News & Events
Shawn B. O'Reilly Media Center and Library to open in the Fall 2010
Washington Math Science Technology (WMST) Public Charter High School will renovate a mathematics lab in its school building this summer and dedicate it as the Shawn B. O'Reilly Media Center and Library by the fall.
Head of School Mark T. Holbrook, in making the announcement at the WMST June 3 graduation ceremony at Cramton Auditorum at Howard University in Washington, paid tribute to the “leadership, tenacity and unwavering commitment,” that Shawn B. O'Reilly has shown as a WMST board of trustee member. In his eighth year of service, O'Reilly currently serves as vice president for the WMST board of trustees.
The Shawn B. O'Reilly Media Center and Library will feature a reference library, reading center and Apple iMac computers. Students and staff will be able to conduct Skype videoconferences with other parties in the U.S. and internationally using the computers, according to Holbrook. Opening the Shawn B. O'Reilly Media Center and Library is part of Holbrook's vision to enable WMST students and alumni to become not just users of technology but creators and implementers of technology.
In accepting this honor, O'Reilly told the graduation audience that he has remained committed to WMST because he attended a high school very similar in size to WMST in rural Pennsylvania. O'Reilly's alma mater, however, only featured a 70 percent graduation rate, and only 10 classmates of his attended college. WMST's success at preparing its graduates for college has encouraged O'Reilly and helped him remain an active board member.
A graduate of Penn State University, O'Reilly is a senior vice president at RBC Wealth Management of Washington, D.C.
WMST has 360 students and is a Title I public charter high school located in Ward 5 of Washington, D.C. Ninety-eight percent of WMST's graduates get accepted into at least one college or university, and the school has a 99 percent graduation rate.