Yakking with Yante Episode 5 with Jillian Caputo
Editor’s note: In this episode of Yakking with Yante, Daniel interviews fellow student Jillian Caputo. Jillian graduated from The HUB high school in 2022 and is currently a member of The HUB’s Life 101 program. They talk about life at The HUB.
DY: So how did you find out about The HUB Houston and what were your old schools like?
JC: My brother Alex had attended the Monarch school and once The HUB opened my brother started going to Club HUB every Wednesday. My mom had known Dr. Webb and Coach for a very long time and so my mom got in contact with Coach and asked if I could come to The HUB. She said that I needed to be 14 but the funny story was that my mom told her that I was 14 and so she let me in but I actually was 12 and Coach knew that I was 12 but she was so nice enough to let me join The HUB! I will never forget the time I first started The HUB and I was very shy and nervous .I went to Sienna Crossing Elementary School in 2nd grade through 5th grade and I loved that school. That school was a public school. They had a special ed class that I could attend for some of the day and that school was so much fun. The people were nice and understanding. I did not like the school I went to right before The HUB. That school was also a public school. The teachers were not helpful and the work was so confusing and hard to understand and so my mom knew that wasn’t the right place for me so she looked into The HUB Houston. From that moment forward we knew that was the best place for me to be. Thanks to my mom for letting me be at The HUB!! I started The HUB In October of 2016.
DY: How would you describe your time at The HUB Houston; both Galway and Life 101 Campus?
JC: My time at both campuses was really fun! From laughter, to tears, to field trips, to camps and parties and prom to my graduation and musical performances, all of that was so memorable for me. I enjoyed spending time with the community and I loved having fun Friday at Galway. A couple of my favorite memories at Galway were getting to help out and babysit Mrs. Krause’s daughter Sage since she was 2 years old. I did this mainly at parties, and special events like the 2017 graduation at The HUB. I also watched her when she would come and stay at The HUB for the day. And Of course getting to have a 20 minute long speech at my graduation was awesome! My time at life 101 taught me how to prepare myself for the adult world. At life 101 I had fun going on internships And getting to combine our theater class with Galway’s theater class and getting to perform at Queensberry Theater!!!!! I will never forget that. When we performed Into the Woods that was my first time ever getting to perform at an actual theater!
DY: What were your favorite classes at Galway and Life 101?
JC:At Galway some of my favorite classes were ASl sign language with Mrs. Krause, culinary with Ms. Alison, Dance class with Mrs. Krause, bloom/Zumba class with Ms.Beryl, Math with Ms. Beryl, movement/game class with Mr.Nathan, literacy with Mrs.Krause and in that class we sometimes were watching 72 dangerous animals in Latin America, being in Mr.Nathan's Carpool karaoke class, culture with Ms. Julie and like always one on one coaching with Ms. Julie. At life 101 some of my favorite classes were theater with Ms. Shivali and Ms. Megan, Red Cross babysitting with Ms. Jamie, Hubcaps with Mr. Ken, Childcare with Ms. Shivali, relationships with Ms. Megan, And Oak Forest Closet with Ms. Shivali.
DY: What are your favorite things about being at The HUB?
JC: It definitely would be the parties, camps, food trucks, the holiday market and just having fun!
DY: What was your favorite memory from both Galway and Life 101 campuses?
JC: My favorite memory at Galway was going on a culture field trip to Lucky Land in 2022 with Ms. Julie, that was so much fun! And at The HUB Mrs. Krause and I would always play the song Chicken fried since 2017 and we would dance and sing to it. We even choreographed our own dance moves to that song. Being on zoom in 2020 was kinda fun because in Mrs. Krause’s class we made peanut butter play dough and we made a hacker play. At The HUB in person in 2019 in one of Mrs. Krause’s class we made edible landscapes out of graham crackers and frosting and other treats. We also made volcanoes and we made a play that we recorded and it was a family play that we made and I was the baby child in the play. I remember going over to the very old life 101 program with Mrs. Krause to record the play. Another memory I have was in November of 2016 when we had The HUB thanksgiving feast. It was after school from 3:30 to 9:30pm and after the feast we stayed and watched a movie outside on the bean bags.And also having one on one time with Ms. Cay in 2021 for her to help me with my guitar but also when I would be stressed and I had written stuff down in my journal we would pull what I wrote and make it into a song. One of my favorite songs we made was about Me and my sister Emmy when she was in wilderness. I wrote an emotional song for her called Missing you and I made it into a slideshow of her and I together when we were little. One more memory I have at Galway was every year since 2016 Ms. Julia Cambria would always pick me up and carry me around or throw me over her shoulder and run with me. That was so fun! Ms. Julia is so strong and she can be crazy like that and I love it!! And at life 101 my favorite memory was getting to have my own booth at the holiday market! And getting to be in the Art car parade for the very first time!
