Heather Harrison
88862@udel.edu

My mother's side of the family is somewhat diverse. Her background consists of Irish, Dutch, French, and German heritage. My great-great grandparents established a self made business in construction and contracting after arriving from Germany. For Christmas we follow the German tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve. I enjoy the Irish culture in my family for their holidays and traditions. St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays and I enjoy Irish blessings and music.

Religiously, I am of the Protestant faith. This religous affiliation came into my family as the result of an argument between the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. My grandfather's father and great uncles ended their dispute in the family by going their separate ways. Protestantism was the outcome. My family is not very religious in the sense that we do not practice our religion regularly. I find many religions to be interesting, especially Hinduism.

An interesting family member would be my grandfather. He was the first Superintendent of West Islip, Long Island schools. He also was responsible for building the schools that are in the school district of this area- when he first arrived in the district there was only one and now there are ten. He was involved in the educational community for fifty years. In his honor, the Paul J. Bellew Elementary School was named and is still functioning as one of the best schools in the vicinity of West Islip.