WISE
WISE came to QHST in 2008 thanks to the efforts of Emerson Assistant
Principal, Janine Werner. Started in the early 1970’s by founder Vic
Leviatan, WISE is a nationwide high school program that offers a cure
for ‘senioritis’. WISE, or Wise Individualized Senior Experience, gives
senior students an opportunity to explore opportunities of their own
design before leaving high school. The program is aimed to help senior
high school students “stay on track” in their studies and to help
prepare them to face the real world after graduation.
The WISE program gives students an opportunity to explore their passions
and interests through real-life projects and internships. If a student
is up-to-date on their transcript credits and NYS Regents exams by the
second semester of senior year, they may be eligible to be temporarily
released from their daytime classes. Past student interests have
included medicine, dentistry, teaching, fashion design, funeral
directing, event planning, ecology and cooking.
During participation in the WISE program the students are supported by adult mentors from the QHST staff. They write in journals to keep a written record of their journey and they maintain classroom portfolios that document their path from the student world to the adult world. To date, over 200 students from QHST have participated in the program.
For more information on WISE please visit
We’d love for you to be a part of this program! If you’d like to participate as a site sponsor for a student intern please contact Gina Valenze at [email protected] or James Woolsey at [email protected]