Originally published on November 13, 2015
Spiritual reader shares love for dance
Judith Brooks, PE and College & Career
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
I like reading, writing, and walking. I’m a spiritual person. A lot of times, the books I read are connected to theology or teaching. The novels I like to read are most of the time family-based where someone has done research on their family background and the stories relate to their family. I’m currently just starting one called The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis.
When I kept moving in dance, I felt better emotionally.
What were your favorite subjects in school?
In high school I really liked biology, physiology, and dance. I went into college as a pre-med major, and still liked physiology and biology, but when I started taking chemistry and all those science courses at Cal, I didn’t like it anymore. I’ve always danced, so I switched over to dance; dance ended up being one of my favorites in graduate school. When I kept moving in dance, I felt better emotionally. My mind felt better and clearer. I like to move and express myself through movement.
What’s one thing you would change about your high school experience if you could redo it?
I think some of the false friends that I had. I think I learned later in life that a lot of people aren’t really your friends; they cause a lot of betrayal and heartache, so that’s a lot of what I would’ve changed.
If you could teach another subject for a day, what would it be?
Probably English. English was probably my best academic subject besides P.E. I do a lot of writing in my graduate program, and I like to write. If I had a credential in English, I would like to be working with drama. If I taught English it would probably be more of a creative writing class.
– By Jennifer Zhang
Spanish teacher brings love of nature and reading
Maria Martinez, Spanish, Leadership and Student Activities Director
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
I like camping, hiking and just nature in general. I’ve always liked nature. I went camping with my friends when I was younger, without a tent, just sleeping under the stars. Now I have two adult daughters. I was their Girl Scouts leader for 10 years. I have many stories of girls waking up and crying because raccoons were next to us and of course the girls had food and candy wrappers in their pockets so the raccoons would come. I would have been scared of all of that if I was by myself, but I had to be brave. I also like reading. I read everything! I used to read novels only, but now I read novels and informational text. I really enjoy French authors and I also read a lot of things related to education. I like music, I like dancing, and I’m also interested in food. I like cooking, but I’m mainly interested in growing food and different food movements. I enjoy being with my family and my friends like everybody else, as well.
I’ve always liked nature. I went camping with my friends when I was younger, without a tent, just sleeping under the stars.
What were your favorite subjects in school?
I always liked languages, so it’s no wonder I ended up learning different languages when I was in school. French and English were the main ones. So languages and literature were my favorite subjects and those were the ones I became a teacher in.
What’s one thing you would change about your high school experience if you could redo it?
If I could redo it, I would have joined more clubs and more sports. I was a very responsible student and I really didn’t take advantage of joining more clubs and now I regret it. I only did volleyball and basketball, and at the time they didn’t have much soccer for girls and I went to an all-girls high school. I would have done sports that are different like fencing. I would have joined clubs that were more music-related.
If you could teach another subject for a day, what would it be?
I wouldn’t teach math. I would be so scared. I would teach ethnic studies with the focus of social justice.
– By Josephine Dang
Golf and traveling enthusiast finally joins ROTC
Damon McKenzie, JROTC instructor
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
What stood out to me about Peru was the difference between the wealthy and the poor, because there is no middle class. I was there playing a golf tournament, and the difference is night and day.
Golf. I also just like traveling in general. I just retired from being in the army for 23 and a half years. A place that stood out to me while travelling was Peru; I saw Machu Picchu and it was beautiful. What stood out to me about Peru was the difference between the wealthy and the poor, because there is no middle class. I was there playing a golf tournament, and the difference is night and day. You’re either super wealthy or you’re super poor.
I’ve also been to Paris and Istanbul in Turkey. A cool thing that stood out is that the rich people there take helicopters and land on buildings. I’m not talking super rich, I’m just saying above middle class because it can literally take two hours to go a mile in traffic.
I’ve been playing golf for 25 years, I eventually played on the army golf team for a couple years. I’ve played in tournaments all over the world: France, Germany, Japan, Peru, a lot of golf tournaments and events, even celebrity events with people like Derrick Brooks.
I had a lot of positions in the army but I mostly had a personnel background in administration. Through the years, I actually finished runner up for instructor of the year in 2009. I taught for three year and had a 99.8 graduation rate. I taught a human resources course for about eight weeks, and my for last position I was an executive assistant for the commanding general in Germany.
What were your favorite subjects in school?
This isn’t a cheap plug, but I would join JROTC if I could because I wasn’t in JROTC.
I enjoyed math and chemistry. It was challenging; I like challenges. Everything else was very easy: English, world history… I’m an old man now. World history is very interesting to me now, after having the opportunity to travel so much. It makes you wish everybody got that opportunity to travel.
What’s one thing you would change about your high school experience if you could redo it?
This isn’t a cheap plug, but I would join JROTC if I could because I wasn’t in JROTC. I was a basketball player, and knowing what I know now, JROTC would have been a great opportunity to develop. I didn’t really have difficulty developing. I was confident, did well in school, was an athlete. But there was a lot of the community service aspect of it and time management. If I could go back, I would definitely get involved in the JROTC program.
If you could teach another subject for a day, what would it be?
I think I would teach Statistics. I enjoy challenges.
– By Jennifer Zhang
Longtime yogi appreciates art, history and art history
Kristen Mitchell, English teacher
What are some of your hobbies/interests?
I’m a Bikram Yoga teacher, and I have been practicing yoga regularly for the last fourteen years. When I moved here in 2001 from the east coast, there was a studio half a block from my house, and then, on my birthday in 2002, I thought, ‘I’m gonna try this studio.’ As soon as I was finished with the ninety-minute class I felt amazing, like a whole different person, almost as if my system had been completely reset and flushed out. I was hooked from that first class and how the feelings of euphoria and healthiness stayed with me throughout the night. I went out with some friends for my birthday dinner, and they were like, ‘Let’s go out, let’s go out!’ And I was like, ‘Actually, I kind of just want to go home and enjoy this feeling.’ I guess it was a fluke, a stroke of luck, but the feeling that I get after each class just keeps me going back.
As soon as I was finished with the ninety-minute yoga class I felt amazing, like a whole different person, almost as if my system had been completely reset and flushed out.
What were your favorite subjects in school?
I loved art. I got to take a lot of different classes on it, and then in college I studied art history. I love looking at art. I’m not very talented at making art, in any way, but I still love it anyway.
What’s one thing you would change about your high school experience if you could redo it?
I would probably make it more diverse. Being at Lowell and seeing a huge student body, I feel like it may have been fun to have a more populated student body. My school had 1200 students, and I think my class graduated with 249. So, 249 graduates in 1997, but I feel like it would have been fun to have 400, because when you have a larger school you have more clubs, more activities going on, which makes it more cool for everybody.
If you could teach another subject for a day which subject would you teach?
It would probably be history. I love how closely aligned history is with a lot of literature, and sometimes literature is a commentary on history and the world leaders of the time. I like how the two are so closely connected and woven together. I find it fascinating, and I’ve learned a lot of history as I’ve taught English Lit and novels. That’s given me more of an interest in history, and I think it would be an interesting focus.
– By Alyssa Poon and Clarissa Wan
