In The Zona - West Valley Jan. 2014 | Page 10

m co a. on in th ez VIEW FULL ARTICLES ONLINE Victor Gomez 7th Grader at Michael Anderson School Victor Gomez is a proud member of the Be Great: Graduate program at the TriCity West/Thornwood Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix. Be Great Graduate is designed to usher members towards graduation by pairing them with caring mentors from the community. Q: Tell me a little bit about Be Great: Graduate. A: It’s great, I really like it. Once a week, I meet with my mentor Chim and we get to hang out. He’s fun, athletic and smart, and we usually talk about sports or play games and then work on my homework. Q: How do you think Be Great: Graduate has helped you? A: Well, I used to get a lot of C’s, but for the past two years, ever since I started Be Great Graduate, I’ve been getting almost all A’s! Q: Do you think you’ve changed much since you joined the Club? A: I’m a lot more social, and I’m better at making friends now. I used to be really shy. My best friend, Christopher, and I go to the same school, but we actually didn’t know each other until we met at the Club, and it just took off from there. Being at the Club has also helped me become much more independent. Q. What is your favorite thing about attending Discover U? A. I get to work independently and read a lot and there are no cubicles like my old school, and there is recess here. Q. What is your all time favorite book to read? A. Superfudge by Judy Bloom Q. You’re a Star Wars fan, who is your favorite character and why? Which movie is your favorite? A. I have a couple favorites like Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, but none of the dark side, only the rebel alliance. My most favorite is Star Wars Return of the Jedi. Q. Tell us about one of your teachers. A. Ms. Matie, well she is very kind and she lets me go on Starwars.com. She always has a ton of books for me to read, and also she lets me do crafts. Like applesauce cinnamon ornaments. Q. What is your favorite subject in school? A. This one’s a tough one, I would say math, Ms. Matie always has some easy first and second math for me to do, even some easy stuff that I didn’t do before. Anna Kilbride 2nd Grader at Discover U Alyssa Fine 4th Grader at The Odyssey Preparatory Academy Q. How hard was it for you to receive your blackbelt in Karate? A. It was very hard to work through all the training that I had to do. It was probably the most challenging thing that I had ever done. Q. Tell our readers with your involvement in WATERisLIFE? A. WATERisLIFE helps people in Ghana, Africa get clean drinking water. I help because it makes me feel happy that I am helping people in need. My Mom was the one who introduced me to WATERisLIFE. I am very thankful to have a mom like her. Q. How many animals do you have? What are their names? A. I have three pets, two cats and one dog. Their names are Xander, Autumn, and Charlie. Q. What do you think that you want to be when you grow up? A. I want to be a nurse because I like to help people when they are sick. 10 \ January 2014 Q. Tell our readers what is means to be first chair? A. It is pretty neat to be first chair. I never thought that I could make it this far! My amazing music teacher Mrs.Ruiz teaches us very well. And my friend Chloe has helped me to improve. Q. What is your most favorite part of being in the school band? A. My favorite part of being in the school band is that you can play around and have fun but also learn at the same time. Q. What are your favorite things to draw and write about? A. I like to write about my friends and I going on an adventure. I usually write about my teachers and how they are SUPER awesome!!!! inthezona.com