DY: How would you describe your experience doing the Luncheon Speech when you were a Senior?
JC: It was really incredible! Everybody loved my speech. I even got a standing ovation. And I have never had that before so it felt really good. My mom thought I would never do something like that and so she was emotional because standing up in front of a crowd of people I have always been very shy and quiet on stage and so doing this was a really big deal!
DY: How would you describe your internships at The HUB and which one(s) have you enjoyed doing the most?
JC: I enjoyed going to CAPS with Ms. Aviles, and going to Heights preschool, Harvard elementary, pace preschool and Lovebugs playground with Ms. Shivali. at Caps we would walk dogs and play with them they were so cute and lovable and in Childcare class we would go to the schools and play and interact and do stuff with the children.
DY: What was your hardest challenge or most difficult thing you ever experienced when you were at any Hub campus?
JC: One of my hardest challenges was getting feedback from teachers and sharing the attention with others because the funny joke Ms. Julie and I have when I always wanted the attention we would call it the Jillian show!! And I still like the Jillian show. Also in 2017 The HUB went on a field trip to Galveston to dissect sharks and that was probably the hardest thing I had to do because I felt so sick and I was crying because it was very gross and so I had to step outside to get fresh air and I never came back in after that. I felt so sick I am never doing that again.
DY: How would you describe your time in Chorus with Ms Cay?
JC: I really enjoy that. I have always loved singing. We do a lot of songs we practice and then Ms. Cay records us singing the song after practicing the song for a while. And I love doing the warm ups before we get started like doing Mommy made me mash my M&M’s and Super bubble gum. Those are my favorite warm ups we do especially when we sing those faster and do those like a tongue twister!
DY: How do you feel about The HUB being around for 10 years by the time the Blog is created and published?
JC: I can’t believe that this is the 10th year at The HUB. I think it’s pretty cool that The HUB has been around this long. It began in 2015 and since then The HUB has kept growing and growing And of course like Coach always says everyone should be heard, understood and believed in! And The HUB motto is to leave it better than you found it. I have always loved our HUB motto.
DY: How would you describe your time being at camping trips like Camp for All, Dixie Dude Ranch, Etc (Feel free to talk about the other camping experiences from different camps)?
JC: My time at camp for all was really fun.I enjoyed doing the energizers in the morning, sleeping in a cabin of course, swimming, campfire and dancing, the evening activities, etc.At Dixie dude ranch I enjoyed staying for 2 nights, getting to go horseback riding more than once and even some extra times and of course always getting to ride my beloved friend buddy the horse like a thousand times since 2018!! I’m sending My love to him in horse heaven.And I enjoyed playing on the playground, watching the horse show night activity and getting to sit on a bull, getting to go into town to do shopping Especially one year like in 2018 we went to a cave and that was so cool! And of course seeing all of the kitty’s they have there and getting to play and love on them! my favorite thing! Also in 2017 and in 2018 in April The HUB went to a 2 night camp called camp Cullen and that was so much fun it was a YMCA camp.I also would always go to a summer camp every summer since 2017 called Camp blessings. It’s a Christian camp for special needs kids from 7 years through adults of any age and they take anybody with any kind of special needs and that summer camp is a 4 night and 5 day camp from Tuesday to Saturday And it is a really fun camp I enjoyed getting to know my one on one buddy counselor and hanging out with her and getting to learn and practice our camp theme song all week and then performing the theme song to the parents at open ceremonies on Saturday And of course doing all of the activities, theme nights and worship in the evening.
DY: How would you describe your part time job at the YMCA and other places you’ve worked?
JC: At the YMCA I was a Child Watch counselor And I liked it because they were so flexible with our schedules and because I loved working with the children infants through elementary age kids And I liked going to the YMCA meetings once a month.And at the Houston Museum of natural science both sugar land location and downtown location i worked in the summer camps i usually always worked with 6 to 7 year olds and i worked the whole summer in different camps there like some of the camps at the museum i worked in were Art smart, kitchen chemistry, build it big, junior paleontology, water works,storybook science, Space cadet, mummies and mysteries and Wizard Science Academy. Those were just some of them. I worked there for 2 summers. One summer was just at the sugar land location and the 2nd summer was at both locations.
DY: What are your plans after you leave The HUB and go into the more adulting world?
JC: My plans are to get a full time job at a daycare, to work on drivers Ed and to possibly get my own car, and to move out into an apartment with maybe JoLynn and to work on some more things and then much later on in the future get engaged and married, get a House and to maybe have children of my own someday.
