Bellaire High School Today · 2013-12-20 · o Count of Monte Cristo Post Mortum Project - Club Profiles o Bellaire Chinese Club Hosts Carwash Fundraiser o Senior FFA Member Championed

BHS Today Volume 8 Issue 3 December 2013 Page 1

Bellaire High School Today

Volume 8 Issue 3 December 20, 2013

Stories in this Issue

- News and General Interest

o Drama Department Presents “Big Love” Fall Performance Cheer Clinic

o Varsity Cheerleaders Host Annual Cheer Clinics

o eMOTION Modern Dance Company Wins Nine Trophies at the Tremaine Dance

Competition

o Woman‟s Soccer Hosts Fourteen for Teens

o State Representative Speaks to Young Democrats

o Stewart Cadillac Downtown Dealership Holds Toy Drive

o National Merit Commended Students are Also Recognized for National PSAT

Score Rankings

o Annual Project Santa Donates to Children Around the Houston Area

o HISD Holds Asian American College and Career Day

o Annual No Shave November Trend Continues

o Orchestra Student Wins YoungArts Competition

o Count of Monte Cristo Post Mortum Project

- Club Profiles

o Bellaire Chinese Club Hosts Carwash Fundraiser

o Senior FFA Member Championed at Harris County Fair

o UNICEF Club Raises Thousands for Charity

o Belles Host Monthly Breakfast for Teachers and Staff

- Student and Teacher Profiles

o Science Teacher Wins Award for Excellence Teaching

o Assistant Librarian Wins HISD Employee of the Month


The “Big Love” Fall Performance depicts a classic American comedy while still

portraying issues of gender politics, love, and domestic violence.

Photo by Alex Luckey

NEWS AND GENERAL INTEREST

Drama Department Presents “Big Love” Fall Performance

By Chris Latin

After a month of

rehearsals, the

drama

department

presented “Big

Love” for the fall

performance.

“Big Love” is a

comedy by

American

playwright

Charles L. Mee.

Based on

“Aeschylus‟s

The Suppliants,”

it was about fifty

brides who flee

to a manor in

Italy to avoid

marrying their

fifty cousins.

The play took

the plot of the

original Greek play into modern times including such details as when the grooms ambushed the

brides by helicopter. While the brides and grooms waited for their wedding day, the characters

raise issues of gender politics, love, and domestic violence. Senior Tavish Bakos played the role

of Constantine, one of the grooms. Bakos said the most exciting part of the play was the big

murder scene in the end. He described it as being very eventful and fun to do. The play was

shown Nov. 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Varsity Cheerleaders Cost Annual Cheer Clinics

By Maddie Callen

On Dec. 15 the varsity cheerleaders hosted their annual cheer clinic open to girls ages five to 12.

Attendees learned cheers and a dance, took home a picture with the Cardinal mascot and

performed at the end of the clinic.


Varsity cheerleaders teach girls ages five to 12 at the annual cheer clinic.

Courtesy of Clara Van Landingham

Senior varsity

cheer captain

Anja Parikh

attended the

clinic when she

was younger

and was excited

to teach at the

clinic at for her

third

consecutive

year.

“It made me

want to become

a cheerleader,”

Parikh said.

“The kids are

really cute and

excited to learn.

It‟s fun because I know they look up to us the way I looked up to the cheerleaders.”

eMOTION Modern Dance Company Wins Nine Trophies at the Tremaine Dance

Competition

By Sophie Daily

On Nov. 3, eMOTION modern dance company won nine trophies at Tremaine Dance

Competition. eMOTION sponsor and dance teacher Sanja Korman attributed the success towards

eMOTION president senior Jennifer Li‟s and vice president senior Mayline Zhong‟s hard work

and determination in practice before the competition.

“The dancers practiced during class and after school to prepare for Tremain,” Korman said.

“Jennifer and Mayline divided the dancers into two groups and worked to clean the dances so

they would be ready for the competition.”

Li and Zhong performed solos along with officers senior Noga Kamenetsky and junior Vicky

Weng. Li and Weng performed contemporary solos. Zhong performed a solo in the other and

ethnic category. Kamenetsky performed a jazz solo. All of the soloists won first place in their

respective categories and were remembered for their routines.

