I like math and science

I like math and science. I like math because I get good grades in it, and if I get good grades then I get to do fun things. And if I don’t do fun things then all I have to do is watch TV when my room’s clean, and that’s boring.

What are ‘fun things’ for you?

I like to swim in my pool when it’s sunny. I like to draw. I like to watch videos on my phone or tablet and read sometimes. Watch a movie. Having fun with my family members, even though we don’t always have much time together. That’s really it.

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My interest in psychology

My interest in psychology started when I was in undergrad. My best friend’s son was diagnosed with autism and, when I was working with him and helping her look at what treatments were available, I was also in my Psychology 101 class and it was very challenging and very interesting and that kind of directed me into psychology. My experience has mostly been working with kids with autism. Up through my internship I did focus mainly on doing behavior therapy with kids on the spectrum. I love how unique each child is. No matter who I work with, they always have some kind of interest that’s different from all the rest. I enjoy working with children, more so than adults, and I feel like preventive care is the most important issue so working in elementary schools has kind of been my passion. I really like to focus in as early as possible to help guide them through what they need to learn to be fully-functioning members of the community.

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I like everything about school

My favorite subject is everything in school. I like all subjects! In math you get to know more numbers. You get to know how to add. You get to know how to subtract. You get to know how to divide. It’s very fun because you also get to know your timetables. Once you know all your math, you can ask people questions about if they know their math and you can help them with their homework.

I like library, too. You get to read. I mostly read nonfiction books because I’m an animals guy. I learn new stuff about animals every day. I have learned that aardvarks can close their nostrils. A dolphin is a kind of whale and a killer whale is a kind of dolphin. I think termites eat wood.

I like music because you get to work on your voice. So if you want to be a singer you can learn from music and when you like a song, you can probably sing it to your family.

And art is fun because you draw. My brother loves to draw. If you’re drawing you can make a cartoon. Like there’s somebody named Chris Battle, I think, who made Teen Titans Go! He’s on the commercial. He told us how to draw Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Robin. I’m still working on my drawing, but art helps you draw every day you go. And it’s fun to draw because you get to color; you get to shade things. You get to imagine new things and if you make a mistake you can fix it. Just like a pencil. Pencils can make a mistake and redo them. That’s what I like about art.

I like computers. The computer lab reminds you that you have to keep your hands clean because it says put hand sanitizer on your hands before entering. And one day we learned about internet safety. I learned that a fake name can probably make you go to jail.

I really also like things that really aren’t subjects, like lunch and PE. I like PE because you get to work out and get stronger. I’m planning to play football and you have to be strong to play football. I was a running back, so you have to be strong to truck. We also learn new words in PE, like ‘cardio.’

I just like everything about school!

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Keeping everyone engaged and excited about learning

The biggest challenge for a teacher is keeping everyone engaged and excited about what they’re learning. They have so much external stimuli nowadays with all of their technology, their games, all of their apps; sometimes it’s challenging to bring that into the classroom effectively and to make it a learning tool instead of something that they just want to play with. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges, but all of the technology that we have now is making it a lot easier for that transition to occur.

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Reading is fun

I like to play with my friends and share stuff with them, and I like to play with my dogs because they’re puppies. They’re all Chihuahuas. Our tiniest one is named Cali and the one we got before her is Sadie, and then the one we had when I was a baby is named Bella. I like jumping on my trampoline and going in my new pool with them. They sometimes sneak in the pool. When we were at my grandma’s house, we took our dogs with us and our dog Sadie jumped right in the pool so we had to go get her. They swim a lot.

What do you like about school?

School is fun because I learn new things and I like science because we get to do experiments. We did a experiment with magnets. Our teacher took a paperclip and put it far away, and then she took two magnets and we watched to see which one could make the paperclip come to it. I like school, too, because we have a library and I love reading. I go there a lot. I like chapter books. Reading is fun. You can learn things when you read.

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I love learning about science

I love learning about science and especially about space. I love to know what’s going on outside our planet. NASA has found seven planets in our galaxy that could have life on it. When they say a planet is capable to sustain life, I think really any planet is capable. It just depends. Life is different on every planet. Every planet should have something that can live on it.

Do you want to be an astronaut?

I don’t want to go in space, but maybe I would like to be somebody who helps in the control center with people who do go into space.

