Wantagh opened its doors for the first time in the mid 1950’s and since then thousands of kids have walked these halls. Yet, as current students, we are only concerned by the Wantagh it is today. But students graduate, just as all of us will, and where do they go after that?
In 1999, before iPhones, tablets and iPads, the school newspaper was a popular part of the culture here at Wantagh and the primary source used to keep up with all of the news. The journalism class was full of hard working, extremely talented writers, many of whom went off to be very successful in their careers.
Most Wantagh students know Erin Colton as the junior varsity basketball coach, but outside of Wantagh many know her as an excellent reporter for News 12. Colton, a Wantagh alumni class of 2000, was a hardworking and enthusiastic editor in chief of the “The Warrior” before going on to study at Syracuse University. She began her career with News12 mostly covering sports news. She won an Emmy in 2010 for a segment called “Iron Inspiration” which featured a man who overcame addiction by training for triathlons. Now, you can see the talented Wantagh grad on the morning news covering breaking news from the field.
David Bauer, another very successful journalism editor in chief, described himself as “a pretty nerdy guy” while in high school and in his senior farewell he wrote “I’ve been accepted almost as much as any pathetically non-athletic, Ani Difranco- listening, Weezer-loving Honor Student could be accepted in a public high school.” Although his description of his life in high school doesn’t seem exciting, life after graduation proved to be much more eventful.
Once his days in WHS were finished, Bauer, a 1999 grad, went on to study at the University at Buffalo. He majored in film, specifically Video Production, but it wasn’t easy to move away from his journalistic roots. He got his degree and ventured into the real world in search of a job, but struggled as so many others do in the beginning. He was able to take an unpaid internship and live at home, while working at night doing some editing for clients to scrape up some cash. Eventually Bauer worked his way up to editor at Versus and then NBC Sports Network. Here his primary job was to cut all the TV promos for NHL games.
Later in his career, Bauer took a job at the TV show “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment” , where his episodes garnered multiple Emmy Awards, taking his career to the next level. Winning an Emmy is a very high achievement and not one, but two of the episodes he cut were winners. The program won in the Writing category as well the Cultural/ Historical Program. “It felt pretty good to see all aspects of our production get honored,” said Bauer.
Now, Bauer works at Monogram, an agency where he has more of chance to work creatively. “There’s something really satisfying about getting a mountain of jumbled up stuff and working it into something that’s hopefully beautiful” said Bauer. He loves his job and life in Philly. Recently he got the opportunity to co-direct a shoot with the Flyers NHL ice hockey team and said, “They were all super pleasant to work with.”
So, where do all the students go? Of course, not all of them are Emmy winners or super successful journalists and directors, but some of them are. After college who knows where you, your friends, your peers or even the kids years above or below you will end up.