I’m a dancer; I like gymnastics; and when I’m older I want to be a lawyer.

I like dancing because it lets out all my emotions when I dance. Gymnastics…well, I got inspired by Gabby Douglas when I was 5 years old because I used to always watch movies about her and watch her do gymnastics.

And why do you want to be a lawyer?

Because a lawyer helps people out and I just like helping people out with different situations.

Oh, and I also play the violin. I’ve played it for two years here at school. But this year I’ve just started knowing how to play songs. So, I like to play it because it lets out all my emotions on the strings.

What else do you like to do when you’re not at school?

Study. I like to study because I want to pass my SOLs and get a degree in college.

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I mostly like reading but my favorite subject is art. I like art because our teacher, Mrs. Wolff, she tells our art teacher, Mrs. Thompson, what we’re learning and she tries to figure out what we’re learning but she does it in art. We get to do all this fun stuff. One time we got to make Egyptian collars because we were learning about Egypt. And then we got to make pottery.

I want to be a teacher when I grow up. I want to teach kindergarten. I think that it’s really fun and my mom is a teacher. Teachers are important because they have to look out for their kids and help their kids when they need help. Helping them is the most important.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

So, I’m going on two trips in one summer. I’m going to the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp and from there we’re going to Canada. We’re Steelers fans. This is the first year that we’re going. I’m excited to see two people: JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ben Roethlisberger. And then we’re going to a place in Canada; it’s called Niagara Falls. But what I’m most excited about this summer is my pool. I have it in the backyard.

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I just love school because it’s a free opportunity of getting an education and learning. And all you have to do is come to school and learn, and when you get older you can have so many big opportunities in life. You might get to go to college and get an education. It’s just so much fun because you know that you’re here for a purpose and you wake up every morning and you think: I’m going to school because I’m ready to get an education for my future.

Have you thought about jobs you might like to have when you’re older?

I think my dream job would have to be a pediatrician because I love helping kids and helping people because it just makes me feel like I’m actually doing something in my community.

I remember this story that Mr. Sullivan told us about the starfishes. He was picking up starfishes because it doesn’t matter if you help just that one starfish in that community. And I feel like it doesn’t matter how small something is – it can be one and it still makes a big difference in the world.

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I think this is my 20^th year. It’s all been at Kellam. I feel connected to this school and this community.

When I first got the job here, I didn’t even know where Kellam was. I graduated from Cox High School and this was another planet to me, being off of Great Neck Road and coming out here. But I will never regret that move. My former counselor at Cox, Kay Scarborough, was the director here. Right before the school year started they had an opening and she called me, and Mr. Biehl trusted her. If I hadn’t gotten the job then I was going to move to Puerto Rico to take a job with Gillette, the razor company, because I had an opportunity to work for them. My life would have been drastically different, I think, if I had not gotten that call from Mr. Biehl.

The job has changed in some ways but working with the students is definitely the part that I love. It’s quite a different job than when I first started in that I think we do a lot more social and emotional counseling and not just academic, which I like but it is an exhausting day after it’s all said and done. Every day is different, but I love it.

I think the best part for me is seeing how students grow from ninth grade to seeing them years later down the line where they’re telling about their lives and how much they’ve grown. I see this lifecycle of students in front of my eyes and it’s just a unique perspective that I know a lot of people don’t get to have. I think that part is pretty cool – especially when maybe they’ve struggled initially and found their way or the light comes on and that’s sort of exciting to see. When I hear back from them too, I think that’s very rewarding and it lets me know that maybe my hard work didn’t go in vain or what I tried to help them with may have paid off in some way. I had such a difficult time deciding what I wanted to do for a career – maybe that’s why this one suits me so well. I think that helps. I have a lot of kids that were in my exact same shoes. They’re just trying to figure it out, and so was I.

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I like to play sports. My favorite sport is football. When football season is over, I focus on basketball. I like to play a little bit of soccer and baseball. I’m good at soccer but I don’t play it often. And baseball…I play most of the time when I go outside with my friends.

And I am a smart kid. I passed my math and my reading SOL. And next week, I really want to pass my science and my social studies SOL – that’s why I’m studying hard.

