Chef

Variety of Programs at Hialeah High School Prepares Students for College, Careers

Hialeah High School was built in the 1950's and it's come a long way since the Eisenhower and Truman administrations.

"We're preparing our kids with the 21st century skills they need to be college-ready or career-ready because we offer so many different programs, no matter what avenue our kids want to take when they graduate," said Principal Heriberto Sanchez.

The school has nine academies including law, auto mechanics, world languages and digital communication.

Hialeah High also has a magnet program called The Visual and Performing Arts Conservatory. Students in the program can choose dance, music, theatre or visual arts.

Mabel Mir teaches the theatre kids, and said beyond learning every aspect of acting, directing, script interpretation, character analysis and stage design, her students learn skills that are valuable for every class they take.

"Reading comprehension, writing, I tell them they get a lot of little wrinkles in their brains, and so it helps them out, even with science. We do a lot of math and engineering building sets. I've been teaching them a lot, they just don't know they're learning it," Mir said.

The Conservatory magnet encompasses much more than stagecraft. Students in the Visual Arts track are taught everything from traditional charcoal pencil sketching to digital art and graphic design.

"They learn the basics. Drawing, line design, light, shadow, perspective, in a drawing class in paper and pencil, then they take those techniques and apply it to digital art," said activities director Gary Graff. 

Hialeah High offers 19 AP courses and a variety of dual enrollment classes. Students can earn industry certifications in 10 fields, including a tasty one in culinary arts.

"You can have the most rigorous curriculum, you can have the best programs, but if you don't have a faculty that's gonna deliver those programs with a personal attention to the success of these students, you're not gonna be successful, and we have that at Hialeah High," Principal Sanchez said.

Whether it's Top Chef or Monster Garage or Broadway, Hialeah High has a program designed to get its students there.

"I don't think we have underwater basket weaving," Graff said. "But other than that, if a student is interested in it, we probably have a program to satisfy their intellect and really put them on track for a career."

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