of
Glen Burnie, MarylandHilltop Elementary School is in the of
Glen Burnie, Maryland
Our Computer Lab Tech...
A MESSAGE TO HILLTOP'S STUDENTS:
HERE'S MY HOMEWORK:
Hello, boys and girls! I hope you are having fun reading about all the people who work here at Hilltop. You sure gave your teachers a lot of homework to do! I know that for a fact, because I have had to read over every question and every answer while I put this web site together for our school. I'm glad you asked such good questions. Good questions inspire interesting answers. Some of your teachers' answers are surprising, and some are funny. All, in all, though, I'd have to say the teachers did a pretty good job of doing their homework.
I came here in the winter of 1997 to be Hilltop's computer lab tech. 
|
As you may have guessed, baseball is my favorite sport.
I have been writing features stories about
The Baltimore Orioles for over 10 years now.
Many of my stories have been published in ORIOLES MAGAZINE, which is the official ballpark program at Camden Yards.
After I broke into baseball with a story about Mike Mussina, I was asked to write several stories about Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles for different publications.
During the course of writing the articles, I got to know Chris and his family. I love to bake, so very often I bring cookies to the clubhouse to share with the ballplayers, coaches and managers. One night Chris Hoiles hit a home run. As soon as he hit it, I ran over to where Chris' dad, Tim, was sitting. I told Tim that I was taking full credit for the home run, because I had baked cookies for the ballplayers that afternoon. Mr. Hoiles laughed. When Chris hit his second home run of the night, his dad came over to where I was sitting. He asked, "What kind of cookies did you bake?" When I told him "Peanut butter," he smiled.
My son Mark and I posed for a picture at the Yard on the night that Cal Ripken, Jr. tied Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak. If you look closely at my corsage, you'll see it has a tiny Lou Gehrig figurine!
I wrote a chapter in the commemorative book that was released that night at the ballpark. When I visited Baseball's Hall of Fame, they had me sign the gift shop's copy of the book in the display case. I'm in the Hall of Fame! Pretty neat, eh?
I have also written about minor league players who hope to become big leaguers someday.
When someone from Chelsea House Publishers read my baseball stories,
they asked me if I would write a book about actor Jim Carrey.
I did. The book was named to the New York Public Library's list of "Best Books for the Teen Age 1999."
There is no truth to the rumor (that I have been spreading) that I posed for the cover artwork on the book...
(To see a larger version of any of my books, just click on the cover!)
|
Another is called,
THE COMPOSITE GUIDE TO BODYBUILDING.
|
That was a very difficult book for me to write.
John Belushi was an incredibly versatile and talented artist.
At one point, he was not only appearing on television in a
live weekly series, but he was also starring in major motion pictures,
AND performing his musical "Blues Brothers" act on the road.
His schedule was grueling and demanding, and sadly,
proved to be too much for him.
John pushed himself very hard, striving for perfection
in all of his artistic endeavors.
While he was making America laugh,
he was slowly killing himself by abusing drugs.
He died of a heroin overdose.
He died too young.
|
There are some GREAT pictures in this book!
Mark likes to play baseball
and electric guitar,
but not necessarily
at the same time...
And here's a more recent shot of Mark just relaxing.
My favorite Oriole of all time is
Can you guess my favorite food?
My motto is, "Hand over the chocolate and nobody will get hurt!"
I have a boyfriend named Gary
who likes to do computer animations.
He is very funny.
He makes people laugh at the grocery store where he works.
My sisters are both younger than I am,
Jody has been a kindergarten teacher for a long time.
My baby sister Jennifer has sailed
My dad has retired from being a small town lawyer.
My mother has retired from her job, too.
I have lots of interests.
I have been to the Hawaiian islands four times.
Here I am squinting for the camera after an afternoon spent snorkeling.
During the summer of '98
It was awesome!
did look a little bit like tourists...)
Our cottage was surrounded by tropical plants.
We picked bananas right off the trees!
Papayas and guavas made great snacks.
We drank the milk from coconuts. It was sweet!
We went swimming every day.
During the summer of 2001, I returned to the island of Kauai for vacation.
Hawaii's State Championship Canoe Races took place on our beach at Hanalei Bay during our stay there. It was exciting to see so many of Hawaii's young people competing in a sport that features lots of paddling and teamwork.
