Seniors Leave a Legacy: Goodbyes to their Academies

By: Olivia Gonzalez

Four-year senior members share their thoughts and feelings about being a part of the ACE and AOLJ academies.

Visalia Unified School District offers several academies with a wide variety across its High Schools. It just so happens that Redwood is home to the Engineering Academy and the Law & Justice Academy. 

Going into freshman year of high school students can apply to whatever academy they like, and when accepted they attend where that academy resigns. Exactly 4 years ago some of Redwood’s Seniors made that exact choice. 

The Architecture and Engineering Academy, also known as ACE, teaches students different subjects throughout their four years. The Academy demonstrates aspects of engineering and learning how to work around it. 

Elijah Backlund ‘24, a member of ACE Academy says, “I have learned about design and development, civil and architectural engineering, as well as construction management and electronics. I have learned some great organizational, communicational, and presenting skills through this academy.”

Both of the academies offered at Redwood go through a complex process to teach their students real-world applications. Emmanuel Morcos ‘24, a member of the Academy of Law and Justice says, “ The academy has given me valuable information on what pursuing a career in law would look like.”

The Law and Justice Academy offers courses from Intro to Law, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and Advanced Civil Law that are taken senior year. The academy allows students to think about real-life scenarios and touch on every section of law. 

Madeline Papanickolas ‘24, a member of The Law and Justice Academy says, “I decided to join the academy because I had an interest in pursuing law. Now that I know I don’t want to pursue a legal career, I still appreciate my time learning and developing a better understanding within the academy. 

These academies have set an environment that is welcoming to their students. They have not only built academics but built a family as well. Brenna Brasil ‘24, member of the ACE academy says, “My favorite part of the academy is the people you meet within it. For 4 years you have classes with the same people, working together on challenging projects, helping each other whenever needed, and forming strong connections with each other. Some of my best friendships have come out of the academy, mostly with people I probably wouldn’t have talked to otherwise.”

Students can grow with their peers but most importantly can find a figure to look up to. Papanickolas says, “My favorite part about the academy is the teachers. They are very understanding and I know I can go to them about anything and they’ll be there.”

Many different projects and experiences have been put forth throughout these four years. They allowed the students to take a peek into what their future could be. Brasil says, “Through the academy, I have gained so many necessary skills to be successful in all future career paths. All of the projects we have done have taught me how to work on a big team and take initiative as a project manager.”

The different classes have also served as a trial and error that opens students’ eyes to what best suits them. Backlund says “I have always loved building things and have always been good at math and sort of knew I wanted to have a career in engineering at some point. This academy has been able to strengthen my passion for pursuing a career in engineering.” 

Experiencing the ins and outs of the entire academy moments have stayed with the seniors as they choose to pass on advice to incoming students. 

Morcos says, “I’d tell any younger classmates to not stress so much and don’t overthink questions.”

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