Meet Kelci From Kieve

By Madeline and Lisa Shin

Each year Wood Hill 7th graders visit The Leadership School at Kieve Wavus, or “Camp Kieve” for a week. At Camp Kieve, they acquired leadership skills to assist them in the future. Kieve is a Celtic verb meaning to strive in emulation of - to work hard to acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes from others so as to improve yourself. Students also got to play fun games and hang out with their friends. When they returned, they definitely had a feeling of community. Now, a few months later, we had a visitor from Camp Kieve come to Wood Hill. Her name is Kelci O’Neill, and she is a bright bulb scintillating with delight and enthusiasm. She is a great socializer who is always generous to any student. 

Q: Kelci, when did you come to Wood Hill?
A: I came on Jan. 2, 2018.

Q: What do you hope to achieve at Wood Hill?
A: Well, Mr. Bucco and I have came up with plans to achieve goals in all the three grades. My goal is to be a mentor, and make sure people are treating others nicely and respectfully.

Q: What do you hope to improve around this school?
A: Well, during lunch, I see a lot of people speaking to each other in a mean way, and I hope that I can fix that. I would also try to improve on making sure that the eighth graders have something to look forward to next year. I also want sixth graders ready for Kieve because they are new to the middle school. Another goal I have is for the seventh grade to be ready to become leaders. I don’t want them to forget their experience at Kieve. I hope they’re thinking about how they’re impacting their school community and why they are doing it and who they are doing it for.

Q: What have you acquired from being here?
A: I had to do a lot of blog posts every week, so I definitely improved on writing. For example, I learned how to spell Massachusetts. Also, I learned a lot about some great role models the eighth graders could meet. Not only this, I learned how to meet students at their energy level and how to get them engaged. Plus, I learned some engineering skills from one of Mr. Tisbert’s engineering classes. Lastly, I learned that students cooperate with each other better when they are deeply compassionate about this one idea.

Q: Tell us a little about your background.
A: I worked for Kieve for three years now. Camp Kieve is in Maine and so am I (from there). This is actually the first time I’ve actually lived in another place for this long. I went to school from the University of Maine and got an Education degree. I want to become a science teacher. Well, I want to become a science teacher because my science teacher in high school was really boring, and I wanted to prevent this from happening from other students. I spent time with Ms. Kouletsis, the 7th grade science teacher, and I learned about volcanoes and earthquakes. In addition, I studied abroad from Costa Rica. It was a fun experience. College, however was hard for me.

Q: What’s your favorite food? If you don’t have one, what is your least favorite?
A: I love blueberries, and Maine blueberry pie, but I hate pickles. I hate pickles because in middle school, one of my friends would try to get a pickle in front of my face and make me eat them. I hate seafood, like lobster and oysters. In addition, I like to eat frozen yogurt.

Q: What was your favorite experience at Camp Kieve?
A: I did go there as a kid, and now I work there. It was very rewarding. My favorite experience as a staff member would be feeling like doing something for a greater good and changing lives in a small way.

Q: Who do you admire the most and look up to?
A: A celebrity I look up to is Eleanor Roosevelt because of a quote that she said. It was, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Also, I look up to my older brother, and he is always up for advice and listens to me. He was the first in my family to go to college, and inspired me too.

Q: What subjects interest you do the most? For example, I like mathematics and French.
A: I always loved science and I always liked art even though I wasn’t good at it. I was in chorus when I was a kid. Plus, I think math is beautiful even though I’m not good at it.

Q: What is your favorite animal?
A: I like all turtles, but I would prefer sea turtles. In fact, I have a sea turtle necklace around my neck. I’ve always loved sea turtles since I was three.

Q: What is your opinion for how we could improve Wood Hill?
A: I feel like you [student body] could break out of your groups a little more, and I see people who are comfortable with other people. For this reason, these groups won’t allow others to come into their groups. Maybe you guys need to be more nice to each other. I see microaggressive behavior with each other. Even like lunch or in the hallways, where I see students hide things from each other, or say that others can’t sit in their friend’s seat because it is saved. Kieve’s golden rule, which in my opinion is better than the golden rule, is that everyone has the right to treat each other with kindness and respect. It’s not happening all the time because I hear each other call each other mean names. I also hear people say shut up. We don’t know what others are going through, so wee should be kinder to them.

Q: What is your favorite experience at Wood Hill so far?
A: I really like the people that I got to meet with. My interactions with other students and how welcoming they were. They put me into their community even though I wasn’t here. Playing gaga ball was fun, and playing board games with the students at 7th grade was really great. However, it was mostly building relationships with other students. Oh, and I have more to add. Spirit week was really, really fun. I organized that, so it was fun to see it go so well.

Q: What is your advice for keeping pet fish?
A: Put a small amount of salt in their tank even if they are not salt water fish. This will irritate the fish enough to make them cover themselves with a protective mucus. This mucus will protect them from bacteria, which will prevent deaths.