By Eric Gangloff, Late Shift Teacher/Advisor

 

Marcy Gonzales claims that if it weren’t for P.S. 1 Charter School and the personal connections she made here, she would not have made it through high school.  It’s hard to believe, however, that this confident, powerful 19 year-old young woman would not succeed at anything she put her head to.  A P.S.1 class of 2008 graduate, Marcy is currently working on her associate’s degree in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University. When she first began attending P.S. 1 in ninth grade, she was a student like so many: smart and tenacious, yet disenfranchised from pursuing her education.  “I think if I would have gone to a traditional school, I wouldn’t have made it through high school…when I went to P.S. 1, I felt like the teachers cared that I was succeeding.”  She found a home with teachers and fellow students and began to realize that, to accomplish her dreams, she would need to earn her diploma.  Marcy describes that first year as an educational and lively year: “It was a class full of all my friends.  It was fun!”  Marcy then lists the names of her friends that were in her class that year, seamlessly including both Kim and Sabrina, her teachers.

 

At P.S.1, Marcy showed herself to be an especially strong student in science and social studies.  She especially enjoyed and benefited from the experiential curriculum and the small class sizes.  She remembers a class on Native American Cultural Studies and her senior math class with fondness.  Though she hadn’t excelled in math prior to that year, she attributes her success to a patient teacher: “He was real into making sure you understand what you’re doing…he would explain it to me fifteen different ways if I didn’t get it the first ten ways.”  While she did receive strong support from her teachers, Marcy worked diligently her senior year to overcome incredible challenges, taking extra evening and summer classes to earn a number of essential credits.  In addition to the hands-on experiences in and out of the classroom, Marcy also thanks her academic learning from P.S. 1, claiming, “It helped me a lot in other ways, like MLA format…every paper I’ve written has to have the citations and the works cited page.”

 

Currently, Marcy commutes to Johnson & Wales from her home in Henderson and works in the kitchen of a retirement home.  This is the ideal job for Marcy right now, because as she says, “They teach you some things, but you learn more when you’re experiencing it…I take my job as a learning experience.”  Though she enjoys her interactions with the people there, Marcy has chosen a career in the culinary arts because it allows her to contribute without being in the spotlight.  The hours she puts in here helps her family and allows her to contribute to her own education.  After finishing her associate’s degree, Marcy is looking to attend the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.  With a background in both culinary and business, we will undoubtedly see successful restaurants owned and operated by Marcy in the not-so distant future!