Liam’s Legacy FROM BLEECKER STREET TO MIT, ONE LREI GRADUATE’S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY
I
t’s the night before graduation, and senior
Liam Cohen is describing, in detail, an urban planning lesson from Second Grade.
The challenge: Build a bridge out of straws.
Liam teamed up with classmate David White,
and set out to construct a drawbridge powered by windmills. One day, after hours in the
classroom’s loft, designing and redesigning, it
finally worked. They could blow on the windmills and the drawbridge would open.
“Our teachers just said, ‘Yeah, do it!’ That was the coolest thing. They didn’t make us stick to the project,” Liam remembered. “They never
stifled my creativity, not even as an 8 year old.” A decade later, Liam is still building and creating and taking his own innovative approach to
learning. He completed a rigorous, custom-built
schedule unlike any LREI student before him. As a sophomore, Liam finished advanced Calculus (a course typically reserved for seniors), then went on to study Calculus II, linear algebra,
quantum mechanics and more at New York
University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University.
“Liam is amazing,” High School Principal Ruth Jurgensen said. “He inspired a lot of people
during his 14 years here, and he inspired us as educators. He showed us a different path.”
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“This is the place for me.”
“He was extremely smart and articulate, but he
when he visited with his parents, Anastasia Traina
His handwriting was a mess. He had great ideas,
Liam’s journey at LREI began after preschool,
struggled to sit in a chair, to navigate the stairs.
and Scott Cohen. Something immediately clicked.
but he couldn’t get them out,” Mary remembered.
“When Liam came out of LREI, Lhe said, ‘This
With Mary’s encouragement, Ana took Liam
“I think he felt at home.”
who determined that he had boarderline
is the place for me.’ And that was it,” said Ana. That feeling stayed with him throughout Lower
School, Middle School and High School, where he not only excelled academically, but he also thrived outside of the classroom. He led the
LREI Robotics Team, which made it to the world championship (twice!). He threw discs on the Ultimate Frisbee Team. He taught a physics
course. He played guitar at countless coffee houses and school-wide assemblies.
“It was a theme during my time at LREI: feeling
safe and comfortable, having the freedom
to explore and try new things, but knowing that I had a really nice safety net,” said Liam.
“He struggled to sit in a chair.”
It wasn’t always easy for Liam, though. When he was in First Grade, Mary Young, early
for testing at Manhattan’s Board of Education, sensory processing disorder. As such, he didn’t qualify for treatment.
“I told Mary, and she said, ‘We’re going to
fight!’ She came to every single appointment after that,” Ana recalled.
Mary coordinated with Liam’s teachers about
strategies that could help him in the meantime. Eventually, after meetings and calls and one
close encounter with a court appearance, the
Board of Education relented, granting Liam the services he needed.
“In every way, LREI met the challenge — and
with glee,” said Ana. “They didn’t say, ‘This is a
problem.’ They said, ‘Okay, we have to figure this out. Should Liam bring a cushion to help him sit straight? Would a computer make it easier for him to write?’”
childhood learning specialist (and now also l
By Fourth Grade, Liam started to hit his stride.
that he had fine motor challenges.
were hints of the poised graduate who (selected
ower school admissions director), recognized
He was stronger, steadier, more confident. There