Last Friday, two honorees were inducted into the prestigious WHB Wall of Fame for their accomplishments in the real world. Andrea Romano, a voiceover agent, casting agent and director, and James Bachman, a former WHB teacher and principal, were inducted into the Wall.
How many people really know what the Wall of Fame is? Well, the Wall of Fame is located in the back lobby of the school. It is full of plaques of past honorees who were honored for their excellence at WHB or out in the world. They can be past alumni or former employees who had an influence on WHB.
James Bachman started at WHB in 1948 and worked as a music teacher for 20 years. He was loved by his students and also loved by the faculty.
Because of how people loved him, when the schools principal retired, he was offered to take over as the principal of WHB. He took the job and became the principal from 1960 to 1979 when he retired.
Involved in both sports and in music, he created the girls’ tennis team and helped build the eight tennis courts in the back of the school. Because of his dedication, he became the president of Section XI and helped create equality between boys’ and girls’ sports.
He wasn’t remembered just for sports. He is still deeply involved with the building that we all learn in today. But most importantly, what made him a great principal was that he praised the faculty more than anything else. He is one of the reasons that WHB is so great today.
The other inductee was Andrea Roman, a graduate of WHB in 1974 and went on to SUNY Fredonia for music, then theater and Rutgers for theater. After Rutgers, she moved to Los Angeles to look for work. Abrams Agency hired her for voiceovers and that’s where her career took off. She then worked for Special Artists Talent Agency in the voiceover department.
Her career in casting started when Hannah-Barbera Casting wanted her to work for them. After years of working for Hannah-Barbera, she decided to become a freelance director for voiceovers and became one of the most successful voice directors in Hollywood.
As a director, she worked on projects like Batman, Superman, The Jetsons, Land Before Time, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Teen Titans, and many more projects. She also won 8 Emmys, a Peabody Award and a Lifetime award at SUNY for her work in the voice business.
While Romano was working on a project, she worked with Daws Butler, the voice for the original Huckleberry Hound. She said, “I wept because Huckleberry Hound talked to me!”
Meeting these two successful honorees prove that someone from WHB could make it in the real world because you’re not sure if you can. Every person on this planet has a chance to change the world or a community and that’s what the Wall of Fame honors. Maybe you will be on the Wall of Fame joining these two amazing honorees and many others.
