Wayne’s Word at Henry Street
By Chelsea Jupin
Dozens of middle school students volunteered to help Henry Street’s Abrons Arts Center distribute materials about arts classes throughout the Lower East Side. Though most of them were new visitors to the Abrons, their teacher, Wayne Casimir, is not.
Wayne – whose mother Debbie Cox has worked at Henry Street for 33 years — practically grew up at the Settlement, attending day care, summer camp and after-school programs at Henry Street. Once he was old enough, Wayne began volunteering and working in school and camp programs at Henry Street. “The early experience I gained working with students and in those schools is what I credit with helping me realize teaching as a viable career option for me,” he said.
Today, Wayne is a social studies teacher at Growing Up Green Charter School in Queens. Wayne arranged the field trip for his students so they could learn about the Abrons and other Henry Street Settlement programs. The students were welcomed by Kim Cox, Abrons Arts Center registrar and Wayne’s aunt, as well as by members of the Abrons’ engagement staff who told the students about educational opportunities. Henry Street Settlement Executive Director David Garza stopped by to greet the students as well, joking that he’d known their teacher since he was their age. To encourage them to stay involved with Henry Street, David invited them to the upcoming Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory.
Making sure that Henry Street is a part of his students’ lives is equally important to Wayne. “Henry Street has a long and progressive history of advocacy that starts with Lillian Wald and continues to this day,” he said. “We learned that the very school nurses we have in our building are partly thanks to Henry Street funding the first public school nurse. I want my students to be engaged in that rich history, and to know that this type of work continues.
“For many students, our trip to Henry Street was their first to the Lower East Side. Looking, in awe, at the downtown skyline and Freedom Tower from the unique vantage point of Henry Street, could have been reason enough! The best aspect, though, was learning that at least two students have registered for classes at Abrons, thus forging their own special connections to the Settlement house!”
