The boys of Xavier

I call them my Posse. The boys of Xavier, my former 7th and 8th grade students are all grown up and heading for college.This photo was taken after their graduation ceremony in St. Patrick's Cathedral. From the left is Arthur Wang who was accepted in one of the prestigious industrial science schools in Rochester. Hay Lee will be going to Polytech in Brooklyn, Yong Xiang who is a first generation immigrant received the Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship Award will be attending Notre Dame in Indiana and Lung Nin will be heading for Stony Brook. These boys were also in DK's class(St. Joseph School 7th and 8th grade) and they were the smartest and the funniest too. But most of all these boys are compassionate, kind hearted and sensitive. I almost cried when I saw Hay Lee looking for his mom when parents are suppose to stand to be honored by their sons. Hay Lee's mom could not understand English that much and Hay Lee was several pews away and figured his mom might need his help, it was a tear jerking moment. Hay Lee's dad passed away when he was young. So it's just him and mom. Arthur Wang's mom and grandmother were so supportive. Arthur's dad left for China when he was small. And Yong Xiang is his family's hope. Neither parents speak English and Yong Xiang had to translate for us constantly every time we would congratulate the parents for raising such a wonderful son. These boys also have part time jobs even if they are in school. With scholarship grants and monies they are to receive I hope and pray they don't get to work in college until they graduate.
Arthur, Hay Lee, Yong Xiang and Lung Nin...you guys look six million dollars richer what with all your tux and a rose in your lapel. I am truly proud of you guys.

DK Valedictorian

I was a new teacher in St. Joseph School and about to become the 7th grade homeroom teacher. David Kong or DK as we would always call him sits in front of the class. He was quiet, usually he would utter things in Chinese which I could not decipher and just give a poignant smile while I figure out if it's deliberate or a jaunt sarcasm. Truth being, it was just an innocent smile.I know nothing about the class, I was hired towards the end of September of 2001. Their homeroom teacher had to leave and I was a replacement. DK was also an ESL student. English is not his first language at home. His parents were immigrants from China and he was raised in New York City with both worlds. The "chinamerica" way as I call it in an undertone. DK also had a difficult time figuring out math problems(probably because of the language barrier at that time), creating good sentences without the traps of run ons and fragments were tedious tasks for him. In a thumbnail 7th grade for DK was a struggle. But there was one thing he had that the rest of the class seem not to have,well--in a sort. DK always went the extra 10,000 miles and he was always there no matter what. He was never late, never absent. He always asked for help and was willing to stay for extra hours until he gets the lesson. These were the qualities I observed that made me reflect where he was heading...he will be great someday, I just had this gut feeling that he will. A year passed and he was off to 8th grade. I was still his math and science teacher. The moment I stepped into class and gave the first test for both science and math, it was a different David who handed me the papers. He was more mature, more organized and just focused. He did not graduate valedictorian of his 8th grade class but he was my golden boy. My incoming 7th and 8th grade classes were tired of listening about David this and David that over and over. DK was just so hardworking and he never gave up at all. He just knew in his heart that if he would set his mind into it, he will make it. And maybe, my other students will do even half of what DK has done. Four years after, I had a visit from David.Even if I don't get to see him for a long time, I always have a catch up news with his school work, girlfriends, heartbreaks and journeys in life. A month before high school graduation I asked him if he is graduating top of his class and he was honest and candid in letting me know that he was not so sure because there is another student whose GPA is so close to his. I looked at him without batting an eyelash and said "You will be the valedictorian, we will all just have to pray harder" and he just gave me that same smile I saw the very first day I caught a glimpse of that 7th grader. A month after,DK hand delivers a graduation invitation and he is class valedictorian. It was my first graduation attendance in St. Patrick's Cathedral. The air inside the church profusely blends with joy from family and friends and the anxiety of graduates. The best part of course was hearing David's speech and watching him receive all those medals.He even got an award for perfect attendance for four years. That is just amazing. As his former teacher...it was an honor to be a part of his education sojourn. As a friend it is a treasure this friendship holds.