“My soloists were really amazing,” Korman said. “The audience remembered them for having

long, extended legs and pointed toes. The judges even remembered them. All of the soloists won

first place, but Vicky beat Jennifer for the first time. Vicky got first place and Jennifer got

second. Both routines were very good.”


eMOTION modern dance wins a total of nine trophies at the Tremaine dance

competition.

Courtesy of eMOTION Dance Company

In addition to the solos, eMOTION performed four group dances. Zhong choreographed the

group lyrical dance for the spring 2013 show. Korman felt the dance was strong enough to take

to competition.

“The dance was from the presentation of statues in „Night at the Museum‟,” Korman said. “The

dance was lyrical, and the choreography was very well done. I‟m happy we took it to

competition.”

Guest

choreographers

choreographed

other group

dances. Guest

choreographer

Kelly Ann

Vitacca

choreographed

“The River”.

“The River”

was the highest

scored dance in

the entire

competition. It

was ranked the

best dance in

the whole

competition.

“The girls had

the opportunity

to perform

their dance to

professionals the next day,” Korman said. “It was a big honor, and the dance was very well

received by the professionals. I got calls from many people congratulating me and the dancers.

Winning all of the awards and performing for the professionals was the highlight of the

weekend.”

Korman looks forward to the eMOTION winter show on Friday, Dec. 13. She was very proud of

the modern eMOTION dancers and admires their hard work and determination.

“Tremaine is known for upscale jazzy and contemporary style,” Korman said. “It‟s very hard to

compete there because many elite and private studios compete there. I‟m very proud of the girls

and their hard work.”


Hundreds participate in the 14k fundraiser run.

Courtesy of Bellaire Women‟s Soccer

Woman’s Soccer Hosts Fourteen for Teens

By Leslie Cundiff

Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 a.m., Women‟s Soccer hosted their third annual Fourteenforteens race at

TC Jester Park. Since the first race in 2011, Women‟s Soccer has appealed to a large variety of

runners with options from a 14k (8.7 miles) to a 5k (3.1 miles) to devote a Saturday morning of

running to raise money for organizations including Corridor Rescue, Palmer Drug Abuse, Briggs

and Veselka, Tri on the Run, the Healthy Weigh, and Empower Endurance. Ababu Mohamed

was the overall winner of the 14k with a course record time of 51 minutes. The Women‟s Soccer

top three finishers in placing order were junior Mackenzie Ward, sophomore Elisa Arango and

junior Sarabeth Sandweiss.

Ward, the Women‟s

Soccer 14k top

finisher, commented

on her preparation for

the race and her

reaction to her victory.

“To prepare for the

14k, I knew I would

have to start training a

few weeks before the

race,” Ward said. “To

prepare, I got advice

from Coach

Thompson. He created

a schedule for running

for all the players who

wanted to run the full

14k in addition to the

running we did in our

pre-season soccer

practices. About four

or five days of the preceding weeks, we were to run anywhere from two to six miles. The other

two or three days we were to run for at least 30 minutes to keep up fitness but not get too sore.

Mentally, I had to start preparing a week or two before the race, as well as eating with getting the

best race results in mind.”

With 2013 statistics of almost 200 runners and over 50 volunteers and the number of participants

growing each year, Women‟s Soccer has started a fundraiser that it hopes will be able to

continue to grow in helping out the organizations it annually donates to. Taking their motto of

“Hard Work. Team First.” out into the community is something that Women‟s Soccer has done

to give back to others in and around the community.


Representative Gene Wu talks to the Young Democrats.

Courtesy of Bellaire Young Democrats

State Representative Speaks to Young Democrats

By Nicolas Aldape

On Thursday, Oct. 31, State Representative Gene Wu of District 137 came to speak to the Young

Democrats. He spoke about his life background and his entry into politics as a freshman

representative in Austin. Senior Jillian Greene, a vice president of Young Democrats (YD),

found many parts of Representative Wu‟s speech interesting.

“He [Representative Wu] has one of the great stories of being in a family that migrated to

America from China, started with a pretty low income, and luckily managed to gain more

success,” Greene said.

