“My husband and I met here in the cafeteria and study hall when we were 15 years old and it just… it feels like home, it’s always felt like home and I love it. I’m proud to be a Kempsville Chief. I’m proud to contribute to the future chief’s of the world.” Mrs. Mary Boubouheropolous, or Mrs. Boubou, says.
Mrs. Boubou is Kempsville’s English department chair and a teacher of dual enrollment communications courses, and Business Academy classes, and is also the sponsor of the WKHS morning announcements class.
Mrs. Boubou has been a Chief ever since she was a highschool student here. Boubou was a band member and a soccer player.
She started working here in 2011 after working in marketing and advertising.
“I got out there and realized really how dog-eat-dog that world is and I was not in a position as a 22 year old to really want to be in that environment where it was kind of cutthroat,” so Boubou went back to school where she finished up her English major and minored in journalism in order to become a teacher.
Mrs. Boubou says she’s most proud of her family. “My kids are just amazing at what they do. I wanted an English major and a cellist and I got two scientists so I’m not too sure what I did wrong there” she laughs.
“I’m pretty proud of their accomplishments. I’m proud of my husband overcoming a lot of the stuff that he had to, his challenges of you know, being an immigrant and coming into this country when he was nine, and now he’s a business owner and he’s very successful and he’s doing things on his own terms, so yeah. He’s very loving and he’s very nurturing so i’m very proud of that.”
Mrs. Catherine Bailey, an English teacher and assistant student activities coordinator had many good things to say about Mrs. Boubou.
“Mrs. Boubou is just a good person – genuinely a good person. Working with people who value other people, recognize their strengths, support them in their time of need, listen to understand, and remember there is a person behind the job that we do makes all the difference in the world and allows her to leave a lasting impression on those she works with.”
Bailey and Boubou are not just colleagues but long-time friends. Together, they spend time with each other’s families and in Boubou’s free time she likes to read, paint, and watch her two grandchildren everyday after school. Mrs. Boubou likes to paint cards with watercolor and has read 80 books this year so far.
Owen Price, the Senior Class Vice President and a student of Mrs. Boubou’s for the second year in a row explains what it’s like to have Boubou as a teacher: “It’s pretty amazing. She gets you out of your comfort zone.” Price is currently taking Mrs. Boubou’s public speaking and interpersonal communications course. When asked what his favorite part of the class was, he said “The speeches 100%, I love every time we speak because I can see my improvement within the class.”
Mrs. Boubou is a pillar in the Kempsville community who undoubtedly has and will continue to leave a lasting impact on our chiefs.