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I like figuring things out

I like figuring things out. Sometimes I run into a situation when I’m working on a certain system or appliance and there aren’t any schematics, so we have to figure it out wire by wire, circuit by circuit. It can be challenging and it takes time, but it’s fun.

I work with cars if I have time. I like to tinker with stuff, to see something move and see how it works. I’d rather do it myself than pay someone else to fix it. It saves money there. If I can save money at home, I can probably save School Plant money, too.

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I like what I do

I’ve been working here almost two years. I was doing construction and I was also working at an outside HVAC company. Then my dad, he’s got 29.5 years working here, he told me I should apply. I did and I got it. I like what I do. I like coming to work. You get to meet a lot of new people, a lot of friendly people.

What’s the hardest part of the job?

When people are hot or cold they’re not necessarily the happiest, but it makes it all worth it when you can do what you do and fix it at the end. People are grateful and you know you helped make their day better and comfortable in a workspace.

I just started coaching baseball at Bayside Middle. I’m an assistant coach. I like it a lot. I played in college and I just missed the team chemistry. I like that a lot about here, too; it seems like one big happy family. You meet a lot of good people. I just come ready every single day and try to learn something new every day. You can always learn something new.

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I really like reading

I really like reading. I read this series here called “Dork Diaries.” When I read, sometimes it makes me imagine what if I’m there and what I would do.

Do you think you want to be an author when you grow up?

I do. I have a lot of different ideas of what I want to be. Scientist. Teacher. An artist. I want to be an author, too. A doctor. I want to be an architect. 

I just finished doing this picture at home that I worked really hard on. It’s this town where it’s really busy. There are people looking at the windows. I have someone and their baby and they have some other children. There’s also someone that’s on a tightrope that they attached to a tree in the town.

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I do a lot of running

What I like to do on the side is run. I do a lot of running. I run races. I enjoy it because it keeps me healthy and it’s just something I’ve been doing for over 20 years. I belong to a couple clubs and it’s just good social time and good events. I did a full marathon at the age of 50. I did it right here at Shamrock. I did two 20-mile runs at that point getting ready for it. I was thinking I would do another one but I don’t know. You have to get serious. You really do. You have to train and that’s hard to do because it takes a lot of your time. It’s hard because after you’ve been working eight or 10 hours. It’s tough. Summertime is tough. Normally I would run at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning with a flashlight but now I don’t have time to cool down before I can come to work at 6:30 a.m. I just do a little three- or five-mile run in the morning, maybe every other day, just to keep tuned up. I love it. It’s my high.

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I’m making tons of books

I’m kind of like an artist person and I like to read. I’m making tons of books. My mom says I’m making too many books. I like “Skylanders,” if you know what they are. They are “Skylanders” books, and I like to make lots of them. I made a LEGO book. I have lots more books; I just can’t remember them.

When you say you are making books, are you typing them?

No. I would love to, but I have to write them. I have my notebook paper and I write it down and then I combine all those papers and just staple them. I’m starting on my life story. I’m only on chapter one. Everybody can know about my life. But, if I have any other life adventures, I’m going to make a “My Life Story: Part 2.” Because you can’t just take a book that you’ve stapled already and take another paper and staple it again. That won’t work.

Maybe, if you come back here to our school, I can bring in my life story and you can read it.

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Making my community better

Aside from teaching, my main passion is making my community better in any way that I can. Through the church, through the school, through my own children, through their friends — anything that I can do to make this community, this city, this state, this region the best that it can be, I will do. It’s our future, and we have to hold on to what we have and where we’ve come from so we can continue to have this city and country be the best place in the world to live.

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My favorite subject is social studies

My favorite subject is social studies because Ms. Lauber and all the teachers are great about telling it like a story and helping us learn about it. Like Jamestown, I learned about how they had to survive on a little bit of food coming in on boats and the Indian attacks. So they made a little fort to protect themselves from the Indians. And when I’m not at school my favorite thing to do is to do role play games with my friends. We usually use something from a class we learned and we will be different people from the stories.

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I really want to be a doctor

When I’m older I really want to be a doctor. The reason is because my dad is a doctor and my sister, she’s going to be a doctor. I really want to do it because I sometimes see these shows and I think, “Oh, I want to do that!” I don’t know why, but I just want to.

If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you do?

Maybe being a conductor for a symphony or something. I play the violin. I’ve been playing it since July. It’s actually pretty easy. You can play different songs.

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