Wu‟s story was an

epitome of the

“American dream” of

starting out poor and

reaching the middle

class. Representative

Wu said that living in

poverty helped

influence his views, and

believed standing for

education is one of the

best ways for children

to succeed. In the state

house, Representative

Wu opposed a budget

cutting $5.4 billion

from public education

and worked to return

some of the cut funding

back.

As a high school student, Greene was struck by his story.

“I really liked when he was talking about education, primarily the issues with education, because

to me that's the biggest problem in Texas and the US,” Greene said. “He said the poor education

system is causing the huge income inequality and told us his ideal fix.”

In addition to his work in the state house, Representative Wu also offered advice to the Young

Democrats on how to better serve and be successful. Greene took some of Rep. Wu‟s advice to

aid the club she helps run.

“Even at 17, I can register people to vote and try and organize times for them to vote,” Greene

said. “I feel like that changes what I want to see from YD clubs everywhere, and thats how it

influenced what my goal is as a YD member.”


Many attend the toy drive held at Stewart Cadillac‟s downtown dealership.

Courtesy of Howard Houston

Stewart Cadillac Downtown Dealership Holds Toy Drive

By Vikram Seth

Wednesday, Dec. 4,

the Leading Ladies of

Houston, along with

members of Bellaire

Men‟s Youth Council

attended a toy drive

held at Stewart

Cadillac‟s dealership

downtown. The gala

was formal, and guests

were asked to bring

toys as gifts to be

donated to

underprivileged

children in the Houston

area.

Mackenzie Ward,

Chairwoman of

Houston‟s Leading

Ladies chapter, attended the gala and helped organize the event. She coordinated different

aspects of the gala, and help set up at the location, which was the dealership of Stewart Cadillac.

“It was really nice to see so many people coming together to help make the holidays pleasant for

so many underprivileged kids,” Ward said. “Stewart Cadillac donated $1000 to the event and

hosted it too, which was really generous of them. This gala was the first event of a series for the

toy drive. In a few days Leading Ladies will have the other event where we wrap all the toys that

were donated the other night.”

Ward went on further to describe what Leading Ladies does and the general atmosphere of the

gala. She is in her second year of Leading Ladies, and enjoys being so active in a group whose

primary goal is to volunteer and make the community a better place.

“Leading Ladies of Houston, which is a group of hand selected girls mainly from Bellaire,

Lamar, Episcopal, and Memorial, came and helped host the event,” Ward said. “Even some

members of the Bellaire Men‟s Youth Council attended. People were eating different snacks and

talking, and everyone seemed to be happy and having a good time.”

The gala was successful in gathering many toys and gifts for the underprivileged children in

Houston. The next event will be the second part of the toy drive where volunteers from the

Houston Leading Ladies chapter will wrap the gifts that were donated at the event.


National Merit Commended Students Are Also Recognized for National PSAT Score

Rankings

By Tonya Chen

This year, Bellaire High School recognized 37 National Merit Commended students in addition

to the 25 National Merit Semifinalists who have scored highly on the PSAT/NMSQT test.

Osama Arif, Adelle Berkowitz, Cari Bonilla, Claire Burrus, Raveena Chhibber, Dallas Yu,

Melvin Du, Tamarah Farchy, Madeline Folkerts, Lauren Friederman, Ron Gadot, Danilel Guo,

Hailey Haut, Crystal Huang, Terry Huang, Max Lau, Lee Lorenz, Aaron Neskar, Anna Ngo,

Catherine Oh, Molly Oretsky, Rebecca Orsak, Pooja Prasad, Victoria Prince, Karlo Remigio,

Henry Seward, Elaine Shen, Madison Silver, Geroge Walters, Tiffany Wang, Jason Weilee,

Ryan Yang, Manlin Yao, Vivian Young, Max Zhang, Qiaochu Zhang.

This September, approximately 34,000 seniors in the nation were announced as National Merit

Commended students. These students placed in the top five percent on a Selection Index among

the 1.5 million entrants who took the qualifying PSAT/NMSQT test during their junior year.

Unlike the scoring method for semifinalists, which varies for each state, this is only one

commended score cutoff for the entire country.

Although commended students will not continue in the 2014 competition for National Merit

Scholarship awards, they will receive Letters of Commendation and have the chance to become

candidates for Special Scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.

