Evanston, Illinois – September 14, 2016 – Seven Coral Reef Senior High School students were among National Merit® Scholarship Corporation’s highest scoring participants in the SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) and are now Semifinalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Competition. These academically talented high school seniors are: Mahmoud Fahmy, Leila Halley-Wright, Gianni LaVecchia, and Timothy Whiddon from the International Baccalaureate Academy; Daniel Crair from the Health Sciences Academy; and Dario Amador-Lage and Kyle Dickson from the Visual and Performing Arts Academy.

Semifinalists must meet additional requirements and advance to Finalist standing to be considered for National Merit Scholarships®. About 8,000 awards of three types offered annually: 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships for which all Finalists compete; over 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship® awards for Finalists who meet criteria of sponsoring corporate organization; and over 4,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship® awards for Finalists who will attend sponsor college/university. Corporate organizations also provide about 1,300 Special Scholarships for other high performers in competition who are not Finalists.

Photo attached left to right: Daniel Crair; Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal; Dario, Amador-Lage, Timothy Widdon, Leila Halley-Wright, Mahmoud Fahmy, Kyle Dickson, and Gianni LaVecchia.

New York, New York – September 23, 2016 – Eleven (11) Coral Reef Senior High School seniors are being recognized as a 2017 National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) Scholar recipients. Congratulations to the following student scholars and their academy: Ryan Alamo (International Baccalaureate); Dario Amador-Lage (Visual & Performing Arts); Arlene Arevalo (Visual & Performing Arts); Kyle Dickson (Visual & Performing Arts); Jesselyn Dominguez (Health Sciences); Ismary Guardarrama (International Baccalaureate); Gianni Lavecchia (International Baccalaureate); Sofia Padron (International Baccalaureate); Daniella Rosello (International Baccalaureate); Dimitri Shurik (International Baccalaureate); and Tyler Thompson (International Baccalaureate). All of these students have GPAs of 3.5 or higher and are designated as Scholars.
Initiated in 1983, The National Hispanic Recognition Program identifies nearly 5,000 outstanding Hispanic students each year. Although the NHRP does not provide a financial reward, being named is an important academic recognition. The program sends a list of all recognized students to subscribing colleges and universities that are particularly interested in academically outstanding seniors of Hispanic heritage. This nationwide list includes students from the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Mariana Islands and Marshall Islands, as well as U.S. citizens attending schools abroad. It also includes approximately 200 of the top scoring PAA™ students from Puerto Rico.
Per The College Board, to qualify for this program, you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino. For purposes of the NHRP, students must be from a family whose ancestors came from at least one of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay or Venezuela.

Photo left to right – front row: Arlene Arevalo; Jesselyn Dominguez; Sofia Padron; Daniella Rosello; and Ismary Guardarrama. Back row: Gianni Lavecchia; Ryan Alamo; Kyle Dickson; Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal;Tyler Thompson; Dario Amador-Lage; and Dimitri Shurik

As Shakespeare’s newly staged plays captured the imagination of Londoners in the 1600’s, a half a world away in Edo (now Tokyo), audiences flocked to Kabuki, seventeenth-century Japan’s popular form of drama. Hundreds of years later in October of 2016, Coral Reef Senior High School Troupe 5744, brings both the power of Shakespeare’s drama and the beauty of the Kabuki art form to life with the performance of Kabuki Lady Macbeth, conceived by renowned Japanese master of Zen arts and theater director Master Shozo Sato, with modern poetry written by Karen Sunde, based on Shakespeare’s drama.  Kabuki Lady Macbeth is an interpretation of Shakespeare’s story focusing on Lady Macbeth’s journey, her desire, and destiny to become queen.

Coral Reef Senior High School Auditorium

10101 S.W. 152nd Street

Miami, Florida

October 4^th and 5^th – 7:00 pm Tickets    $10.00 Adults     $8.00 Students

October 6^th  3:00 pm   General Admission $5.00

Do not miss this amazing piece of theatre!

October 4, 2016 – New York, New York – Congratulations to Coral Reef Senior High School’s outstanding literary magazine, Elysium for the third year in a row.  In the first of four announcements of Crown Finalists for 2017 Awards, Elysium received the highly prestigious Crown Award recognition from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association CSPA).