Mrs. Ryan, she is one of the best math and science teachers I’ve ever had in my whole life in school. Like, when I struggle, she helps me out a lot because when I really don’t know stuff, she helps me even more. Even if I say I don’t need help – when I really do – she still tries to help me. Even my reading teacher, Mrs. Shannon, she taught me a lot of stuff in reading so I passed my reading SOL. She’s strict, but she’s a very good teacher though. I like teachers that are strict because they make me want to pay attention more in class and focus and not play all the time. I like teachers like that, that’s why I like Mrs. Shannon. And because of Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Ryan, I passed my SOLs.

And Mr. Sullivan, he is the best principal I’ve ever had. He’s funny. He plays with us a lot. Like, when I’m walking down the hall to go to PE, he asks me the first 10 prime numbers. But I always have a grumpy face, and then, when I walk past him and he asks me those questions, I have a smile on my face like now.

And Mrs. Thirus, I like her too. She’s a strict person just like Mrs. Shannon and I like that. She’s not really mean though. I like them all.

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My favorite part of the year has definitely been recess. It gives us a chance to just play with our friends and do whatever we want. I also like reading because I learn a lot. I like to read these books called “Heidi Heckelbeck.” She’s this girl who’s in second grade just like me. And she enters contests, she’s done plays, and she’s really nice to people.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

My vacation to Bethpage. It’s a big place with cabins and there are actually bathrooms so you don’t have to go to one the bathhouses. And there is a huge waterpark with slides. It’s about a one- to two-hour drive to get there.

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I am wrapping up my sixth year here as a speech/language pathologist. I’ve been to many different schools throughout my time here. It’s a broad range of kiddos but I tend to gravitate toward our more severe and profound population, and they tend to gravitate toward me so it’s a mutual friendship that we develop with one another. I think our connection is the playfulness. You know, kids really like to play. And nowadays we are so heavily reliant on technology that we forget the basic skills of just play. That’s a lot of what I do. It’s a lot of hands-on, sensory stimulation – a lot of play-based therapy. We’re in the moment together, so we’re actually playing together; we’re communicating with one another in the best ways we can communicate for our friends. It’s a lot of being silly and I think kids appreciate the silliness.

What do you like best about your job?

I like giving our students the opportunity to communicate. I think it’s something we take for granted where we are able to express our basic wants and needs. If someone were to give you something and you really, truly don’t want that, we’re able to express, “Oh, no thank you. I do not want this. I would rather have something else.” And for a lot of our kiddos that’s where we get those behaviors, so to reduce those behaviors we have to start with those basic forms of communication – of just saying, “Yes, I do like this;” or, “No, I do not like this. I want something different.” It’s advocating for yourself. Letting our students advocate for themselves. I like that for them.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?

I like to spend time with my family. My kids and my husband, we like to explore Hampton Roads. We’re ones to go to different restaurants; we try not to do something twice unless we absolutely love it. Or we find different trails to hike or nature places just to explore – different parks we can go to, go kayaking or whatever it may be. We don’t mind driving for an hour to go explore something different and experience where we live. That’s what I like to do.

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We moved to the area about 16 years ago. My husband and I retired from the Army. I was a licensed practical nurse. My husband and I both were. He still does that and I just retired. We moved to Richmond for a couple of years and my mom lived down here so we came down here. She said, “You know, we need school bus drivers.”

I’ve been a bus driver for 14 years. I like the kids. I have pretty awesome parents.

What do you find rewarding about being a bus driver?

I think getting to know the kids and – sometimes, when you get discouraged with the way things are going with children – then you meet some really nice kids with some parents who keep the respect going, so you don’t lose faith. It keeps you young and I enjoy it. I plan to stay on the bus as long as I can – as long as they’ll have me.

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My favorite subject is history because I like learning about the past and what happened with Virginia’s history.

What did you learn?

I learned a lot of new stuff about wars that we had in our past and things that we lost from our past, like Pearl Harbor.

And, what history are you studying right now?

World War II – but mostly about the people who helped.

We also learned about Woodrow Wilson. He was the president during World War I. I just remember he wanted to stop the wars and didn’t want a world war.

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I’m definitely looking forward to my four years at the Naval Academy. After those five years [of service], if I want to continue with a career in the Navy, I can do that. But also, if I get out I’ll have a lot of different opportunities that I can pursue having that great education and having that leadership background.