Photo by Debra Campbell


Dozens of clubs attend Project Santa

to help provide gifts for those in need.

Photo by Hannah Tang

Annual Project Santa Donates to Children Around the Houston Area

By Jason Weilee

As the holiday season approaches, clubs are starting to

prepare for the annual Project Santa event. This year,

Student Council will be leading the school-wide project‟s

efforts. Senior and student body secretary Hailey Haut

explains the reason behind the newly taken initiative.

“We wanted to help the community,” Haut said. “We felt

that as student council we should be in charge of larger

events like Project Santa that involve the whole school.”

To encourage more participation, Student Council has put

together a new system of organizing and promoting the

event through the help of club presidents.

“We strongly urge the presidents to attend [Student

Council‟s] President‟s Council meetings,” Haut said. “The

presidents will then relay the message to their club

members, and [Project Santa] will have more volunteers.”

Currently, clubs have signed up to adopt (provide gifts) for

a total of 155 children. This is a significant increase from

the 103 children Project Santa provided with gifts last year.

“Because we have more clubs involved, we can have more

children get adopted this year,” Haut said.

The Project Santa main event was held on Dec. 7 in the multipurpose room. Clubs decorated the

room and set up party games and activities to spread the holiday cheer.

Photo 1: Student Council project planners

Photo 2: Junior Kurt Warren and sophomore Jennifer Wang assist with crafts.

Photos courtesy of Debra Campbell


HISD Holds Asian American College and Career Day

By Sabika Rehman

On Nov. 16, Asian Advisor Committee of Houston Independent School District organized a

college fair for Asian Americans. Many Colleges across the Texas and outside the state were

crowded with their personal tables to attract students to attend their universities. Asians from all

over Houston, from middle school to high school, came to explore the different fields of studies.

Patrick Leung, director of the Office for International Social Work Education of the University

of Houston, discussed the field of sociology and his job in teaching industry.

“This career tour is held annually in different schools of HISD to help Asian Americans with

issues regarding college. I am a mentor in social work for Chavez High School and my job is to

help immigrant students with English writing and communication”, Leung said. “Social work

requires license and involves many educational fields including medicine and lobbying. Students

come to us with concerns about social issues and how to find a part time job.”

Junior Amy Nguyen considered the career day helpful in deciding the type of college she wants

to attend.

“I heard about the college fair on the Asian radio station and I am impressed with the

organization of the event. I am planning to attain a degree in nursing or pharmacy and it is

helping a lot. “They are very helpful in guidance with college essays for applying to college next

year”, Nguyen said

Annual No Shave November Trend Continues

By Jose Muniz

For the of the month of November, people all over the globe participate in No Shave November,

a month in which participants refrain from shaving in order to raise awareness for prostate

cancer.

Sophomore Samhith Punukula took part in the cause this November and describes the reactions

of the people around him when they saw what he was taking part in.

“I got a lot of mixed responses when I participated in No Shave November,” Punukula said.

“Lots of people didn‟t like it, while other people loved it. There were lots of mixed emotions

with the cause. It all depends on your position, but when people realize what the underlying goal

of the movement is, they tend to think better of it.”


Sophomore Samhisth Punukula participates in

No Shave November along with dozens of other

throughout the school.

Courtesy of Samhisth Punukula

While the main purpose of the movement was

to raise awareness and embrace the hair that

lots of cancer patients lose, students like

Punukula took part in the movement just for

fun.

“I did No Shave November this year just for

fun,” Punukula said. “I can grow a beard in

about three days so I just thought, „Hey, let‟s

grow it out for a month.‟ People do it mostly

to support prostate cancer in men and raise

awareness, but I did it this year completely for

fun. With adults, I think that No Shave

November would be a bigger cause than with

students.”

Having raised over 174$ million dollars for

prostate cancer and being one of the top 100

non-profit organizations in the world, No

Shave November has grown as one of the

most popular and influential movements in the

world.

“No Shave November is a great way to

increase knowledge about prevention and an

increase in awareness for a lesser-known form

of cancer,” Punukula said. “The movement is

very unique and if people don‟t want to do it

to support prostate cancer, they can still do it

for fun.”

