STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Knollwood Meadows 5th grader Melody Cabrera Lopez

A classroom leader who promotes healthy living


Posted: January 18, 2024

Making school days positive is important to Melody Cabrera Lopez and she does her part in many small ways that add up.

A 5th grader at Knollwood Meadows Elementary School, Cabrera Lopez is a trusted leader in teacher Rebekah Sizemore's class and an avid participant in extracurricular activities. She works with others to make their school one to be proud of.

"All the teachers are great," Cabrera Lopez said. "You can have a calming space in here. Every time they make us do good things, we get rewarded. We're treated really well here and they try to make a better environment for us."

Cabrera Lopez is a leader in the student Live Well Club that helps around the school and promotes healthy living. The group picks up litter on school grounds weekly, organized a holiday food drive and put together a book of holiday recipes that is sold in the school's main office.

The club's purpose, Cabrera Lopez said: To make everybody's day better, to make the school better and to do good things for the school.

She enjoys learning new things and writing in journals. Science and writing are her favorite subjects in school and at home she stays busy with drawing and building small models.

Cabrera Lopez emphasizes helping others daily in her classroom.

"How you want to feel, you want others to feel happy, too," Cabrera Lopez said. "When you do something for somebody else, you can feel happy, too, and do good for people."

One of the more dependable students in her class, she's one of three left as leaders if their teacher is out of the classroom. She assists a student with autism who is sometimes part of the class and learning to be in a classroom, according to Sizemore.

"Melody is one of the first students that she really bonded with and will allow Melody to help her with a lot of the work," Sizemore said. "Melody's one of our bigger helpers in the class, especially when it comes to that other student."

Visit Student Spotlights on the Newport News Public Schools website.

Visit <a href=https://sbo.nn.k12.va.us/spotlight>Student Spotlights</a> on the Newport News Public Schools website.
Visit Student Spotlights on the Newport News Public Schools website.