STUDENT OUTLOOK -- Huong Thai

Huong Thai

Sept. 11. Sept. 29. Boy, I will never forget those dates; nor will any

of us. Our nation as a whole was hit in the heart of our economy and

society on Sept. 11. Then, a few weeks later, on a Saturday night, Costa

Mesa felt another shock in our hearts when we heard that one of our own,

Matt Colby, was lost while playing football.

This tragedy, which hit so close to home, is not just another football

death. Matt’s life has impacted so many people, and the memories of him

and times with him will forever live on. His friends poured out their

thoughts and feelings about him, which were printed in a dedicated

section in Estancia High School’s newspaper published on Oct. 19.

Anyone interested in getting a copy can feel free to stop by Estancia.

There is also a Matthew Colby Memorial Scholarship Fund going on; if you

wish to donate money, please make your checks payable to Costa Mesa High

School and mail to: CMHS c/o Kristin Dye, Athletic Department, 2650

Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

Despite these tragic events within the last two months, school began

pretty well for most of us.

Estancia High School has been the spot of new and interesting

innovations this year. Many new clubs, a character education program, an

expanded accelerated reader/sustained silent reading program, and a Matt

Colby Memorial Scholarship Fund are all starting off on the right foot.

Students at Estancia have developed many different tastes and

interests. From the Asian club, college club, comedy club, speech club,

and the Latin dance and culture club, these new and fun clubs were

initiated to meet the diverse interests of Estancia students.

In addition to all of these exciting new clubs, Estancia now has its

very own color guard team for the first time since a few years ago. Many

times when Estancia athletes travel to other schools, they often hear in

the background of their games trumpets blowing, loud music playing and

sounds of movements that are in harmony. We now have these once-uncommon

features at our school in addition to red flags waving to the music. The

color guard team can be seen at the football games, whether home or away.

A longtime English teacher at Estancia, Robert D. Hassay, launched the

character education program on the first day of school. Every day on the

announcements, Hassay would wrap things up with an “Aphorism of the Day.”

Each month, the aphorisms deal with the character trait of that

particular month; the month of September was respect, and the first

aphorism was “Respect is not automatically yours; it is earned.” This

month, the theme is responsibility. This program will continue throughout

the year, hoping to achieve its goal of improving Estancia students in

these aspects of their characters.

The accelerated reader/sustained silent reading program will be

greatly improved this year. Mark Wagner, an English teacher, is in charge

of this year’s program. Students will get to choose their own books for

the program and, as an incentive, they can take tests on the books; the

more points they earn, the more prizes they will get from the SMART

store.

For Estancia High School, the many innovations have made this school

year much better, and despite all the tragic events we have come out more

united than ever and will always carry on the memories of our beloved

former classmate, Matthew James Colby.

* HUONG THAI is a sophomore at Estancia High School where she is the

editor of El Aguila’s opinion page. Her columns will appear on an

occasional basis in the Community Forum section.