Orchestra Student Wins YoungArts Competition

By Christopher Latin

There were about 11,000 applications for this year‟s YoungArts competition and Esther Liao was

one of 700 winners in the contest. The competition itself possesses visual, literary, and

performing arts. The YoungArts competition is judged by renowned judges, teachers, and artists.

The National YoungArts Foundation was once deemed the National Foundation for

Advancement in the arts and congratulates high school and college students on their artistic

abilities. This program is considered by many to be the most prestigious competition for a young

artist to win. Liao was modest while discussing her win in the YoungArts competition and spoke

nonchalantly about it.


Junior Esther Liao wins the YoungArts Competition for her renown skills on

the piano.

Photo by Alex Luckey

“The competition

was fun but I was

nervous, Liao said.”

“I did not know

whether or not I was

going to win

anything even

though I knew that

there was going to

be more than one

winner. During my

performances, and

there were a lot of

them, I was really

scared but I was

proud of how well I

did even under the

pressure. I loved the

experience and was

ecstatic when I

realized I had won.

Results came in

November telling

Esther that she won. The artists, poets, and musicians who came to the competition hoping to

win were all judged and exposed to the type of people they want to be like. Esther Liao claims it

was a great experience for her and others.

Count of Monte Cristo Post Mortum Project

On Nov. 8, these photos were taken of students working during lunchtime in the third floor

hallway on their Count of Monte Cristo Post Mortum project for English Teacher Elizabeth

Chapman‟s class.


Members of the BCC come help volunteer at the club‟s fundraising

event..

Courtesy of Kevin Xie

CLUB PROFILES

Bellaire Chinese Club Hosts Carwash Fundraiser

By Jennifer Wang

On Saturday, Nov. 17, 2013, Bellaire Chinese Club (BCC) hosted a car wash at Firehouse Subs

located near the intersection of Stella Link and Bellaire Blvd. Members volunteered for the event

in order to help raise money for the club. The funds earned at the car wash are intended for the

use of paying for the club t-shirts.

BCC is a club that

promotes Chinese

culture. It has been

extremely popular not

only among Chinese

students but also among

other students. The club,

unlike any other club,

covers two yearbook

double-spread pages in

order for all of the

members to be shown

because of its 100+

members. Junior Kevin

Xie, treasurer and

historian of BCC, shares

his opinion of the club

and what appealed him

to it.

“It‟s a club where I can

not only share but also

embrace my Chinese

culture,” Xie said. “I like

it because it‟s fun to be

around fellow Asians and

non-Asians”

Although the car wash

took place on a hot day

under the scorching sun,

members still eagerly participated in the club‟s fundraising event. Xie volunteered and describes

his overall experience during the day


“Overall, it was exhausting, as we often had more cars lined up waiting than we could wash but

it was fun.” Xie said. “My favorite part was washing the cars with friends, as we often either

talked about how dirty the car was, or jokingly yelled at each other about how bad they washed

cars.”

After a day‟s hard work of continuously washing cars, the club made a profit of $241. The event

was considered to be a success among many members of the club.


Senior Shelby Armstrong wins Grand Champion and Reserve

Champion for the steer she raised at the Harris County Fair.

Courtesy of Bellaire FFA

Senior FFA Member Championed at Harris County Fair

By Claire Weddle

On Oct. 10 senior

member of FFA

Shelby Armstrong won

Grand Champion and

Reserve Champion for

her two steers at the

Harris County Fair.

She placed first overall

and second overall

with these awards.

Armstrong worked

hard to take care of her

steers and to be able to

win this competition.

“I had to feed and clean

my steers every day to

make sure they stayed

healthy. It‟s important

that they are in great

condition so you can place well at the competitions,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong‟s friend, junior member of FFA Caitlyn Wagner discussed all of the work that went

into caring for their animals at the FFA Barn.

“Every morning I wake up at 4:45 a.m. to feed my goat, and I work with my goat every day for

at least two hours after school. All of the other members of FFA put in just as much or more

work as me to take care of their animals,” Wagner said.

Armstrong has won several other awards because of the hard work she has put into caring for her

heifers and steers. She likes to participate in FFA because she‟s around all of her friends and

works with animals which she is passionate about.

