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North Shore Middle spotlights Noche de Cuentos literacy night and award-winning LOTC drill team
Summary
North Shore Middle School highlighted its Noche de Cuentos storytelling night and its Leadership/LOTC drill team during an academic spotlight presented by school staff and students. The event showcased student performances, cultural programming and instructors’ remarks on leadership and confidence-building.
Dr. Christopher Efferd, principal of North Shore Middle School, introduced an academic spotlight that highlighted the school’s Noche de Cuentos literacy event and its Leadership, Organization and Team Cadet (LOTC) drill team, both presented by staff and students.
The event’s literacy component, Noche de Cuentos, features storytelling intended to support language development and cultural transmission, organizers said. Miss Kaufman and Miss Contreras, the school’s librarians, lead the program; Miss Contreras said she joined the effort because of her love of reading. “I love reading. So, yes, I would absolutely love to help,” she said.
Miss Kaufman and Miss Contreras described Noche de Cuentos as an immersive evening of traditional Hispanic stories. The program this year included folklorico dancers and a visiting band from Galena Park High School, which organizers said increased the program’s cultural feel and energy. One student recalled themed activities, saying they entered a “Harry Potter tunnel” and encountered what they first thought was a real snake during the event.
Separately, Sergeant Williams, the school’s LOTC instructor, described the drill program as focused on leadership, communication and team building. “What we do in LOTC is we teach the students how to become leaders. We teach them how to communicate, how to use their command voice, which is loud clear voices,” Sergeant Williams said. Williams said the program fields a drill team and other competitive groups, including a relay team and a tug-of-war team.
Students and staff emphasized confidence and discipline as key benefits of the LOTC program. A student participant said the team helped cadets “get out of your comfort zone” and described morning practices and competition preparation; another student said the team typically does very well in competitions, saying they “win about 10 out of 10 of the competitions they joined.”
Dr. Efferd framed the spotlight as part of the campus’s broader focus on student achievement and extracurricular development. He opened and closed the presentation with the school’s motto, noting that North Shore Middle is “where everything we do is above the line.”
Organizers said the Noche de Cuentos program and the LOTC drill team plan to continue in future school years; teachers and volunteers expressed enthusiasm about repeat participation from district partners and families.