I’m interested in aerospace engineering. I’m into calculus and physics. All that stuff is fun and fascinating to me. They’re making so many huge leaps. The company SpaceX is doing incredible things. Elon Musk just sent a rocket with a car attached to it into space. Think about what they’re doing now. So, by the time I’m able to actually get into the field, there are so many more things we’ll be able to accomplish. I want to see what’s up there. I want to explore more.

So you do want to go into space?

Well, no. I want to see pictures of what’s up there. A lot of people are like, I want to be an astronaut. For me, I want to be the guy that’s doing the calculations and different trajectories…on the ground.

As a graduating senior do you have any reflections on your time in school? 

I would just say, Go, Green Run ROTC. It’s a really good program. It’s been an honor to be a part of it.

“I’ve learned so much, so much: the importance of dedication, loyalty, even patriotism, too, working as a team. For me, I’ve always been someone who didn’t like group assignments. I always wanted to do stuff on my own. Being a part of this, it showed that in order to have real and true success, you can’t do it all on your own. With ROTC, there are different departments. There’s the admin department, the supply department, operations, weapons… So, no one person can do it all. It takes everybody to work together in order to achieve the common goal. I’m really going to miss it. That’s probably what I’m going to miss the most about high school.”

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I really like going on mission trips with my church’s youth group. I went on one this past summer. We went to Appomattox, Virginia. We helped roof a house for people who were impacted by the tornado that went through. My relationship with God really grew and it was just nice because it was so hot up on that roof and just everyone worked together really well. We knew that we were going to help the lady and that really made a difference.

Was this the first project that you’ve ever done?

I went to North Carolina the year before last and helped with a children’s home. We helped do yardwork for them because they have to get inspected and we were trying to make it look nice for them.

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I am writing poems for my class. I’ve made a couple. My first one was about soup; my second one was about a stuffed animal; the third one was about a zoo; the fourth one was about color; and now I’m working on a Haiku poem about a Chinese dragon.

How did you learn about Haiku poetry?

Mrs. Pease told us a story about a Chinese dragon. Then we had to write a poem. My brother used to be in Mrs. Pease’s class, too, and I had his book in my desk and I looked there because Mrs. Pease said I could, and I saw the Haiku.

What do you like about writing poems?

It’s fun and it just tells some knowledge.

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I play a couple of sports. My main sport is softball and I’m interested in going to Florida State University on a softball scholarship. That’s my main priority in life. I want to part of their softball team because they did win nationals last year and they’re just an altogether amazing team. I look up to all of them as leaders.

My softball coach, she’s a really good leader too. She played for the P.A. team. She’s really good at helping us out and teaching us what to do because she plays everything. She plays softball still. I can play everything but pitcher because even if my life depended on it, I’d probably end up killing me and the catcher.

Have you thought about a job you’d like to have?

I want to be an FBI agent. So after I finish college, I want to do that or be a zoologist.

I wanted to be a lawyer and then it was like court martial and then judge and it just floated to FBI agent.  I’ve always wanted to solve crimes. My favorite movies and TV shows are ones with detectives and murder because I love the suspense, and I just love watching them figure out how the crime goes. And sometimes I think, maybe I can help them out with that. I really want to do that.

There is also sports medicine. It’s physical therapy for kids and that would be fun too because you get to work with kids who play sports.

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My favorite classes outside of the classroom are PE and lunch, and inside the classroom it’s math. In PE I get to play football and basketball with my friends and in lunch I get to eat a lot. I like math because I get to use different kinds of strategies to help me solve different kinds of problems.

I also like playing outside. I usually go to my friend’s house and we usually play with other friends that go to this school. We play tag and stuff, and we ride around on scooters and bikes most of the time.

When I grow up I either want to be a barber or a basketball player. A barber because I can cut my own hair. I’m growing an Afro.

Next year you’ll be a fifth-grader and the leader of the school. What would be your advice to first-graders?

I would just say to focus if there are any distractions and to listen carefully because the teacher could be talking about a different strategy to another kid and you could hear what they are saying and you could come up with another strategy.

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This is my 20^th year here in Virginia Beach. I started out at Corporate Landing Elementary as an interpreter. I was there for 13 years. Then I was at Ocean Lakes High School for one year and then I came here to Corporate Landing Middle.

