cuba burst

Mya Green

¿Qué pasa? Mi nombre es Mia Verde (Mya Green) y tengo diecisiete años.
I would say that I am a senior attending The Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), but as a recent graduate, I am now a freshman at Penn State University!

Other than becoming a college student this year, I work here at the Mattress Factory where I have been a Website Assistant, Gallery Attendant, One-Year Mentor, and a helping hand in the administrative offices for two school years. I am employed through a program called YouthWorks, which helps teens to find jobs during the school year and throughout the summer. I can truly say that it has been a privilege working at the Mattress Factory for two years and I will never forget the wonderful training and the new family that I have received.

While working at the Mattress Factory, I won the Girl of Distinction Award for Math and Computers presented by the Girl Scouts Tilium Council, and was also presented an award for Oustanding Performance.

Whenever I am not working at the Mattress Factory, I spend my spare time with younger siblings. I have a total of nine brothers and sisters that I see on a regular basis. I also have an 11-month-old kitten named Kisses who I like to spend time with when I am home. My older brother Maurice, who is a year older than than I am, will also be attending Penn State with me. I am looking forward to college and all the benefits that come along with it. I plan to meet many new people, educate myself, and hopefully study abroad. I am a huge fan of the Spanish language and I have a great time learning new things about foreign countries. I've been a Spanish student for more than five years and I plan to continue that education in college.

Harry Caskey

My Name is Harry Caskey and I've recently graduated from The Pittsburgh High School for the Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA), where I was enrolled in the Visual Arts department. I currently work at the Mattress Factory Arts Museum through a program call YouthWorks. YouthWorks is a program that funds the Mattress Factory to pay me. Now I may not get a sufficient amount of money, but I LOVE my job, and to me that is what matters most. I work as a website production assistant. I have learned so much at my job. I have learned how things apply to websites, and many other things that would take forever to explain. I have a really positive outlook on work. I love to work just in general. I like to stay busy and staying busy makes me feel good because the more I accomplish the more I can do. There is so much I want to do I just feel like I have little time to do everything I want to do. I have been interested in website design and production for years. I remember making my first webpage when I was in the 6th grade, which is when I first got a computer. I remember going on the web for the first time and the thought went through my head, "Wow how does this work? I want to make something like this." So I taught myself the basics played around with what I knew. Then I developed a site all on my own. I'm not talking about one of those “AOL Build Your Own Site” things. I'm talking about typing out every single command for every single thing that’s on your site. It was fun and a great learning experience. I wouldn’t take any of it back if I could. Now I am learning the advanced side of website, like how to incorporate stuff like CSS, Java, and Dreamweaver. I used to hate Dreamweaver but I never really knew why until I learned how to use it. Now I love Dreamweaver.

Mary Jo Knelly is the Youthworks Instructor, graphic designer and web developer at the Mattress Factory museum.

Andre Gandy was also a senior at CAPA High School and worked part time on Confluencia. His interests include Cuban Contemporary art, dance and fashion.