EUGENE LANG COLLEGE
Renequa Johnson
Renequa Johnson starts her workday in a familiar place, although in a very different role. She has returned to the halls of her high school alma mater, Washington Irving High School
(WIHS), where she embodies the spirit of “giving back.”
After graduation from WIHS, Renequa enrolled at the New School, graduating from Lang College with a concentration in cultural studies and urban education in 2002. “Most of my courses at the New School required that I participate in hands-on training outside of the classroom. I was encouraged to put my pedagogical knowledge into praxis and decide whether or not being an educator was the right career move for me.”
Not only did she determine teaching was where she belonged, she
realized the experience she was gaining at Lang College was unlike other programs. “Without the hands-on experiences of internships and community building projects, I would have never known my way through the New York Citypublic schools, nor would I have been able to survive as a teacher in such challenging times.”
At WIHS, Renequa has created an after-school program, which since its inception has employed over 25 Lang students, and she keeps in touch with many of her former professors. She values the give and take experience she continues to enjoy with the New School and plans to maintain that connection, saying that one day she “hopes to teach an urban education course at the University.”
As for her future plans, Renequa originally saw herself moving to an administrative role in the school system. “My dream,” shesays, “was to become the chancellor of New York City public schools. However, I am now considering going to law school and studying educational law. There are so many hidden andunspoken injustices within the American educational system right now, and I want to be one of those on the front lines, making changes so that the voices of those who are left behind are represented and supported.”
