Special Subjects

Joielyna Abreu

World Language, Spanish

Ms. Abreu was born in New York and raised in Palm Beach Florida. She holds a Bachelors in International Relations and Economics from Florida State University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Joielyna also holds a Child Care and Education Program Director Credential from Florida. Ms. Abreu loves teaching because sharing her experiences and knowledge with others is very rewarding. Every single day teachers have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life and sometimes you don’t even realize how students are impacted by the smallest interactions. She’s really excited about languages and cultures – teaching Spanish allows her to share her culture and language with students. When students engage in using Spanish and are inspired to get invested in their learning, it makes Ms. Abreu feel that she’s in the right field. Aside from teaching, Joielyna enjoys digital media and spends a lot of time working with nonprofits to increase their social media presence, specifically Latino organizations focused on social and environmental issues. In her free time, she travels and learns other languages herself :). She has studied Italian for six years and is working on becoming fluent along with someday spending the summer under the Tuscan sun. She also enjoys nature and taking part in outdoor activities here in DC. Joielyna is new to the area and spends a lot of time discovering the DMV area with friends.

Jonathan Walker

Health and Physical Education – Primary and Elementary

Mr. Walker enjoys being a mentor to young people, serving as a positive influence for each and every student. He enjoys being able to teach them healthy habits and skills that they can use to improve the quality of their life now and in the future. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Walker came to DC to attend college at Howard University, where he earned his Bachelors in Physical Education. Outside of school, Mr. Walker enjoys exercising, reading fiction, as well as going for walks throughout the DC area.

Lance Miller

Health and Physical Education – Middle School

Mr. Miller was born abroad in Germany and raised in New Jersey. He holds a bachelors degree in Health and Physcial Education from Hampton University and a Masters of Science in Health Promotion Programming and Planning from American University. He enjoys seeing the “light go on” in a learner around understanding the importance of Health and Physical Education. He loves seeing a learner progress within their form, attention to detail, and enthusiasm around daily physical activities/calisthenics. When a learner progresses from a modified push-up to a regular push-up it makes his heart smile! He also enjoys the opportunity to introduce to most learners the rules and procedures associated with organized sports and physical activity gameplay. Lance enjoys daily physical activity, traveling, yoga, hearing and feeling nature, explorative hikes, and helping others and the community become health aware, increasing their personal physical activity levels!

Michael Webber

Librarian

Mr. Webber received his BA in History and Political Science from King College and his Masters in Library Science from the University of Tennessee. He began his professional career as a reference librarian at Virginia Intermont College. From there he went to Brooklyn Public Library in New York, where he worked as a generalist librarian, children’s librarian, school outreach librarian, and branch manager. Mr. Webber’s family moved to the DC area in 1998, where he worked for DC Public Library as a children’s librarian. Since coming to DCPS in 2005 he worked at Murch Elementary and Watkins Elementary before coming with CHMS to Logan. Mr. Webber is attracted to the student-directed learning that takes place at CHM, and the fact that his role as a librarian is what he always wanted it to be- students come to the library when they need to, not when they are scheduled to.

Roxanne Cook

Music

Ms. Cook was born and raised locally, in Falls Church, Virginia. She attended Longwood University where she double majored in choral music education and vocal performance. As a music teacher, it is her belief that all students should be offered the opportunity to discover and explore their innate potential as musicians, and to increase these natural capacities through formal music instruction. The goal of music education is not only to form an appreciation of the music of others but also to encourage children to shape their own unique musical identity, through academic study and performance opportunities. The musical arts are uniquely a safe place for young people to experience a wide spectrum of human emotions in a safe context, which can help to foster understanding, empathy, and compassion. As all cultures have some kind of music, Ms. Cook believes that music can open doors to acceptance, bring people together, promote multicultural understanding, and unite all of the people of the world. We enrich the quality of our lives when we connect with others, and there is a strong healing bond that is made when people sing or make music together. It is her goal to provide her students with that experience as much as possible! Additionally, Roxanne enjoys studying sound healing and music therapy, hiking, yoga, biology and environmental science, painting, creating and mixing music, writing poetry, reading, and musical theatre.

Art

Art