when hard work REALLY pays off

Jesse and I decided to make murals on paper for a lesson I did on biomes with the 6th grade. The planning took us two weeks and another week to get all the materials. We used paper that has been in stock for years in school and decided to use Tempera paint because it just dries up so fast. We started the drawings, sketches, research for about a week or two but decided that if the 8th graders will help, the murals could be set up in less than a month. Each student were assigned one or two or even three species to draw on paper and we taped them in mock sheets which were about 11 inches by 33 inches. The murals were 1.5 meters by 3 meters big. The 6th and 8th graders put their heart and soul into these murals, some of them even staying late after school to help out. Creativity, cooperative learning, talent, kindness, fun, joy, sweat, grumpiness, tedious work but most of all satisfaction were garnered emotions as we finally set the murals up on the wall. KUDOS to the 6th and 8th grade students of St. Joseph School...they did a great job indeed! Thank you so much 6th and 8th graders...I am so proud of you guys.

research time

6th graders in the computer lab. every species were researched on every layer of both the ocean and rainforest biomes

the 6th graders

sketching away and staying happy

sketching full blast

8th graders on the move

Andy Lou (8th grade)

scaling up drawing from their mock mural to the big paper

the 6th graders painting

8th graders painting

1st section of the ocean biome

From the top left is the arctic region where polar bears live. A mother seal is feeding on a fish and swimming with her pups are part of the arctic waters too. A nautilus on the lower left rests behind seaweeds, fan corals and rock corals. A lobster, the sea turtle in full view, reef sponges, seastar attached on a rock,eels and a blue green crab completes this part of the biome.

2nd section of the ocean biome

This section lets you see a peeking head of a sea turtle, and above it are baby seals and killer whales that are part of the arctic water. The octopus becomes the central point of the mural. There are more sea anemones and clown fish, clams, a puffer fish, shrimp, lion fish and a seahorse. More seaweeds and fan coral playfully graze the ocean floor.

3rd section of the ocean biome

The lower part is the deep sea area where a cookie cutter shark can be found right above a sperm whale (they can go deep to feed according to Billy our 8th grade marine biologist). An angler fish, jellyfishes exhibiting bioluminescence and an underwater volcano completes the deep sea area of ocean life. Rocks to the left gives an illusion of a down slope. Above the deep sea area are sea urchins,a slug, sea anemones, clown fishes, a Venus flower basket, seaweeds, fan corals, gray sharks, stingray, bottle nose dolphins, moon jellyfish, squid, part of an octopus, a swordfish and plankton which are found in open water. Above this part of the open water are penguins found in the Antarctic waters of the south pole.

The Ocean Biome

The Emergent Layer

The very top of the rainforest where huge kapok trees grow, cacao and cocoa trees also dominate rainforests although they are not as tall as kapok trees. To the left is a Toucan and above it is a sloth that can also be found on the right side. Sloths usually stay in the canopy but hey, who did say they can't climb all the way to the emergent layer. A Harpy eagle to the left and a Macaw to the right of the mural made this rainforest biome mural captivating. And those cute night monkeys are just awesome to look at.

The Canopy

Blue Morph Butterfly and a parrot.

The Canopy

Capuchin monkey on the canopy layer of the rainforest.

The Understory

The understory will have trees trying to grow in competition with other trees to reach the canopy. Just above the red and orange frog to the left is a Pygmy Marmoset monkey. This monkey is so small that thrives blending into small branches and barks of small trees. Butterflies, snakes and a banana tree with a branchfull of banana fruits can be noticed at the background. To the very right of this mural is a rainforest crocodile that thrives in rainforest floors by the river.

The Shrub Layer

This layer will have low growing shrubs and small plants. On the left side of the mural is a pink dolphin and below it is a hummingbird. Tha amazon rainforest will also include the river and pink dolphins are part of the amazon river habitat.

The Forest Floor

The rainforest floor is the lowest layer where it is usually dark because huge taller trees get all the sunlight. For this part of the mural, the kids painted a jaguar, bromeliad flowers, hibiscus, ferns, mosses, all sorts of insects and arthropods.Brightly colored frogs also dominate this part of the mural.

The Rainforest Biome