Activities Director Jerell Maneja from the Biology department is the new activities director for MHS starting this year. The previous Activities Director, Joanna Butcher, was promoted to sports director, so Maneja hopes to increase existing spirit the school has with new and innovative ideas. His background as a Biology teacher has given him a connection to the student body that he felt could translate to leadership.
Over the years, Maneja has provided a large amount of help for the Biology department in keeping them up to date with current standards, and giving students the ability to explore the fields of science on their own, Maneja said. The goal is not to just feed the students information for them to regurgitate for a test, but rather learn from science, and apply it, Maneja added.
“I think I have been influential in helping support all the Biology classes to be morealigned with the new science standards, [New Generation Science Standards],” Maneja said.“We’ve revamped the [department] to be more equitable and to be more engaging so that we can train people to be more science literate.”
Maneja implemented a Science Fair to help students demonstrate not only their passion for science, but to show how their subject could contribute to society, Maneja said. He enjoyed giving students the ability to show what they have learned and sharing that with others, Maneja continued.“One of my most hallmarking achievements is running a science fair; I’ve done a science fair on this campus for about four years where my classes would present their projects out to thecampus. It’s not very common for students to showcase their work from a core subject, and to have them there and take ownership of their project in an effort to make a difference,” Maneja said. “Last year was all about how people can make a difference in their own community. I think that has been one of my biggest hallmarks because it’s not just me as the master of knowledge, but I want to empower students to take control of their world.”
Maneja has given plenty of time to promote school spirit even before becoming the activities director by being an advisor, a lead, and volunteering his time at school events, Maneja said. It’s something he really liked doing, giving him not only the chance to express achieve his vision upon the school, but an opportunity to demonstrate his school spirit.“
So this is my first year being activities director, before which I’ve been teaching here for six years. During that time, I was a badminton coach, I was a Professional Learning Community(PLC) lead for the Biology and lifestyle classes, I’m the class advisor for the current class of2020, and I often helped support ASB by being a referee for intramurals, being a supervisor for a lot of the events, and so part of the qualifications that I have, have been so indirectly involved with ASB since I pretty much started teaching here,” Maneja stated.
Working with leadership this year, the goal is to create a positive environment encompassing the whole student population so that no one is left out, Maneja said. While he isa resource to leadership, the student body has so much to offer the rest of the school through their lives that it is those very experiences that make MHS who we are, Maneja said.“
I think that’s eventually what I want to accomplish here at leadership too,” Maneja said.“It’s that I don’t want them to depend on me, they all have their own bodies of knowledge, theirown cultures, and experiences, and I want to tap into that.”
“With this [year of leadership], I think every day is successful because we’re taking the passion of all the student government and leadership students, and influencing a positive culture here on campus. So we’ve had a bunch of new events where they are greeting students on campus, or we’re making small changes to events to be much more inclusive for everyone to feel comfortable and enjoy being part of our organization,” Maneja said. “I think that’s eventually what I want to accomplish here at leadership too. It’s that I don’t want them to depend on me, they all have their own bodies of knowledge, their own cultures, and experiences, and I want to tap into that. As MHS, we strive to be embraced as individuals, together as Trojans.”
Maneja has done an excellent job leading leadership, Student Site Council member Sarah Cao said. His goal is to give all the students an opportunity to show who they really are and to promote student bonding, Cao continued. Leadership is lucky to have Maneja, and we all appreciate the freedom he gives us, Cao said.“Leadership is very grateful to have Mr. Maneja, who is so passionate about our school, as our new activities director,” Cao said. “He has a lot of good and new ideas and he is very focused about changing the culture of the school. We really want to encourage all MHS students to help change the school’s culture through participating in events, voicing their opinions, and initiating change because everybody’s actions matter and has an impact.