When I was in high school, there was a deaf kid in my class. It was my geometry class and I was just fascinated with his interpreter and just watching that. I started talking to his interpreter and picking his brain about it and just took a liking to it. So I took my first unofficial class – it was an afterschool class at a hearing and speech center in Youngstown, Ohio – and after I graduated high school I decided to get my degree in it.

Then, when I graduated college, I had no intention of moving. My brother was being stationed in Norfolk. He was a Navy SEAL and was finishing BUD/S and he got stationed here. He called me up and said, “Hey, Paul, do you want to move here? I’m going to buy a house. Do you want to come live with me?” I was like, “No, why would I want to leave my mom and all my friends.” That was huge and scary. The next day was my last day of college – I was graduating, and so I walk into the room and there was a posting for Virginia Beach Public Schools, and I went, “Ohhh.” Then I felt in my gut that that was what I supposed to do. It was the best decision ever. It changed my world.

What do you like about your work?

In Virginia Beach, with the group of interpreters we work with, there is a tremendous amount of support. I hear of different stories in different divisions and everybody is really good at what they do, but Virginia Beach is extremely unique because of the amount of support that we have. The thing I love is that. When I first came here, I was really new. I had just graduated college. I didn’t have the skill that the group of people I worked with had. One of the things our boss says is: We grow our own. We’ll hire people and then work with them to develop their skill and make them better. The sense of camaraderie and support is overwhelming in this division. If don’t know how to do something, I go to my colleagues and we have a discussion about it. It really is, I think, one of my most favorite things of why Virginia Beach is so amazing to me: the sense of community, the sense of support and we just have each other’s backs. And in this division, as I hope in most divisions, our team is so centered on what’s best for the kids. Our boss, Becky, that’s her mantra: Are we making it about us or are we making it about the kids? It’s really important to keep it about the kids and what’s best for them.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I have other jobs. I work another job with video relay interpreting through a company, and I just got another job which I’m really excited about. I’m working at a brewery. I’m working at Oozlefinch Craft Brewery on Fort Monroe.  I just started that two weeks ago, this past weekend was my fourth shift – just pouring and talking. I know the owners really well. The owner’s wife was an interpreter in Newport News and Russel was a former police officer and he opened this brewery. My husband and I have been with them since the thought of it happened – since the inception to fruition. So we’ve been able to walk this journey with them so to be able to finally get the opportunity to work there – just part-time, seasonal – it’s given me something different to do. I also have two dogs that we spend a lot of time with and just hang out. Nothing really big. Just enjoy life.

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As the School Improvement Specialist, one of my responsibilities is test coordinator for the building. It’s a heavy duty responsibility. Testing is not so much fun, so I feel that my responsibility is building relationships with the students and the teachers to help reduce the stress and make it a more enjoyable environment.

A lot of my time is spent with the seniors who might need additional support in meeting graduation requirements. I spend a great deal of time with them. It’s a very rewarding process. We work through what they need: maybe some remediation, maybe some one-on-one support talking them up – increasing their confidence. I want them to know that they have a support piece here. I can be their cheerleader.

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My favorite subject is probably math because I’m always thinking up different strategies. Sometimes my strategies are a little bit too complicated for the class.

I also really like writing because it’s when I can write all of my ideas. Like, once I wrote a story called “The Unlucky Four-Leaf Clover.” It was about three girls, and a girl named Maddie found a four-leaf clover. Her other friend said it would be good luck and then her other friend, Lily, said, “I don’t know guys, it has a rip in the leaf.” Then they said, “Sooo?” – and this is just the introduction. And then Lily said, “If a four-leaf clover has a rip in the leaf that means it’s unlucky.” But then Maddie just kept it anyway. Then one day, they went to McDonald’s and she asked for a Big Mac – so did everyone else. They all got Big Macs except Maddie; she got chicken nuggets and it’s her least favorite food at McDonald’s.

Was she carrying that unlucky clover?

Yeah. And then, eventually in the end of the story she tried to throw away the clover, but the next morning it was hanging above her on a piece of string like a spider. And that’s the end of the story.

Are there other unlucky things that happened to her in the story?

She fell on her bike and she was still carrying the four-leaf clover. I was trying to be very descriptive and said that the bruise looked a dinosaur had bit her on the knee.

There was this other story I made, and I forgot what it was called, but I eventually ended it because I didn’t know what else to do, so I just ended it like a cliffhanger.

