Class Act with Chris Wragge visits The Urban Assembly Maker Academy in NYC
Students at The Urban Assembly Maker Academy in Lower Manhattan aren't just sitting at desks all day.
The school is built around career and technical education pathways with hands-on learning in classes like video game programming, physical computing, and plant production. The coursework prepares students for the working world.
The academy also offers a fully outfitted woodworking workshop where students are currently building pieces for a nearby park.
There's also an in-school hydroponic farm and a youth-led food advocacy program called Teens for Food Justice, helping to advance food equity for New Yorkers across the city.
CBS News New York's Chris Wragge takes us there for the latest Class Act and the last of the 2025-26 school year.
Hydroponic farm fills nutritional void in community
The school is home to a hydroponic farm where kids grow fresh vegetables for the school and community.
They grow 10,000 pounds of produce annually for free community distributions with their partners at Gotham Park, which provides fresh produce to NYCHA houses.
The vegetables also fill the cafeteria salad bar and are given to families of Maker students.
Student Marcus Perez describes the work as food justice.
"And it's the idea that no matter who you are or where you are, everyone deserves a chance at good, high-quality, healthy, clean produce. So in a city where, as I said before, inequality is visible, it's definitely valuable. And it makes me happy to do this kind of work," he said.
Twice a month, students, janitors, security guards and other school staff can come get a full bag of produce.
Journalism thrives at Maker's with student newspaper
Students can also get involved with The Maker Paper.
Teens pitch their stories, do research and conduct their own interviews. Student Nicholaus Paulino said it has been an eye-opening experience.
"I got to know so many different people across my school that I would never talk to normally," he said.
The school is part of the Journalism for All initiative, which aims to revitalize journalism education in New York City public schools. Maker's is one of 30 schools that are part of it.
Students's projects help improve school community
Students at the academy chose three different pathways, each ending with a professional industry certification.
They include computer science, digital media and urban agriculture. No matter which one, the students do hands-on projects with real impacts on their community.
One of those is the corner projects. Student Ashley Velasquez explained that a lot of students like to hang out in certain corners of the school.
So, students teamed up with the Fashion Institute of Technology to create designs to furnish these spaces to make them more comfortable places to learn.
"It's been so fulfilling knowing that I was able to do this," Velasquez said.
