A Visit from Hillcrest High

Bill Aghassi (Class of 1969) worked as a mechanical engineer for almost 30 years before deciding to help others follow in his footsteps as a classroom teacher.

Now working at Hillcrest High, a STEM-focused school in Queens, he is dedicated to introducing his students to computer-aided design and manufacturing and other such topics. “We introduce them to a wide variety of engineering fields and get them thinking creatively,” he says. “They also get experience building things, like catapults, with their hands.”

Field trips are a popular component of the curriculum, and in mid-March, Aghassi brought some 40 students to visit his alma mater, to see what it might be like to study engineering as an undergraduate. Along with a tour and a presentation by the team at the School's Center for K-12 STEM Education, the group heard from an undergraduate admissions adviser. “I think you’re going to see quite a few Hillcrest graduates applying to Tandon in a few years,” he says. “They were very impressed and excited.”