Forty-two print magazines and 15 hybrid magazines were chosen as Finalists for the CSPA Crown Awards to be presented in March 2017 at ceremonies in New York City.  The magazines were published during the 2015-16 academic year. Michael Gordon, who was last year’s Editor in Chief and now attends Williams College, will join Ms. Amy Scott, Sponsor, in accepting the award at that time.

The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from CSPA’s members.  Crowns are selected for overall excellence in a head-to-head comparison. Student publishing in news, magazine, yearbook or digital (online) formats are all eligible.  During Crown consideration, publications are judged on their excellence as shown by their design, photography, concept, coverage and writing. A total of 1,100 publications were eligible for judging.

Crown Finalists are actual winners, not nominees. Some will be announced as Gold Crowns; the rest are Silver Crowns. Final results will be announced and presented at the CSPA ceremonies in March 2017.

The CSPA offers three annual competitions to honor excellence in student publishing: Medalist Critiques for written evaluation, Crown Awards for overall excellence and Gold Circle Awards for individual student recognition.

Medalist Critiques are released on a rolling basis as completed while Crown Awards and Gold Circles are judged following seasonal deadlines in June and October. For example, Gold Circle Awards for news and magazines were released September 23 while yearbook and digital entries for individual Gold Circle Awards are not due until a final deadline of October 12. Their judging and release will be completed in February.

“We’ve changed the timing of our Crown Awards judging,” said Edmund Sullivan, CSPA’s executive director. “Magazines were judged first, to be followed by print and hybrid newspapers, then yearbooks in October and finally, digital (online) news sites in November.”  Announcements of Finalists will follow each judging with the full list complete by mid-November.

The Crown Awards require a different judging process from the CSPA’s Medalist Critiques. Regular CSPA members are invited to submit a second copy of their publication for Crown judging. From among those entries submitted, the Crown Awards are considered at Columbia by panels of invited judges, working in small groups to review each publication.

Crown Awards summarize overall excellence in the entire publication while Medalist Critiques compare each publication against a printed set of standards. In contrast, Medalist Critiques are the work of a single adviser-judge.

http://cspa.columbia.edu/magazine-2017-crown-finalists-announced

Photo attached: Elysium Staff

July 22, 2016 – Atlanta, Georgia – Congratulations to Coral Reef Senior High School Sandra M. Garcia, a sophomore, in the Health Science Academy, as she was selected to become a member of The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS).  The National Society of High School Scholars is to recognize academic excellence among high-achieving students from around the world and inspire them to reach their full potential.

Membership with NSHSS begins with recognition of academic achievement and to inspire leadership. The lifetime benefits of membership include scholarships, leadership development programs, study abroad opportunities, events connecting members with university admissions officers, and access to internship and employment opportunities. Their resources are focused on helping  members successfully transition from high school to college, and from college into their young professional lives.

Formed in 2002 by James W. Lewis and Claes Nobel helped found NSHSS to continue the family’s legacy of recognizing and rewarding contributions to world betterment.  Its mission is to recognize academic excellence among high school students and to encourage members to apply their unique talents, vision, and potential for the betterment of themselves and the world. NSHSS is an organization established to connect young scholars with each other and to provide additional resources to help them succeed in scholarship, leadership, and service. Members of NSHSS enjoy attending Society events held at colleges and universities, receiving our monthly publications with valuable resources about college and program opportunities, and applying for scholarships.

October 14, 2016 – Miami, Florida – Congratulations to Ms. Anna Mirabal, Business Education teacher and Lead Teacher of the Business and Finance Academy at Coral Reef Senior High School (CRHS), as she was selected as the Greater Kendall Business Association’s 2016 Educator of the Year.

The Greater Kendall Business Association was highly impressed by her career move from being a finance and marketing executive for 30 years,  then deciding to become an educator.  Her long list of accomplishments and diverse involvement in so many wonderful groups and activities is truly reflective of her serious commitment to educating young minds.  This level of passion in business education is something we strongly applaud and greatly appreciate.