Gary created a sport of his own, during our vacation. He got quite good at harvesting ripe papayas for me by throwing a basketball up overhead. He had to be careful not to hit any unripe fruit, plus he had to dodge the basketball as it crashed back to earth while he tried to gently catch a falling papaya. I don't think the sport will ever make the Olympics, but it has my vote for:
Because it rains so often on Kauai's North Shore, it's not unusual to see rainbows, or even double or triple rainbows arching across the sky, so I saw plenty. They are truly a sight to see!
Gary and I share a love for hiking through rainforests.
We had to dress warmly for our trip up to the top of Mauna Kea!
Can you see the reflection of the setting sun on our faces?
Nations from all over the world place gigantic telescopes atop Mauna Kea for incredible star gazing.
My favorite color is GREEN
.
My favorite movies are romantic comedies.
I have two favorite movie stars.
My favorite movie star from talking motion pictures is
Clark Gable.
My favorite musical group
Return to top of page
Thanks for visiting!
Please let me know what you'd like to see on Hilltop's website in the future!
Our webpage visitors may contact our Computer Lab Tech, Ms. Hughes, at: hilltopel@hotmail.com
LAST UPDATED 3/05
Because it seems as soon as you finish one project,
you are asked to start work on another.
WESTERN RIDING,
is all about western horses.
describes the history of The Pony Express.
Here's what the cover looks like:
Have you met my son Mark?
Here he is in the Orioles dugout
with Brady Anderson.
Here's Mark in front of the Bradford Pear tree
that blooms every year on his birthday,
trying out the remote to his guitar's amplifier.
My favorite thing to watch on television is baseball.
Boog Powell.
He played left-field
and later first base.
He hit a lot of home runs,
but I think he was my hero
because he is left-handed, like me!
These days, you might see Boog
cooking up some tasty
barbeque at Camden Yards.
I'll give you a hint.
I also have a brother named Gary. He is 6'2"
He rides his bikes a lot.
All over the world, in fact. Once, when he was working on his doctorate,
He rode his bike from coast to coast here in the USA.
Recently he rode his bike on the island of Hawaii
to complete his goal of riding in each of our country's 50 states.
but they are both taller than I am.
She is very good at what she does.
She has even been nominated for teacher of the year.
around the world with her family.
During one trip her son traded a tee-shirt he had outgrown
for some plantains, which are like bananas.
They have watched sea turtles come up on the beach to lay their eggs.
I'd say my nephew is receiving an interesting education!
He lives on a lake and likes to build full-sized kayaks
from tiny strips of cedar.
He does a lot of photography,
which he sometimes combines with computer art.
For many years she was a kindergarten teacher,
until she became the principal of the kindergarten.
She, too, spends a lot of time at the computer,
e-mailing everyone in the free world!
I love to garden, and I love to travel.
Here I am
spending
a lazy afternoon
in a
hammock
in a garden in
Barbados.
My favorite island is Kauai, Hawaii's Garden Isle.
My first visit to there was in 1983.
I went with my best friend from high school, Marilyn.
I returned to the islands to share the magic with my son Mark, and my nephew Noah.
(Even if my son and my nephew
I love to snorkle 
because you get to meet 
all sorts of fish!
While swimming and snorkeling in a huge school of fish I spotted a sea turtle.
On a catamarin trip along Kauai's Napali Coast,
our boat was surrounded by beautiful spinner dolphins.
I was too excited to take a picture.
I couldn't take my eyes off all the dolphins swimming playfully around the boat.
THE SPORT WITH THE MOST DELICIOUS RESULTS!
Gary & I visited Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii during 2004. 
One of the telescopes reminded me of R2D2 from Star Wars!
While we are on the Big Island of Hawai we visited Volcanoes National Park.
At sunset we walked out over the lava fields to see the latest additions to the island.
Can you see how the island gets bigger little bit by little bit as the lava flows down the mountain?
The hot lava sizzles and steams when it hits the water in the ocean.
One is from silent films.
Can you guess who he is?
I'll give you a hint.
I dress up as this Little Fellow every Halloween.
(If you guessed
Charlie Chaplin, you're right!)
will always be The Beatles.
My favorite Beatle is Paul McCartney.
Paul played at my graduation party
when I graduated from the
University of Maryland in 1976.
(There were a few thousand other people
at the party that I didn't know.
My party was held in the midst of
Paul's Wings Over America Concert...)
Return to Hilltop's Homepage
WHY DID MS. HUGHES BECOME A BASEBALL WRITER? 
