The Secondary Academy for Success (SAS) drew Joey Landmann in, so much that he didn’t want to exit the Bothell school.
As a sophomore, he planned on staying one semester to improve his grades before moving on to Woodinville High.
“And here I am, three years later, graduating, not wanting to leave,” said Landmann, 18, who will receive his diploma on June 11 at the Northshore Center for the Performing Arts. “It was the people, the environment. Everyone’s so friendly, we don’t really have cliques — it’s just one big family.”
In the classroom, Landmann is a science guy and finds biology the most interesting of his courses. Studying the world around him is what fascinates him when class is in session.
Landmann noted that the SAS teaching staff and counselors have given him the confidence to succeed.
“I learned a lot of good studying skills here. It’s a lot smaller environment, I can get one-on-one feedback from a teacher if I need it,” said Landmann, who has excelled in his classes, which are graded on a pass-fail system at SAS. “I’ve come out of my shell. I was a lot more reserved before I came here, and now I’m not afraid to ask for help.”
The Woodinville resident — who played varsity football for the Woodinville High Falcons for two years — also received vital career-planning advice from the SAS staff, and he plans on tackling a career in massage therapy.
Presently, he’s a Running Start student at the Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, and he’ll continue to work toward his associated applied sciences degree in massage therapy after his time at SAS.
His days on the football field as a defensive lineman drew him toward the massage-therapy field. The summer before junior year, he strained his back and received massage treatment.
“I was amazed at what it did, because before that I had sort of this preconception, ‘Oh, it’s massage, it’s eastern medicine, what’s that going to do?’ but it really helped,” he said.
Opening his own business could be part of his future game plan.
“Probably sports-based where athletes can go for physical therapy, since I had to do a lot of that during football season,” Landmann said of his agenda. “It just seems like an enjoyable job.”