Ms.  Mirabal demonstrates the highest level of professional commitment and competency in her work with students and colleagues.  To carry out her professional responsibilities, she gives generously of her valuable time, and often her work extends beyond the school day.  Through her enthusiasm, hard work, and careful planning, CRHS students have won many awards in business competitions.  Her dedication has provided CRHS students the vitality of real world business as it pervades our everyday lives.  The unique melding of personal and professional qualities has enabled Ms. Mirabal to lead her colleagues and students into a favorable involvement with professionalism in their academy.  In addition, she is the sponsor of Future Business Leaders of America – the largest chapter in Miami-Dade County Schools (MDCPS) since 2015; named Data Champion in 2016, responsible for training MDCPS Business Education teachers on NAFTRACK Certification and Data Gathering; and her students received a 97% passing rate of Intuit Quick Books; as well as award-winning ratings year after year at District, State, and National competitions.

Ms. Mirabal will be honored by Greater Kendall Business Association’s Education Luncheon, Thursday, October 27, 2016 from 11:30am to 1:30 pm.  This event will be at the Grand Salon – Killian Palms Country Club 9950 SW 104 Street Miami, FL. 33176. Ms. Mirabal will be seated with the President of the Association, Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, keynote speaker and other guests.

At the luncheon the association will recognize Ms. Mirabal and invite her to come on stage to receive the award and say a few words.

To learn more about GKBA visit the Association at: http://www.greaterkendall.com.

October 28, 2016 – Miami, Florida – Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal, Coral Reef Senior High School, proudly announced the 2017 Silver Knight Nominees, their respective categories and academies: Natalia Avila, Art, International Baccalaureate; Rachael Osman, Athletics, International Baccalaureate; Chloe Pfanz, Business, Business and Finance; Rayen Arias, Digital and Interactive Media, Business and Finance; Anderson Leal, Drama, Visual and Performing Arts; Robert Feder, English and Literature, International Baccalaureate;  Gianni LaVecchia, General Scholarship, International Baccalaureate; Anna Patricios, Journalism,  Visual and Performing Arts; Cassandra Zuria, Mathematics, Visual and Performing Arts; Justin Veira, Music and Dance, Visual and Performing Arts; Brhea D’Mello, Science, International Baccalaureate;  Bruna Decerega, Social Science, International Baccalaureate;  Sara Sarmiento, Speech, International Baccalaureate;  Kristi Reno, Vocational Technical, Health Sciences; and Sophia Aime, World Languages, International Baccalaureate.

The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald celebrate the achievements and community service by presenting the Silver Knight Awards. These young men and women have completed extraordinary records of community service to the community and their school. This award is one of the nation’s most highly regarded student awards programs.  Students are recognized not only for maintaining excellent academics, but have also service to their communities.

Photo attached:

Front row: Sara Sarmiento, Brhea D’Mello, Natalia Avila, Cassandra Zuria, Rayen Arias, Kristi Reno, and Rachael Osman.

Back row: Sophia Aime, Anna Patricios, Justin Veira Justin Veira, Anderson Leal, Robert Feder, Gianni LaVecchia, Bruna Decerega, and Chloe Pfanz.

October 28, 2016 –  Miami, Florida – Sophomores in the Legal Academy at Coral Reef Senior High School, Logan Castellano, Sarah Borrero and Bryan Godoy raise the American, State, and School Flags. They are members of the Honor Guard Club, sponsored by Ms. Tina Cushnie. Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal,  instituted this practice to have the students raise and lower the flags at the beginning and ending of the school day.

Photo attached: Honor Guard lowering flags.

December 1, 2016 – Miami, Florida  – Coral Reef Senior High School is hosting an event from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. that impacts young people in the community – HIV/AIDS Assemblies for 400 high school and college students, featuring Survivor-Motivational Speaker Ms. Tijuana Kelly.  The purpose of the event is to empower young people to take steps to protect themselves, while simultaneously leading safe and wholesome life-styles that will minimize their risk to this disease.   The Observance of the World AIDS DAY CELEBRATION has the potential to be a life-changing, wake-up call to students holding on to a false sense of security.  The sponsoring organization wants to use this initiative to inform students that it can happen to them, but it does not have to.

In the United States 56,000 Americans are infected with HIV every year.  Fifty percent of the HIV infections occur in young people under the age of 25, with an estimated 20,000 or more young people infected annually.  (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001).  AIDS is A GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUE that is known to be the most fatal sexually transmitted disease of our life time.  HIV/AIDS infections are on the rise young women.   The key to prevention is through knowledge and instilling precautious ideals among young people.