Have you thought about a job you might like to have?

If I can’t decide between a teacher or an artist, I’d probably chose an art teacher since that’s a thing. I couldn’t figure out whether to be a teacher or an artist because I really want to be a math teacher.

You still can be.

I know, but I don’t want to keep up with two jobs.

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I do Irish step dancing. I think I started around 5, and my mom just asked me if I wanted to do it. I said, “OK, sure.” And now I’ve been doing it for 8 years.

Basically all my siblings used to do it but now it’s just down to my sister, my stepbrother and me. There are solos and ceili, which is group dancing. I probably enjoy the individual dancing more.

I just recently got to the top level which is open champion. It goes beginner, advanced beginner, novice, prize winner, preliminary champion and then open champion. You have to get first place twice in one level in order to move up to the next level.

Why do you like it?

It’s really fun. It’s something different and I also have a lot of friends doing it.

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I worked for Norfolk Public Schools for 10 years as a teacher assistant and then I graduated from college, TCC. I went for four years – from 1996 to 2000. I went part-time for four years and worked. When I graduated from TCC, then I applied for Virginia Beach schools. I have been working as an office secretary since. I just love working with the children and I have great co-workers. I just enjoy coming to work every day because we get along so well and each day you learn something.

What prompted you to want to go to college?

I just want to learn more. I wanted to have some type of degree behind me. It gave me more confidence and I just learned a lot. I was 36.

What would you say to other people who maybe are working and want to go to college?

It’s never too late to go back to school because you learn every day and years go by so fast. It’s never too late to go back to school.

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I’m really involved in this school. I like staying busy in school because I don’t like to just have nothing to do where I get to the point that I’m so bored that I fall asleep. I started my own club here. It’s the Minecraft club. We play the video game Minecraft but along with it we learn coding. We actually have grants from Microsoft where we have special licenses that have different technology in Minecraft that we use for programming and coding and art and design. So I love that, too. Robotics club – I do that, too. And the forensics team here, I do impromptu. I got second place in the city last year, and I’m doing that same category again this year.

Outside of school I take and teach skating lessons at Haygood Skating Center, and I play piano. I started roller skating seven years ago or when I was 7, I think. I used to take the same public lessons that I teach now. I used to take those at first and I got better. So I moved on to private one-on-one lessons with the teacher and then I help her to teach other students after I take my lessons.

Why do you like roller skating?

It keeps me active. I get to hang out with friends all the time because Haygood is so close in this area that everyone goes there. I go there every Saturday. I get there at 10:30 a.m. for my private lesson for 30 minutes and then public lessons for another 30 minutes, and then they open to the public at 12:00 p.m. and I usually stay there until 4 or 5 p.m.

What are your career aspirations?

Marine biology, graphic design, social media – stuff like that. I also volunteer at the Virginia Aquarium often, so doing that, I guess, got my attention as to how cool all the technology is and the science behind it, which is another one of my favorite subjects so that’s how it ties in. And graphic design…I run the school’s Instagram here. Doing that, I got better after a while at manipulating pictures and text.

I wonder if there is a way to combine them all.

I know. My dad was saying I could be the Virginia Aquarium social media/graphic designer.

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I like to play baseball. I remember sitting there eating that baseball gum just watching my brothers play. And whenever my brother would get a strike, I would yell, “STRIKE!” It was really fun. And every day after baseball, we would get to go to the park and have a lot of fun.

For me, I like baseball because I have more of an opportunity to make friends. Because when you’re sitting there waiting or practicing, it’s just real easy to make friends. You just laugh a lot and make friends.

What do you enjoy in school?

I’m in the Spanish Immersion Program. I like that it’s challenging and well, since I’ve been in Spanish for a while, it’s not hard anymore. I remember the first time I went to Spanish; I think it was first grade. She said that first complicated word in Spanish. I was like, What? She had to explain the words to me in little tiny vowels. It was weird.

And now?

And now I’m just flawless.

How would you finish this statement: If I could change the world, I would…?

If I could change the world, I would make an invention. I would make something that everyone would love, like REALLY the future. Like, hmm… I don’t really know. That’s hard.

Change the world… That is difficult though.

