Be the Cause

(a story from Manuri’s 8th grade teacher)

As a teacher all my students are special in their own way, but I’ve formed a special bond with just a few. Manuri was in my ELD English Newcomer class when she first arrived in the U.S in the 8th grade, and she was one of those students that you couldn’t help but love. Bellflower High School is kind of unique in that students attend there from 7th grade through graduation, so we get to watch our students change from shy little middle school students to confident young men and women. I feel truly blessed that I have also had the opportunity to continue to know Manuri after High School, and I’m so proud of the woman that she has become. She is truly beautiful inside and out. She has the type of beauty that can only come from a loving spirit. It glows from inside out. I’m so happy that she has become a humanitarian and shares her love with others. » Read more

Brain Surgery!  Doctor, Doctor, can you help me?  There is a hole in my mind.  I once knew how to function logically, now I seem to have lost all perspective, in short, I’ve lost a grip on my reality.  As if my existence has turned to rose pedals and they float and extend in every direction.  What was once up, now I find beneath my feet.  What was once inside, now travels outside. 

My assumptions on life, my judgments of others don’t help me anymore.  In fact, they only get in the way.  They once dictated my behaviors, now they paralyze me.  They keep me from moving, from reaching, from flying.  Rose pedals grow wings, become birds, and reach the sky.

I wake up on Saturday mornings with a smile, knowing that I will have to work harder today than any other day of the week.  … and I smile.  Doctor, Doctor, there is something wrong with me. » Read more