Ms. Tijuana M. Kelly is an HIV Advocate, Model, Inspirational Speaker, HIV Tester and counselor.  Ms. Kelly is also the woman behind Primexperience Support group for Women Infected and Affected by HIV.

Ms. Kelly did not volunteer to become an HIV Advocate, but because of her own ignorance about the disease and how one might become infected, she later found her own life being consumed by the Preventable Deadly disease.

Ms. Kelly unashamedly admits to thinking she did not have to worry about HIV/AIDS.  Like many, she did not educate herself on how HIV/AIDS was transmitted, and because of her lack of knowledge, lack of self-respect, insecurities and unhealthy self-esteem, she was involved in toxic relationships.

Now because of the choices she has made, Mrs. Kelly is one of the many statistics: Young Black American Female with HIV.

Ms. Kelly’s goal is to cultivate relationships not only within her community, but across the globe to educate and inspire other to make good choices.  She also wants to help those who have not made good choices, by equipping them with tools to cope while dealing with consequences of their actions.  Ms. Kelly currently works single handedly in communities where at-risk populations are prevalent.

Ms. Tijuana Kelly is making it her business to help show the number of statistics down by “Speaking out, educating others and dismissing the myths and ignorance, especially within the Black Communities.

Palo Alto, California – December 6, 2016 – QuestBridge proudly announce that the results of the 2016 National College Match (“College Match”), a national program that pairs talented high school seniors with full scholarships to the nation’s top colleges. After receiving a record-high of 14,491 applications, from which QuestBridge chose 5,338 as Finalists, 767 exceptional students have been selected as this year’s College Match Scholarship Recipients. This represents an all-time high for QuestBridge, with a 17% increase in College Matches compared to last year’s high of 657.

QuestBridge is a non-profit program that links bright, motivated students with educational and scholarship opportunities at some of the nation’s best colleges. QuestBridge is the provider of the National College Match Program and the College Prep Scholarship. These under-represented students, who hail from every part of the United States, experience more barriers to obtaining a top-tier education than many of their peers, and are often first-generation college students. QuestBridge partners with premier colleges, who are committed to socio-economic diversity. “We are thrilled to share the news with our largest group of College Matches in QuestBridge’s history, and are so pleased that our partner colleges continue to offer such generous aid to our students”, said Ana McCullough, co-founder and CEO of QuestBridge.

Coral Reef Senior High School’s Sophia Aime, is a QuestBridge College Match recipient. Sophia is a senior in the International Baccalaureate Academy (IB) and will be attending Macalester College in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

Photo: Sophia Aime

January 3, 2017 – Miami, Florida – Coral Reef Senior High School is proud to announce six  POSSE Scholarship Winners.  These outstanding seniors with their POSSE are:  Jonathan Nicoleau (Davidson); Mario Garcia (Syracuse University); Sara Sarmiento (Mount Holyoke College); Maria Medina (Hamilton College); and Nicole Arce (Pomona College).

The Posse Foundation has identified, recruited and trained 6,993 public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential to become Posse Scholars. Since 1989, these students—many of whom might have been overlooked by traditional college selection processes—have been receiving four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships from Posse’s partner institutions of higher education.

The Posse Partner schools from Miami are: Davidson, Franklin and Marshall College, Hamilton, Mt. Holyoke, Pomona, and Syracuse University. Most important, Posse Scholars graduate at a rate of 90 percent and make a visible difference on campus and throughout their professional careers.

January 3, 2017 – Miami, Florida – Coral Reef Senior High School is proud to announce six  POSSE Scholarship Winners.  These outstanding seniors with their POSSE are:  Jonathan Nicoleau (Davidson); Mario Garcia (Syracuse University); Sara Sarmiento (Mount Holyoke College); Maria Medina (Hamilton College); and Nicole Arce (Pomona College).

The Posse Foundation has identified, recruited and trained 6,993 public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential to become Posse Scholars. Since 1989, these students—many of whom might have been overlooked by traditional college selection processes—have been receiving four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships from Posse’s partner institutions of higher education.

The Posse Partner schools from Miami are: Davidson, Franklin and Marshall College, Hamilton, Mt. Holyoke, Pomona, and Syracuse University. Most important, Posse Scholars graduate at a rate of 90 percent and make a visible difference on campus and throughout their professional careers.