Oh! So, you’d go through a democracy and vote and stuff to make like a school that would – it doesn’t teach kids how to add and subtract and write. It will teach kids how to create things. Like, it will REALLY put them to the test to make random things. They’ll hand you something – like a box filled with random stuff like glue sticks, scissors, shoelaces, stuff like that. And they have to build something that will surprise them really badly. So, if you don’t get surprised, you have to keep practicing. But if you surprise them the first time, you get to move up a rank and just build cool things. And then eventually it will come out with a brand new invention. Someone really smart will come up with something really cool – and change the world!

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I play volleyball and I play for a club, Coastal. It’s really fun. I’ve been playing a year and a half. I play outside hitter. It’s a good environment for me because I get to meet new people and I get to learn new things.

Do you want to play volleyball when you get older?

Yes. I’m really looking for a scholarship someday.

What is the best thing about volleyball?

I get to be with my friends.

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I was in the first group of women in the Navy who went to a ship. There must have been about 100 of us who went to boot camp together, undesignated, and just went to the ship after.

After I got out I went into the reserves and ended up working at Little Creek at one of the maintenance activities and really got into computers there. They were typing everything up, all the rosters, and I told them – back then we had a word processor – “We can put it all in there and update and make changes to it then print it off.”  They were thankful for that suggestion!

But that’s how I found my way to computers.  Computers and walking are the two things I couldn’t do without.

I do a lot of walking. Ask anyone here and they know I walk. It’s my meditation. I walk before I come into work, then I take off at lunch and I walk, and I also dog walk.

I also really enjoy group fitness classes and am a frequent participate at the Parks and Rec centers. I usually do three or four classes a week. It’s a great way to meet new people.

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Outside of work I like to do a lot of fishing out in the woods where there are trails. I’m all about the outdoors. I spend a lot of time outside since I’m in the building six days a week.

What got you interested in fishing?

My dad. When I was a little kid, he would take me hunting in the woods or fishing. It just stuck with me.

It’s fun because you get a chance to get to out in the water and think. It relaxes you just to be out in the water. You spend a lot of time thinking – especially if you’re not catching fish. You have time to reflect on things and you get to see nature at its best.

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Well, do you want to know my interests first? Dinosaurs, fossils, stones, reading and geography.

Do you have any favorite dinosaurs?

Well, I do have a few. Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus and Triceratops.

And you mentioned stones. Do you have a favorite? Diamonds. That is my birthstone and I have a large one. And opal – it’s pretty brittle.

And I have fossils. One is a trilobite. And my trilobite fossil is brittle. I’d rather not touch that – just like my leaf fossil. I’d rather not touch that because I don’t want either one to break.

Is there anything else we should know about you?

Well, I do like attention. And I can identify stones and gems. That’s what I like to do. If you go into room 6 – my room – you might see a poster of me because I am the Star Student of the Week. Plus, I like to go on nature hikes with my dad.

What do you like best about first grade?

Miss Callis. She says I’m her snuggle bug. I like to snuggle with her.

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I’m interested in swimming, Odyssey of the Mind and sports. I’ve done sports for most of my life. I’ve done tennis, swimming, rugby – both tag and full contact – volleyball, softball, kickball. Swimming is probably my favorite.

Have you thought about what you might be interested in for a career?

Since preschool I’ve always wanted to be a marine biologist or an artist. My grandmother was always an artist and she always encouraged me to do stuff like that. Except she’s a realist and I’m a cartoonist. And I’m interested in marine biology because I’ve been interested in swimming since I was little. We’ve always had a pool in our backyard. I’ve known how to swim for a long time. I always swim. I never wanted to work in zoos because I don’t think zoos are right, and I don’t think aquariums are right because they contain animals in tiny spaces. So, I thought, let’s go study animals out in the wild.

Do you have a favorite sea animal?

Probably the deep sea fish, the ones that look like they come out of horror movies. I just like to look at them. I’ve always tried to protect people who didn’t get treated right and who didn’t look like everybody else. I’ll do the same for animals.

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I’m a mom all the way around. I’m a mom on the school bus to the 100-some students that I see every day. I’m a mom to my four beautiful kids at home. Just trying to tend to things every day – like music, graduation coming up, trying to get a little one started in school.

I drive a school bus because I love the kids. I started driving a bus because I can take my kids with me and work with other kids all at the same time. I didn’t have to get daycare, which was perfect. But I keep driving because I just love these kids. They’re my heart. They’re my soul. They just keep me going every day.

