Someday I'll start this again. Until then . . . Stay Tuned.
2015 December 9th Grade MVP
CREATIVE
Anthony Morones
2015 December 10th Grade MVp
CREATIVE
Ashley Orozco
2015 November 9th Grade Mvp
ENGAGED
Giavonni Haynie
2015 November 10th grade mvp
ENGAGED
Aaron Saetern
2015 October 9th Grade Mvp
OPEN
Wilnette Latchison
2015 october 10th grade Mvp
OPEN
Daniel Ramos
2015 September 9th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Jasper Britton
2015 September 10th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Tahjay Wriden
2015 March 9th Grade MVP
FLEXABLE
Michelle Corona-Vaca
2015 March 10th Grade MVP
FLEXABLE
Isaiah Broadway
2015 February 9th Grade MVP
RESPONSIBLE
Jennifer Villalobos Ramirez
2015 FEBRUARY 10th Grade MVP
RESPONSIBLE
Kongmeng Vang
2015 January 9th Grade MVP
PERSISTENT
Cheng Xiong
2015 January 10th Grade MVP
PERSISTENT
Yunuen Noriega
2014 December 9th Grade MVP
CREATIVE
Jayson Vue
Click on Talent Show to read some of Jayson's creative work.
Click on Talent Show to read some of Jayson's creative work.
2014 December 10th Grade MVP
CREATIVE
Aaron Her
Click on The Vow to read an original scary story by Aaron. See if it scares you as much as it did me!
Click on The Vow to read an original scary story by Aaron. See if it scares you as much as it did me!
2014 november 9th grade mvp
ENGAGED
Jeremiah Spruell
2014 November 10th Grade MVP
ENGAGED
Victor Garcia
2014 October 9th Grade MVP
 OPENNESS
Jaya Rao has great ideas and the confidence to trust and share them with the class
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2014 October 10th Grade MVP
OPENNESS
Kierra Johnson displays great depth to her thought in class and is always open to share it.
2014 September 9th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Jason Phoungphet has been a valuable contributor to the curiousness of Mr. J's ninth grade students.
2014 September 10th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Emoni Rhinehart
2013-14 9th Grade MVP
Emani Calloway continued to develop into a strong reader this year. Futhermore, she was a huge risk taker all year. Two risks she took was to publish her poem Ode to My Smile and her song Our Day Will Come. Have a great summer Emani!
Francisco Rivera is a great student and helpful teammate. He worked hard in class and was always willing to share and work with his homie. Francisco wrote and published an Ode to Zombies and a song Growing Up in Struggles. See you next fall Francisco!
2013-14 10th Grade MVP
Ariel Ruano
Ashley Pineda
Homies!
2014 May 9th Grade MVP
Curious
Alfonso Vazquez asks great questions. He truly is a think-about question personified!
2014 May 10th Grade MVP
Curious
Eric Firman Flores is a curious reader. He reads some super challenging books and always wants to know what is next. I hope you continue to explore everything that books have to offer.
2014 April 9th Grade MVP
Metacognitive or Reflective
Giselle Espitia has surprised me by her ability to think. She has a great ability to create metaphors and see similarities.
2014 April 10th Grade MVP
Metacognitive or Reflective
Alan Figueroa can think with the best of 'em. He has shown an awesome ability to think beyond what I ask of my students. He has a great sense of wonder and is a great problem solver. To read Alan's Mystical story Afraid click here
2014 March 9th Grade MVP
Flexible
Erin Dandridge
2014 March 10th Grade MVp
Flexible
Breanna McDade has come a long way since her Freshmen year
2014 February 9th Grade MVP
Responsible
Tut Chang works hard in the classroom and on the volleyball court. Keep up the hard work Tut!
2014 February 10th Grade MVP
Responsible
Mitieli Gonemlituba wrote a great piece called Should Students be Separated? that he published on Teen Ink. Mitieli argues that students of all abilities should be together in the same classes. His article shows a student who feels a great responsibility to helping others. Another student from Tennessee has written a response at the bottom of the page. Read them and weigh in!
2014 January 9th Grade MVP
Persistent
Juan Rodriguez-Mendez can't stop reading. He has read 11 books so far this year, and I can see no sign of him slowing down.
2014 January 10th Grade MVP
Persistent
Chelijha Llamas Sarmienta is a persistent reader. She has read a lot of books this year, but I saw her persistence specifically when she was reading The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. She was struggling to sustain interest in the beginning but continued anyway. And surprise. Now she is loving it. Don't quit . . . Keep going because the hard work will pay off in the end.
2013 December 9th Grade MVP
Creative
Ashawnti Hamilton is a creative reader. She had already read around ten or twelve books for the year. For a student to have read ten books even before the first semester shows that she reads outside of the classroom. I asked her where she spends most of her time reading, and she said in her room. However, I then asked her where she sneaks her reading time, and she told me she always has a book open when she is doing the dishes, sneaking a line inbetween washing and drying I suppose.
2013 December 10th Grade Mvp
Creative
Jonathan Champion is a creative writer. He is a strong writer in class, but he excels in his own stories outside of the classroom. He has written three stories, and I can hear the sharpness of the dialogue when I read them. Here's to hoping Jonathan keeps writing and pursuing his dreams.
2013 November 9th Grade MVP
Engaged to Learn
Francisco Rivera is in an active ninth grade class before lunch, but this has not stopped him from committing himself to reaching his goals. Francisco's investment in learning will take him far in life. His long term goal is to make it to UCLA. Right now, he is working on seeing connections between the books he reads on his own and the units we study. His favorite book so far has been Homeboyz, and he enjoyed learning about hurricanes and their awesome potential to cause damage.