December 15, 2016 – Atlanta, Georgia – Congratulations to Coral Reef Senior High School seniors: Daniel Crair, Bruna Decerega and Rachael Osman as they have been selected as a Semi-Finalists in the 2017 Coca-Cola Scholars Program. There are 1,914 students selected from nearly 86,000 applicants from across the country to continue through our selection process.

They are currently submitting their Semifinalist applications to be reviewed by the Program Reading Committee in January. After this review, 250 Semifinalists will advance as Regional Finalists, with 150 becoming Coca-Cola Scholars. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation supports more than 1,400 college students each year, with annual scholarships of $3.4 million through two nationally recognized programs on behalf of the Coca-Cola System. Scholarship recipients excel academically and in service to others. Most Coca-Cola Scholars share a passion for social justice and many have overcome tremendous challenges to pursue their dreams.

THE COCA-COLA SCHOLARS PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIP is an achievement-based scholarship awarded to graduating high school seniors each year. Students are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, and their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities. 150 Coca-Cola Scholars are selected each year to receive this $20,000 scholarship.

Applicants must be: Current high school (or home-schooled) seniors attending school in the United States (or select DoD schools); U.S. Citizens; U.S. Nationals; U.S. Permanent Residents; Refugees; Asylees; Cuban-Haitian Entrants; or Humanitarian Parolees; Anticipating completion of high school diploma at the time of application; Planning to pursue a degree at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution; and Carrying a minimum 3.00 GPA at the end of their junior year of high school.

Photos left to right: Daniel Crair, Bruna Decerega and Rachael Osman .

January 19, 2017 – Miami, Florida – The Academy of Legal and Public Affairs at Coral Reef Senior High is proud to recognize the Students of the Month for November and December. They were selected by their excellence contributions service to the Academy and the Florida Public Service Association. The students are: Helena Brito, Joshua DeFreitas, Alyssa Martinez, Jessica Rivera, and Daniela Rodriguez.

“FPSA is a Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) recognized by the Florida Department of Education as the CTSO that provides coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education and careers in the Law, Public Safety and Security and Firefighter career cluster; provides technical skill proficiency, and includes competency-based applied learning that contributes to the academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, technical skills, and occupation-specific skills, and knowledge of all aspects of the Law, Public Safety and Security career cluster. This organization offers a broad foundation of STEM knowledge and skills to prepare students for employment in network support services positions.” FPSA will continue to accelerate students in “mastery and command of subject matter” to promote STEM related skills in the classroom and at state conference/competitions.”

Photo right to left: Joshua DeFreitas, Helena Brito, Alyssa Martinez, Daniela Rodriguez, Jessica Rivera, and Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal.

January 19, 2017 – Coral Gables, Florida – Coral Reef Senior High School congratulates Santiago Guzman, a graduating senior in the Visual and Performing Arts Academy, as he was awarded  a scholarship from the Eta Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, a University of Miami fraternity. This competition was limited to minority male high school students and the speech prompt was: “Chastity in 2016: What is the role of Black men in upholding the respect of womanhood in today’s society?” Santiago was selected as a finalist to participate in their annual high school male oratorical contest as they want build a competitive applicant pool from the talented and highly-qualified young minority males throughout Miami-Dade County in 9^th through 12^th grades.

The chapter hosted MLK Oratorical Scholarship Competition at the University of Miami on January 18, 2017.

The purpose of this event is to honor the legacy of our dear brother Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by inspiring young men of color to articulately express themselves on the social issues that plague our generation. Finalists were asked to recite their pieces before a panel of expert judges. The fraternity provided finalists a tour of the University of Miami, showing them that a college education is accessible to them and highlighting positive young men of color working to uplift our community.

Photo: Santiago Guzman

February 8, 2017 – Miami, Florida – The Scholastic Art Awards are the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition initiatives for creative teens. This program gives thousands of students throughout America the opportunity to broaden their creative horizons while earning local and national recognition. The objective is to foster the confidence of young artists and give them the opportunity to be recognized for their creative achievements by the world at large. Founded in 1923 by Scholastic Inc., the nation’s leading publisher of children’s book and educational materials, the awards have been administered since 1992 by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a not-for-profit corporation.

The Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition showcases select artwork created by middle school and high school students from the United States, Canada, U.S. Territories, and U.S. – sponsored schools abroad.  Entry materials reach 12 million students in 99% of America’s schools and attract more than 250,000 entries each year.  Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the regional sponsor of The Awards.  At the conclusion of the Miami-Dade County Regional Exposition, one of 81 across the country, top award-winning artworks are forwarded to the national program in New York City.  Each work is reviewed by a panel of art professionals for originality, technical skill and the emergence of personal voice or vision.  National awardees are honored at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Award-winning artwork is installed in galleries in New York, and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. adjacent to the White House.

Participants, supported by their visual arts teachers and other community mentors, create and submit their best works of art. This year the jurors reviewed approximately 2000 individual artwork over four days. Coral Reef Senior High School is pleased to announce the following recipients awards and their categories:

Gold Key Awards Artists: Nuria Dolphin (Art Portfolio) and Samantha Smith (Art Portfolio).  These artists were presented with a gold key pin and a certificate on the regional level.  Their artworks are forwarded to New York City for national judging works.

Silver Key Award Artists: Leira Padron (Drawing & Illustration) and Brianna Marshall (Printmaking).  These artists are presented the silver key pin and a certificate on the regional level.

The following students were recognized as Honorable Mention: Eva Bibas (Digital Art); Marissa Diaz (Painting); Alyssa Goosby (Printmaking); Leira Padron (Drawing & Illustration); and Caitlyn Ridgeway (Drawing & Illustration); and Gabriella Torres (Painting).

The Awards have fostered creativity and talent and feature a notable list of alumni recipients including: Richard Avedon, Mel Bochner, Truman Capote, Frances Farmer, Red Grooms, Stephen King, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Maynard, Duane Michals, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Pearlstein, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol.

Photo attached left to right: Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal; Leira Padron, Eva Bibas, Marissa Diaz, Caitlyn Ridgeway, Brianna Marshall, Gabriella Torres, Samantha Smith, Alyssa Goosby, and Nuria Dolphin.

February 28, 2017 – Orlando, Florida – Congratulations to Coral Reef Senior High School’s, William Gilmore.  William is a graduating senior in the Engineering Technology Academy.  He was selected as an official winner of the 2017 Disney Dreamers Academy Essay Contest!  The prize package includes an invitation to attend Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and ESSENCE® magazine.  The Academy will be held at the Walt Disney World® Resort near Orlando, Florida,  March 9-12, 2017.  It is the Disney Dreamers Academy intent to teach the 100+ high school students how to Dream BIG and Discover the Possibilities.  The weekend will include: educational sessions, guest speakers, and hands-on learning opportunities throughout the living classroom of the Walt Disney World® Resort.  As discovered over the last nine years of this program, it can be life-changing for the students and continues to be awe-inspiring for the Cast.  A Dreamer Commencement Ceremony is included as part of the Dreamer and Chaperone event itinerary on Sunday, March 12, 2017.

William’s Dreamers Profile includes: “I am a senior at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, Florida. I am enrolled in the Gifted and Engineering Magnet programs. My many interests include Art, Engineering and African Studies. My dream is to become a film director, screenwriter, producer, and publish my own line of comic books featuring Black superheroes. I am the founder of the Pre-Engineering Society 4 Youth web family on Facebook. I hold to the belief that creating more art will lead to the development of young leaders.”

William Gilmore

2017 National Merit Finalists

Evanston, Illinois – March 2, 2017 – Seven Coral Reef Senior High School students were among National Merit^® Scholarship Corporation’s highest scoring participants in the SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT^®) and are now Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Competition. These academically talented high school seniors are: These academically talented high school seniors are: Mahmoud Fahmy, Leila Halley-Wright, Gianni LaVecchia, and Timothy Whiddon from the International Baccalaureate Academy; Daniel Crair from the Health Sciences Academy;  and Dario Amador-Lage and Kyle Dickson from the Visual and Performing Arts Academy.

Beginning in March and continuing to mid-June, NMSC notifies approximately 7,400 Finalists at their home addresses that they have been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship® award. Merit Scholarship awards are of three types:

• National Merit® $2500 Scholarships

Every Finalist competes for these single payment scholarships, which are awarded on a state-representational basis. Winners are selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans.

• Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards

Corporate sponsors designate their awards for children of their employees or members, for residents of a community where a company has operations, or for Finalists with career plans the sponsor wishes to encourage. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.

• College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards

Officials of each sponsor college select winners of their awards from Finalists who have been accepted for admission and have informed NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor college or university is their first choice. These awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study. The published deadlines for reporting a sponsor college as first choice can be viewed on page 3 of the Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists in the 2017 National Merit® Scholarship Program.

Merit Scholarship awards are supported by some 440 independent sponsors and by NMSC’s own funds. Sponsor organizations include corporations and businesses, company foundations, professional associations, and colleges and universities.

Photo attached left to right: Daniel Crair; Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal; Dario, Amador-Lage, Timothy Whiddon, Leila Halley-Wright, Mahmoud Fahmy, Kyle Dickson, and Gianni LaVecchia.

March 3, 2017 – Ocala, Florida – Florida Public Service Association (FPSA) members of the Legal and Public Affairs Academy at Coral Reef Senior High School are showing their awards earned during the State Competition. The Honor Guard:  Parmie Dean, Brandon Naranjo, Jordyn Turner, Jayla Burton, Sarah Borrero, Malka Trujillo, and Danieska Lopez and Parliamentary Procedures Team:  Hannah Llende, Jane Perez, Sebastian Ranut, Damon Veras, Emily Olson, Angelica Almanza, and Benjamin Caserta) took First Place.  Angelica Almanza received First Place in CPR, Damon Veras took First Place in Extemporaneous Speaking and Dina Thomas earned a $500.00 scholarship to Johnson and Wales for her Third Place finish in Extemporaneous Opening Statement. Lionel Esperance earned First Place in Obstacle Course and Annabelle Colon won Third Place in Obstacle Course. William Garcia earned Third Place in Prepared Speaking. Max Tamayo, Megan Lichtman, Christian DeLao and Annabelle Colon earned Third Place in Building Search. Thomas Hodgins, Joshua Defreitas and William Garcia earned First Place for the Prison Project.  Other winners include:  Danieska Lopez, Victoria Briz, Daniela Rodriquez, Andres Vargas, Karl Pridemore, Michael Guerra, Dylan Heimer, Annabelle Colon, Malka Trujillo, Angela Olave, Nicole Ramirez, Natalie Boix, Vickie Avalo, and Gaby Hernandez. The team is led by Ms. Tina Cushnie, outstanding Academy Teacher.

Founded in 1990 as the Florida Association of Public Service Students (FAPSS), the Florida Public Service Association, Inc. (FPSA) is a public service driven career technical student organization (CTSO) recognized by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).

As a CTSO, FPSA provides coherent and rigorous content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills needed to prepare for further Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education and careers in the criminal justice, law studies, firefighting, public administration and teaching assisting through career development events.

As an association, FPSA provide students with academic, general employability, problem-solving, technical and occupation-specific skills to meet the demands for a career in public service.

Photo below: Winners with Ms. Marinka Stuvel, Lead Teacher and Mr. Thomas Ennis, Principal

March 14, 20 1 4 – New York New York – Congratulations to two Coral Reef Senior High School graduating seniors, Nuria Dolphin and Samantha Smith, as they were recognized by The Alliance for You ng Artists & Writers as 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Award National  Medalists. In addition, the school received recognition for leadership, faculty’s efforts, and the school’s dedication to education in the creative arts.  Nuria received a Silver Medal and Samantha received a Silver Medal with Distinction.

National Medalists represent the top I % of submissions to the 2017 Scholastic Awards. This year students submitted 18,800 works of art and writing. About 17,000 submissions received Gold Keys – the top honor at the regional level. Only 2,740 Medals were awarded at the national level!

Hundreds of thousands of young people have been recognized through the Awards since the program began in 1923. Among t hem are some of America’s most respected artistic and literary talents.  Richard Avedon, Truman Capote, Lena Dunham. Bernard Malamud, Joyce Maynard, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Pearlstein, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford, and Andy Warhol all earned Scholastic Awards as high school students.

All National Medalists are   invited to attend the annual National Events in New York City, with the National Ceremony taking place at Carnegie Hall and a series of student showcase events. Art work and writing from National Medalists will also be featured in the National Exhibition at Parsons School of Design at The New School and Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery. The exhibition will be on display J u ne 2 through June 1 2.