LWA Antics

Learning from recent alumni experience

Posted

Three years ago, Alumni Interview Day at Lawrence Woodmere Academy was started by the Director of Development, Craig Pinto, to reconnect former LWA students with the high school’s current seniors.

Last week the seniors did just this, formulating personal resumes and learning how to take part in a formal interview. The resumes were filled with diverse types of community service, jobs and accomplishments. They created portfolios that told their stories from start to present.

The school welcomed alums Robbie Brenner, Vinny Alfano, Aaron Cahn and Matt Zale to teach the current seniors how to present themselves during interviews. Seven 10-minute mock interviews were conducted and smiles spread across the faces of the alumni as they discovered what well-rounded high school students look like. Senior Allison Siegel found that it “was most interesting to get to speak about math in the real world,” for she hopes to become a high school math teacher.

Faculty member Trish Hughes and Headmaster Barbra Feldman also took part in the interviews. When asked about the entirety of Alumni Interview Day, Hughes said “My advice to the seniors is for them to really understand what their story has been in the last four years. This is the only way to show off their authentic selves to an interviewer. It is clear that each of our seniors has really created a wonderful experience and portfolio for themselves at LWA.”

The alumni were extremely impressed at the way the seniors presented themselves. Senior Patrick Smith was offered an internship by Zale to work for shoe magnate and native Five Towners Steve Madden. Smith found that “it was truly a great experience for all of the seniors involved.” He certainly recommends that future LWA seniors take the opportunity and participate in Alumni Interview Day.

Alumni Interview Day is just one of the many examples illuminating how Lawrence Woodmere Academy prepares and trains the students for college and the future. This day paved the way for opportunity in each of their lives as they learned the appropriate interview behavior and how to impress the interviewer with their accomplishments. The seniors displayed just how much they have matured during their high school years and connected with the graduates who once were in their shoes.