Students of the Month: May 2017

Eduard Alvarado

At the beginning of this school year, Eduard was the student who never missed a day of school…but somehow he would have six missing assignments, so I had to call him in for Intervention quite a bit. He was one of the first students whose names I learned because from the beginning he had a sense of humor I could appreciate: it included a merciless desire to drive me crazy with odd questions at random times. In other words, at the beginning of the year, I remember lots of conversations with Eduard, but he struggled academically. Well, I realized the other day that I wasn’t having as many of those odd conversations, and I also realized I hadn’t called him in for Intervention in a long time because his grade has never dropped below a C since the beginning of January. He studies for quizzes and turns in all his assignments on time. This shows that Eduard has matured a lot this year. Where I once worried that he might not be able to handle high school, I now know he will do just fine because of this newfound maturity. His sense of humor is unchanged, but now he manages to get his work done, too. I’ve noticed. And I appreciate it. Thank you, Eduard!

Mariela Cobos

Mariela has always been a hard worker, and good grades are important to her (and her family). I learned this one day when I wanted her to come in for Intervention to work on a class project, so I assigned her an “I”. When a teacher does that, it makes the student’s online grade drop until the “I” is removed, but I knew that I would be removing it the following morning, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I was wrong. Mariela stopped by my room at lunchtime (as she and her friends often have this year), and I jokingly said something like, “Ooh, you better check your grade!” because I knew that I had just put that “I” in the computer. I was  teasing, of course, (as I often do), but to Mariela, it was no joke. I wish I could imitate her response when she saw her grade, but I don’t think I can generate a shriek that high-pitched! And it merited an immediate call home to explain the situation to Aunt Liz. I felt kinda bad afterwards, but it makes a good story now. And I wanted to make sure Mariela knew how much I appreciated her good work all year. Thank you, Mariela!