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I would want people to know that I love my mom and she’s my favorite thing. She helps me a lot. She helps me have success and with getting good grades and getting friends. She’s sweet and she’s kind and she’s great.

For Mother’s Day I am planning to take her out to eat, and me and dad are going shopping after school to get her some stuff.

How nice. What else do you want people to know about you?

My favorite color is purple and I love making new friends, so don’t be afraid to say, “Hi.” I like helping new students understand and have friends that can help them out a little bit. I just like being kind and to appreciate what I have. And I’m 6 years old – about to be 7 on October 21.

I want to be a technologist. One thing I really want to make is a mirror that always has a positive message on the side. And it has what the temperature is and it tells you how to dress today.

What would be some of the positive messages on the mirror?

You’re beautiful just the way you are. You don’t have to change a thing. People can change the way they think about you because everybody’s perfect.

It sounds like being a good friend is really important to you. How is someone a good friend to others?

You have to be kind and to help them out when they need help and when they don’t know what to do. Just be a kind person to them. I like being people’s friend and I know it hurts when people are lonely and they don’t have very many things or people to play with.

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I say the weather on the announcements. I like hot weather. I would like to be a weatherman.  I like being on the announcements.  When I am done, I say, “Back to you, ladies.”

What do you like about being at Woodstock?

I love everything about Woodstock.  I love my teachers.  All of my friends.  I am a responsible and respectful Woodchuck.  I show the Woodstock Way.

How do you show the Woodstock Way?

I listen.  I show the Woodstock Way by not shouting out.  I am kind.

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I wanted to wear this today because I’m going golfing this afternoon with my babysitter and my brother. I just got some new golf clubs. Before I only had three clubs – the 3, 6 and a putter. But now I have a driver, a hybrid – and actually, on spring break, I got a REALLY good hit with my hybrid. I was deep in the woods and I hit it all the way back on the other side of the fairway. So, I have a driver, hybrid, pitching wedge, 57 iron, 7, 6-iron putter – which is a putter that I really have wanted. That’s seven clubs which is how many clubs I have.

What else do you like to do?

I like being on stage. Basically what I like is performing and having most of the attention. I haven’t actually performed but I WILL be in a play soon. I had like going-away plays and songs that I sang in kindergarten, which was not at this school. It was a Beach Day School.

And at Christmas…so, I was with my cousins and both of us got, from my nana and my papa, last-minute presents. We got clues. All of my cousin’s clues were random clues, and it was a little miniature trampoline for her and her baby sister. I got history clues, and guess what I got? One, I got a sword from the Vietnam War which my papa fought in. And then my last present was Hamilton tickets. My mom, my dad, me and my brother went to see it in New York.

I LOVE history! It’s my favorite thing in the world. It is so unique, the things that they did back then and the amazing things they had that we don’t have now. They just have historical things that we don’t have as much now. We have newer things. It’s just amazing how they did without what we have.

Do you have a favorite time period?

Usually it’s 1776. It’s when Alexander Hamilton…it’s basically when he met all his friends and started the Revolutionary War. It just was an amazing year. It was a good year for him.

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My passion is Challenger Little League. Challenger is the division of Little League for individuals 4 years of age through adulthood who have physical or intellectual challenges that would keep them from playing on a regular baseball team.

My son is 31 and I’ve been involved with it in one way or another since he started playing. He has Down syndrome. I have three children. Two of them have Down syndrome.

Why does it make you happy to be part of Challenge Little League?

Well, the biggest thing that I do for Challenger is that I’m the co-director of the Jake Hardison Memorial Challenger Jamboree, which takes place this weekend. It’s always Mother’s Day weekend and this is the 27^th year that the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area has put on that event. Jake Hardison is one of the people that I admire the most because he started this event. He did it because he ran Little League in the Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, the Eastern Shore) and when he was sitting at All-Star tournaments, he saw the special needs kids on the outside looking in at their siblings and decided that they needed a tournament. He started the Challenger Fun Weekend and it’s changed names over the years. When he passed away we changed it to honor him, and for the last four or five years I’ve been co-director of that event. As long as it keeps going then it’s there for the kids to participate in and that’s what makes me feel good – that these kids and adults, who don’t always have the access that everybody else has, through the Challenger program get to play ball like everyone else.

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