“I‟ve made all my friends in FFA because we all love to do the same thing, take care of and raise

animals. I decided to do FFA because it‟s something I really enjoy doing,” Armstrong said.

Wagner points out that even though it is a lot of work, she enjoys every minute of it.

“FFA really helps with determination, responsibility, leadership, and patience. It is a lot of work,

but I don‟t even notice because it‟s so fun. I don‟t feel like I‟m actually working,” Wagner said.


UNICEF Club Raises Thousands for Charity

By Allie Lefkowitz

Students parade screaming through the halls. Trumpets blare, peers scramble frantically to get

out of the procession‟s way, and paper signs flutter festively from the tips of booming musical

instruments. On Wednesday, November 20, the United Nations

and Children‟s‟ Fund (UNICEF) Club raised awareness for the

ongoing „Kids Helping Kids‟ Fundraiser.

The fundraiser, which was introduced and spearheaded by

UNICEF President Junior Marina Finley, took place over a range

of approximately 4 weeks and raised a grand total of $4,716.

Originating as Linear Middle School‟s “Trick-or-Treat for

UNICEF” fundraiser, Bellaire‟s second annual drive evolved with

Finley to become the highly successful one that can be found

today.

“I originally came up with the idea when I was in seventh grade and my mom said that I was too

old to go trick-or-treating for UNICEF,” Finley said. “Because I couldn‟t take the UNICEF box

out to houses, I brought it to my homeroom teacher and asked her if we could put donations in

the box. It was so successful in my homeroom and we raised so much money that we expanded it

to the whole school. I did it again in eighth grade and we made it a school-wide thing, and then I

brought it to Bellaire and it has been really successful and a lot of fun.”

The drive itself is relatively simple, involving boxes, the English Department, and a number of

smaller fundraisers along the, such as Tribal Tuesdays, where Henna Tattoos were offered in the

Courtyard. Linda Pham explains the process.

“Basically every English teacher in the entire school, from regular to AP to ESL, would have a

little „Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF‟ box,” Pham said. “Kids would donate pennies to bills; and

then the class with the most would receive a pizza party, and the second class would receive a

cookie party.”

The total was tallied by teacher and English teacher Jeffrey Waller‟s class raised the most

money, with a winning total of $1,252. English teacher Elizabeth Chapman‟s classes came in

second, acquiring $737. This fundraiser was possible by the help of many different people.

“It basically just took a lot of really enthusiastic members and happy teachers,” Pham said.

“Everyone had to make their teacher really want to give incentives, like extra credit and food, to

give the students that extra push to donate. And we worked with other clubs like Key Club,

which was a really big help to us.”

Finley agrees, although she feels that there is one more person who has gone above and beyond

in helping this drive flourish.


“Our amazing Principal Mr. McDonough was definitely a great advocate of the fundraiser,”

Finley said. “He supported it from day one, and he‟s always been very generous with his time

and his talent to make the campaign a real success.”

This was the second of many UNICEF Drives, and other than some minor changes in

organization and membership numbers, the club expects its process to stay the same.

Nevertheless, it still strongly stressed student participation.

“We do the UNICEF Drive because it‟s a really great opportunity for kids to make a difference,”

Finley said. “These kids have talent and drive and enthusiasm and passion, and participating in

or donating to the UNICEF fundraiser is a really great way for kids to make a meaningful

difference and help the lives of kids all over the world. It‟s a great thing to be able to give kids

that opportunity and to see them really make it their own; have competitions within their classes

and donate and bring bags and bags of change and to comprehend that when they donate this

dollar, it changes from something that can buy them one coke to something that can buy

vaccinations that saves lives, and that‟s a really amazing thing.”

Belles Host Monthly Breakfast for Teachers and Staff

On Dec. 6, the Bellaire Belles hosted the monthly breakfast for all teachers and staff to enjoy.

Good job ladies!


AP Biology teacher Anna Loonam wins a

cash prize that will be toward technology for

her students.

Photo by Joe Mabry

TEACHER AND FACULTY PROFILES

Science Teacher Wins Award for Excellence in Teaching

By Krishna Sigireddi

On Nov. 5, AP Biology teacher Anna

Loonam was recognized for receiving

the 2nd

place Texas Medical

Association Ernest and Sarah Butler

Award for Excellence in Science

Teaching. Requirements for the award

included a Texas state-certificate for

full-time public and private school

science teachers with at least two

years of classroom experience.

