are in full session. “When school is not in session it’s hard to get a real feel for the campus. And then also, it's a different feeling when you don't have your parent or guardian  right next to you. During the St. John’s visit, we were able to give them the best of both worlds. They were able to get the campus tour from current students. It was around an hour and a half, two hours. And then they were also able to see what it's like to go to Madison Square Garden and see the Red Storm play there. And, you know, the Garden is packed out with a whole bunch of St. John's alumni and students. And at the end of the day, the kids loved it,” said Mr. Blair.  

 

St. John’s currently partners with South Huntington providing college credit for a selection of AP courses taken by Whitman students.

 

While college campus visits can be challenging and costly to arrange, Mr. Blair wants to do more of it for Whitman’s students. He’d like to do the SUNY circuit initially. “Maybe around October. Right before the weather gets crazy and when students are making decisions. We could visit Binghamton, Oneonta, Geneseo, that whole circuit and then also go to Syracuse University because that's where I went. And to top it off, if it's either football season or basketball season, go and check out a game at the dome,” explained Mr. Blair. 

 

Even the southern colleges in popular areas such as Florida and the Carolinas, like Clemson University, are now on Mr. Blair’s ambitious wish list. “I would like to plan a smaller trip with 20 to 25 students because I know that there would be interest. Maybe a two-night tour where we would fly down and visit five or six colleges down south. If cost is something the district can help offset, it's money well spent, in my opinion, because now they're able to go down and get a good sense of what college is like. And when they get home, they can have meaningful conversations with their parents saying, ‘I really, really like this school or that school,’” said Mr. Blair.

 

Thank you to both Mr. Blair and Dr. D’Elia for arranging this opportunity for our students. We wish all of our students the best success in finding the college, trade school, or post high school opportunity that is the right fit for them!

 

 

Our high school students had the opportunity to recieve a tour of the St. John’s campus.

 

 

Students had some time to visit Times Square to check out the Disney store and grab a bite to eat. 

 

 

Superintendent of Schools and St. John’s alum, Dr. Vito D’Elia, joined Whitman’s students to watch the Red Storm play at MSG.