The Bayard Rustin High School For The Humanities Alumni Community

Thanks for visiting highschoolforthehumanities.org. In November of 2005, this online community was created as a labor of love for High School For The Humanities Alumni. The idea and creation of this site came to fruition during a moment of temporary insanity for Jordan Dick (class of '87).

Feel free to browse our community Forums and Photo Gallery. You can check up on the latest reunion info, search for your classmates through our member lists and reconnect with old friends. If you are a new registered member, here is some useful information on the best way to set up your account and add a photo to your profile.

Why you should register:

• Full access to our growing database of Humanities Alumni contact info, featuring over 1,000_members
• Access to hundreds of old school photos
• Have your own profile with a photo and bio for others to view
• Post articles, stories and comments about school days past
• Create your own photo albums of your life, past and present
• Lastly, the best reason of all is to reconnect with your old friends

 It has just come to my attention that Colombia Taveras, Humanities Class of '88, died this past March. We attended high school as well as Hunter College together. I was proud to call her a friend. If anyone would like to share a story or memory about their time with Colombia, that would be wonderful. And if anyone feels inclined to do something, feel free to check out NAMI at www.nami.org. You can get more info about the Taveras family's involvement with the organization through the site.

Thank you,

Michelle Day ( formerly Michelle Ressy) Humanities Class of '88

Greg Kocharian died in 1995. He was lively, clever, very bright, and he radiated charm. He was an enormously talented and precocious classical pianist as well. He was a student of mine in a class that consisted of lots of really intelligent students, a class with a special esprit de corps; he sought me out after graduation for advice and friendship; it was a great pleasure to have him as a friend. Unfortunately Greg was afflcited with what would seem to have been insoluble mental problems and fell into a state of despondency. He committed suicide in his grandparents' home in Maryland.

Submitted by Mr. Weiner, English teacher

When I started this site in November of 2005, I never anticipated that it would grow to the level it has in such a short time. Because of the growing number of images and video we are hosting here, our disk usage is increasing accordingly. As a result, the cost of hosting the site is increasing proportionately.

My time spent developing and maintaining this website has been fun, rewarding and all consuming at times. It is my true hope that even as this site continues to grow, the cost will remain manageable with the help of the community. If you feel moved to contribute a little something to support my efforts and out of pocket expenses, use the link below. No amount is too small and it's all done through Paypal, so it's safe and secure. Donators will receive extra features, such as yearbook downloads, advertising and anything else we can dream up. Suggestions are welcome...read on

Make a secure donation

It is with great sadness that I share the news of one our fellow graduates, who was killed about 2 weeks ago in the Lower East Side. She will be missed and I hope her children have peace in their hearts as they go through this very hard time. She was always very friendly, spunky and full of life when we were together in high school. As the years went by we lost touch with each other, and because of this website we connected once again!!! I am grateful that I had a chance to at least get to spend some time with her once again before this tragedy occurred. Thanks for allowing me to share this with the entire High School for the Humanities community. God bless.

Marylin Sanchez Class of 1988

Saideh Page Browne grew up when Hip-Hop was really building momentum; Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh and The Get Fresh Crew were popular, Queen Latifah made the ladies proud, and Hip-Hop life in New York City was good. In 1989, Saideh was forced to deal with a teenage pregnancy; through the 90's she ran a successful urban marketing firm. In August 2001, KRS-One offered Saideh the position of Executive Director of the Temple of Hiphop; three weeks...Read on

Back in 1984 when I first attended "Humanities", the school was otherwise officially called Charles Evans Hughes High School. Somewhere in time the school was renamed Bayard Rustin. I didn't know who Charles Hughes or Bayard Rustin were. But last week I came across a really nice article on the life and history of Bayard Rustin. I now definitely feel proud to have attended a high school that has claimed his namesake.

Click link for full story. http://chelseanow.com/cn_40/rememberingbayard.html

Remembering Bayard Rustin with Pride
By Chris Lombardi

Walter Naegle, 58, smiled as he waved toward the living room of his Penn South apartment, talking about the love of his life.

In 1963, he said, “Bayard [Rustin] was the first tenant of this apartment.” In those early days, he added, from the east-facing bedroom you could still see the Empire State Building from Eighth Avenue.

The Sundance Film Festival has been around since 1978 and has evolved into one of the premier independent film festivals of the world. It is no small honor to secure place at this respected and revered event, especially for a first time director. JJ Lask, (a.k.a. known to some as Jacob Lask) graduated in 1988. Since then he has gone on to build a successful NYC based commercial-editing company called PS 260. JJ is the author of a recently published book called "On the road with Judas." His new film is also titled "On the road witth Judas", and as the title suggests is based on the book written by JJ himself. I do think Mr. Farbstein would be impressed :-) Check out the official Sundance Film Festival website to watch a short interview with JJ Listen to an interesting Podcast interview with JJ here. More interveiws and reviews: Indiewire interview with JJ Sundance review

Check out Jacob's book on Amazon: On the Road With Judas