Mark T. Holbook, WMST High School’s head of school, never fathomed having first lady Michelle Obama as the commencement speaker in his very first year at the overachieving, underappreciated magnet school in Washington, D.C. Holbrook is the head of school, another name for principal, at Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School (WMST) in Northeast D.C. What’s so special about the momentous occasion, said Holbrook, is that WMST, a predominantly black school in one of the roughest neighborhoods in the District, will finally receive national recognition as one of the best institutions of learning in the United States.
Mark T. Holbrook and Jasmine Williams
“I know the students and staff are honored and elated to have the first lady come,” said Holbrook. “It’s extra special to know that 99 percent of our graduating class are African American students and we have the first African American first lady as the commencement speaker.”
Holbrook said his goal is to help return the school to the heights that made it one of Newsweek magazine’s Top 100 schools in the nation in 2003. Where WMST stands now is not bad, however. A full 99 percent of WMST’s students graduate, while 98 percent go on to college.
Holbrook initially harbored aspirations to make waves in the medical profession. But being isolated in a biology lab was not what the extroverted Holbrook had in mind. Holbrook’s mother, a finance teacher at a Virginia school, asked him to consider substitute teaching. When he agreed, Holbrook immediately realized he had found his life’s calling.
“I had worked with teenagers. I was an upward bound counselor and also a Big Brother at the University of Virginia. So I had worked with teenagers before. So it was nothing new,” he said. “[Eventually] an English teacher needed me to take over her class. I said ‘sure.’ Everything went great. They responded to me and I responded to them. And it kind of clicked. It really did.”
Holbrook, who acquired his master’s from Virginia Tech, Holbrook believes the first lady’s visit inspired the graduating seniors immensely.
“Michelle Obama … came [from] similar circumstances [as WMST students]. She grew up on the South Side of Chicago. I have visited the South Side of Chicago and it looks like Southeast D.C. There’s not much difference. … And for her to have accomplished the things that she has accomplished resonates with these kids,” said Holbrook.
The international exposure caused by Obama’s visit will undoubtedly shine on the small, urban magnet school for years to come. –terry shrophire