2013 November 10th Grade MVP
Engaged to Learn
Alaska Castro has completely committed herself to learning. She wants to attend Stanford on a full ride for both athletics and academics. Outside the classroom, Alaska uses her academic skills and physical skills to excel at Rugby. Her favorite book is Muderville and enjoyed learning about the concept of misjudgment in Tupac. Check out everything Alaska published all year here
2013 October 9th Grade MVP
OPENNESS
On Joeseph Gonsolis's first day of class, he told me he didn't like TV and only listened to heavy metal. I thought to myself, "this student seems different than the others." I have my students write me letters at the beginning of the year, and Joeseph made sure that I read his. When I did read it, I realized that Joeseph is not your everyday 9th grader. His ability to reflect on his personal situation was extremely deep and complex, and showed a reflexive openness that is rare. Later, he wrote a PEE paragraph when we were studying earthquakes that started with "Earthquakes are like sandwiches." He proved it with an example from the data set and explained how an earthquake is like sandwich. His ability to develop the analogy was outstanding. I know he has read two books, You Don't Even Know Me and Teen Angst, that all prove how open this young man is to the complexities of the world around him. Check out Joeseph's published writing here
2013 October 10th Grade MVP
OPENNESS
Evian Acosta-Pimentel sees the world differently then his peers. He is a young man who believes strongly in revolution. When the modern revolution comes, Evian will be open to recognize it and lead people through it. Evian reminds me of this song from the late 90's by Rage Against the Machine called "Renegades of Funk." Click on the hyperlink and you can listen to the song and read the lyrics. When Rage sings "renegades are people/with their own philosophies/everyday people like you and me," this gets at what I believe is what makes Evian cool and different. When he reads, he is open to other ideas to create his own philosophy. Did I mention that he is also a poet? Yep, he's got that covered too! Part philosopher/ Part Poet/Part revolutionary. My bet is on Evian changing the world!
2013 September 9th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Makya Alexander impressed me when she finished her second book of the year. It's barely been a month, and she has already read Story of a Girl and Pandemonium; neither of which would I categorize as easy reads. Both of these books fall into different genres, which I see as connected to curiosity and an advanced student characteristic. This choice was a hard one because I saw a lot of freshmen that exemplified curiosity, but Makya's curiosity about books stood out. Makya's desire to read and finish books will ensure that she has a bright future. She is an awesome brain athlete, and I see her continuing to build her brain and ask interesting questions as she continues her journey into the future.
2013 September 10th Grade MVP
CURIOUS
Derek Love is a 10th grade Luther Burbank student who defines curiosity. We were writing autobiographical narratives and reading one written by a teenager in Teen Ink called "Today is Different" In it, the author mentions A Clockwork Orange. Derek waits till after class and asks me if we have that book in our classroom library. He is interested in it and wants to check it out. He is half way through it now and asking high level awesome questions. Derek, I hope your curiosity leads you through life and opens up doors of opportunity. And it will certainly lead you to some great books! Check Derek's website out that he created for his 21st century school: Derek Love High School
2012-13 9th Grade MVp
Maria Chavez is awesome! She is the compete package as a student. She takes all kinds of academic risks, like publishing on Teen Ink. She was the first freshman to have published poetry on the site. The poem is titled "Ode to Music". Then she published another one on her own called "My Bad Angel." The writing that she produced always left me wanting to read more. She was a great example of what a high achieving student can do, but also helped and coached other students around her. Your "homie" Donyell says thank you!
Luis Flores takes the MVP for the guys because of his grit, curiosity, complex questions, and improvement over the course of the year. By the end of the year, Luis was asking high level think-about questions about Everest and life in general. Furthermore, I loved your hero essay about Batman called "A Hero of Heart." It made me think about his sense of justice. And it was even cooler that you published it on Teen Ink. Luis, I'm proud to have had you in my class and loved watching you grow! I look forward to helping you continue to grow during your 10th grade year.
2012-13 10th Grade MVP
Mac Cooper is everything a top student should be. He is one of the hardest working students I've ever had, but this is not why I picked him for the 2012-13 MVP. One situation sticks out in my mind. Mac is from Africa. The details of the specific country and year are escaping me now, but watching Mac's English and social skills grow over two years were amazing. Mrs. Johnson also had a student from Africa who was having trouble assimilating into her classroom environment. Mrs. Johnson and I talked and figured out that Mac's home country and her student's country were not hostile to each other. I talked to Mac the next day and explained the situation, and he agreed to go down and talk to the young man and make him feel more welcome. By all reports, it worked. Mac's bravery and empathy for others is something we all can learn from. Read Mac's poem "I'm Unique."
Shupri Britt has grown more than any other student I've ever had. I've had her in my class for two years. When she was a freshmen, she had trouble taking academic risks on her own without having my attention. In every day language rather than teacher speak, every time she did something new and had a possibility of being wrong, she would have to almost ask my permission to make a mistake or get my affirmation that she was correct. However, ending her 10th grade year, she was taking academic risks and sharing them with me at all. I love this. Her last story that she published on teen ink called "The Lost Girl" she did totally without my advice. When she shared it with me, after it got published, I read it and realized that she used the mystical character Marie Laveau, who we studied the year before in New Orleans. She is the Voodoo Queen. The growth that this shows has to be recognized and sets her apart from her peers. To see everything Shupri has published click here.