Teachers must be returning to teach in

a Texas classroom during the 2014-

2015 school year.

As a second place nominee, Loonam

received a cash reward. Loonam

intends on putting the money towards

technology for her AP Biology

students. She hopes to purchase new

technology for lab equipment. The award

was a big honor out of the whole state of

Texas. Loonam has been a teacher for thirty

three years. Five of the thirty three years

Loonam spent as a Physical Education

teacher.

“It was a great honor receiving the award since it was out of all the science teachers nominated

for the award in the whole state of Texas.”

Loonam was presented the award on Dec. 11. She welcomed her students to join her in the

presentation of the award. A small celebration was held after with her students.

Assistant Librarian Wins HISD Employee of the Month

By Sachi Kamble


Assistant Librarian Martha Moreira is named

HISD employee of the month.

Courtesy of Debra Campbell

The following interview is in celebration of

Martha Moreira being named HISD Employee of

the Month for December.

Q: In your interview on the HISD website, you

said that your son César and the principal at the

time actually motivated you to accept the job as

library assistant. How did they do so?

A: Well, at that time I was working in the

cafeteria, and the principal at the time asked me

„Mrs. Moreira, would you like to work in another

department.‟ I wasn‟t so sure if I should take the

job, but my son told me to take it. I still had doubts

and didn‟t want to feel bad if I couldn‟t do the job,

but he said that he was going to help me since he

was going to come to Bellaire for his first year.

And from then to now, it‟s been years.

Q: What made you doubt that you could take on

this job?

A: Well, I was not sure if I was going to do a good

job in the library, and I afraid of not doing well,

because I like to make everything perfect.

Q: Is it hard to keep track of all the work that

needs to be done?

A: Not really. We have a lot of people coming in

and helping us: office workers and moms. I think

we control everything really well with all the outside help.

Q: How do you promote literacy in Bellaire?

A: We always tell kids that reading is important to increase knowledge and become more

knowledgeable. We have so many books in this library, from science to religion to biographies.

You know what they say, „if you read you will open your mind.‟

Q: I heard that you actually fled from El Salvador because of a civil war at that time. Could you

tell us more about what was going on?

A: At that time, it was a really dangerous place to be, especially if you were a teenager. The

army or guerilla could take you, and force you to fight. You don‟t have a choice.

Q: Even girls?


A: Oh yes, especially girls. They would make girls work in both armies. They just grab you and

take you away. It was really scary. The rebellions came shooting one night when I had my little

child and the army was occupying that place. The guerilla possessed my house. I think they are

called the Sandinistas in English. They are supposed to fight for people‟s rights. They wanted to

take over the government, have their own rules, eliminate the rich people and give everything to

the poor. They used to brainwash people.

Q: Who are your favorite authors?

A: I like Isabel Allende. We have a book here called, The Daughter of Fortune. I like the way she

writes, and another one I like is Gabriel García Márquez. I think I tend to like Hispanic authors,

because Spanish is my native language.

Q: I heard that you help your son teach ESL classes. In your opinion, why are ESL classes so

important?

A: I think ESL classes for parents allows them to be more involved with their kid‟s school, and I

think it‟s very important. If they learn English, they can motivate their kids more. We even

taught them how to open Gradespeed, and they didn‟t even know that they could check their

kids‟ absence and grades. I actually didn‟t know English when I came to America, and I ended

up learning through night-time classes. I needed to learn English to get a job. I had to send

money to my younger siblings in El Salvador.

Q: Do you have any dreams and goals that you really want to accomplish?

A: I wish one day that I can have my own business so I can help kids. There are a lot of parents

who aren‟t in the house and leave kids by themselves. I want to have a place for kids who don‟t

have parents at home after school. I want my kids to be successful. Two are done with college,

and the other two are still in college.

Bellaire High School Today · 2013-12-20 · o Count of Monte Cristo Post Mortum Project - Club Profiles o Bellaire Chinese Club Hosts Carwash Fundraiser o Senior FFA Member Championed

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