This week, we’re showing our #CPSDPride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Hudtloff Middle School English language arts (ELA) teacher Amanda Schick and eighth grader Lenny Estrada Perez. 

 

Amanda joined Hudtloff in 2018 and teaches seventh grade. “It’s a very unique age group, and there is so much going on academically and socially,” she said. “For some it can be challenging, but I’ve always had fun supporting seventh graders as the ‘middle children’ of middle schoolers.” 

 

Amanda is the ELA department chair and is a strong leader for her fellow teachers, according to Hudtloff Principal Cynthia Adams. She created a new system called “Grow Checks” for students, which supports their progress as they monitor their own learning and goal setting.  

 

Amanda chose to become an ELA teacher because of her love for reading. “I love a good story that can take you anywhere else in the world,” she said. “You can step into someone else’s perspective and life while learning how to dive deeper into the text and develop thoughts through context clues as a seventh grader. They’re learning to understand the text as well as their own perspective and higher-level thinking.” 

 

Amanda is the first person in her extended family to graduate high school and earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. She also recently earned her National Board Certification. She knows the value of education and is proud of her commitment to giving students the same chances she received. “I want to be that example and voice for students who may not know how to access opportunities to achieve their goals,” she said.  

 

Lenny is excited for his last year at Hudtloff and has already noticed that eighth grade is a little more challenging than before. One of the subjects Lenny has found difficult is math, but he can see himself growing and becoming much better as he continues to study. “Right now, we’re learning things like charting and graphs, and it's tricky, but I’m getting a lot better,” he said. 

 

History has always been Lenny’s favorite subject, and the topics he’s learning about this year have not disappointed. “It’s always so entertaining,” he said. “Cool stuff pops up about older times, and it shows the bad and the good of people, like when we learned about World War II which I loved.” 

 

Lenny is an active student who plays soccer and basketball and runs track and cross country while also maintaining good grades and participating in leadership. He joined leadership in sixth grade to be a role model for his peers and siblings. Throughout middle school he helped plan assemblies, give the morning announcements and more. Principal Adams commended his willingness to share his thoughts in student voice groups that provide feedback to Hudtloff administrators, as well as the leadership qualities he showed by supporting sixth grade transition events over the summer.  

 

Lenny is proud of the communication, public speaking, planning and teamwork skills he has developed throughout middle school. He hopes to apply these skills in his future career. His goal is to become a professional soccer player for his favorite team, Real Madrid. He would also like to become an immigration lawyer to help families relocating to the United States. 

 

Go Hurricanes!