Thank You Street Academy for Three Wonderful Years

A Remembrance by Donyasia (Vivvy) Williams, SA '81

When I think about Street Academy of Albany, I think of all the love and strength one school had.

Street Academy was a small school, a school that had a lot of love, caring and understanding for their students.

I can remember when I first walked into Street Academy, and the first thing I heard was music playing. I was thinking to myself that this is my kind of school, since my family was a musical family and I have always sung like I was born to sing. I remember meeting all the teachers and how nice they were to me. The Principal Mrs. Tillman back then was this very pretty older woman who was very motherly to all of her students. And we all knew when mother speaks, you better listen.

I can remember when I first showed Street Academy my singing talent, I was in the room across from the principal office which was the music room and my music teacher George Mastrangelo, or "Master Angelo" we called him, said to me "okay, what do you like to sing, do you know this song," then he played Stephanie Mills' "Feel the Fire." I was like "oh yeah, I know that one." And I started singing, when I was finished I had the principal and almost the entire school surrounding the class room listening to me sing. My voice went throughout the entire school. The principal said, "My God, you have such a beautiful voice, God blessed you with a voice like that, wow we have a singer in the school, keep singing."

Everyone who went to Street Academy and heard me sing still remember me today as the singer. Yes I had a beautiful voice which I didn't pursue my career in singing so I lost a lot of my talent in singing, but I still can hold a note.

I can remember Bonnie Diefendorf, my English teacher, she was so helpful. She wanted me to stay in school another year because she felt that if she had another year with me in her class I would be able to master English. Of course I didn't stay another year because I had a child and was pregnant with my second child and I had just lost my mother, so I didn't want to stay in school. Now that I think back, I should have stayed another year. Bonnie was truly a caring a loving teacher and I wish I could have told her she was right about me mastering English.

I can remember Peter Balint, Eileen Kawola, Dorinda Davis and Bill Neumann and my man Ahmed Naqi, our Indian hip hop down to earth Biology teacher. Wow where is he at today, I would love to see him again. I would love to see all of my teachers again.

This is for all of my teachers: You have all touched my life and such away that is beyond words. You help me to see that the world is a big place and it is only at my finger tips. What ever I wanted out of life I can make it happen, it will sometimes take hard work and only I can make it happen for me.

I have four children, 28, 26, 24 and an 18 year old. My youngest is now in college, and what this school has installed in me I've installed in all of my children. "The world is a big place and it will take hard work sometime, if you want to achieve anything in life only you can make it happen."

Thank you so much for being a part of my life. The Street will live on.

Street Academy of Albany #1
By Vivvy Williams a.k.a. (Queen Donyasia) a.k.a (Candy)
Class of 1981
Much Love Always