Tornado Times, special edition, Gifted Camp 2019

Index

Camp counselor Shirley Kwan works with camper Carolina Carrera to make a friendship bracelet. Campers from 40 schools attended the Pompano Beach High School Gifted Camp from July 22 to Aug. 1.

PHOTO BY CASSANDRA JORDAN

Pompano Beach High School Pompano Beach, FL 33060

August 2019 @TornadoTimes

2 Theater 3 Video Production 4 Engineering 5 Physics 6 Robotics 7 Coding, Sci Vis 8 Culinary 9 Sports History 10 Marine Biology 11 DNA 12 Art 13 Math History 14 Hamilton 15 STEM 16 Chess 17 Logic Puzzles 18 World Wars 19 Creative Writing 20 Debate 21 Journalism 22 Break time breakdown Vol. 11, special edition thetornadotimes.org

Top: Campers Nahla Cherefant, Kate Douglass, Saffi Hoffman and Rebecca Hernandez pose as ocean waves during a rehearsal. The campers performed "Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride."

Bottom: Counselor Adam Nobles and campers Saiya Zipper and Karina Aliaga play ships and sailors with campers. The activity helped the campers get comfortable with stage positions.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA CAVARETTA

Campers get their act together

By Samantha Burton and Sophia Cavaretta, Staff Interns

Campers in the Theater course were taught to be more confident during the past two weeks by playing games and rehearsing their performance.

“For part of the day we play some games and for part of the day we’ll do choreography where we’re just teaching the kids to dance and then running (the performance),” counselor Cali Hinesley said. “We practice it a lot.”

The campers performed the song “Hawiian Rollercoaster

Ride” from the Disney movie “Lilo and Stitch.”

“They are all very clearly excited for this performance,” theater director Susan Euler said.

Despite coming into the course with different levels of experience, the campers were able to work hard and come together to learn their performance.

“I’m really, really impressed with my groups this year. Both groups learned their numbers record time. They’re awesome,” Euler said.

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Q&A

with campers Q. Are you happy with your choice of theater?

A. “I’m happy with my choice of theater and I like it because it really brings out my personality and it just makes me feel like, welcome.” Jordan Andrews, Grade 4 Q. Do you like the challenge of performing in front of an audience?

A. “I like the challenge of performing in front of people. It’s fun not scary! Fear doesn’t come knocking on my door all that often.” Rebecca Hernandez, Grade 4 Q. How many years have you been in the theater program?

A. “I’ve done it two years back, so this is about my second year.” Saffi Hoffman, Grade 4 Q. Are you excited for the performance?

A. “Yes, because a lot of dancing and, a lot of happiness.” Ty Herbster, Grade 5

Lights! Camera! Legos!

Brody Good sets up the scene for his lego movie. The younger campers worked on stop-motion Lego movies since the first day of camp.

PHOTO BY KAITLYN BERNSTEIN

Campers make stop motion films

By Ali Natt and Kaitlyn Bernstein, Staff Interns

Students Cody Emerson and Cameron Koster, along with their other Video Production classmates in grades 3-5, made stop-motion Lego movies.

“I like video production,” Emerson said, “I knew what it was like from last year, and I really like the teachers and what we do.”

The grade 6-8 campers made an overview video of the camp with the help of course director Dr. Melillo and her counselors.

“It’s fun to teach the kids how to use the cameras and

edit their videos,” counselor Perri Kisha said.

Melillo’s main focus in video production is helping the kids have fun.

“I love it so much because the kids love it,” Melillo said.

While many campers like the course because it’s fun, it also taught the kids many valuable skills that they can use later on, whether they go into a field related to the course or not.

“Video production teaches the kids many cooperation skills and how to work as a team,” Melillo said.

How to make Lego movies 1. Go on a video sharing website like YouTube and search for LEGO movies, to get ideas 2. Make sure you have all of your materials 3. Build and stage your set, this could be 100% LEGO, a real world scene or a combination of the two 4. Next get the LEGO minifigure actors ready 5. Position the starting scene of your movie and your camera keeping in mind that it is imperative that the camera be immobilized otherwise your finished video will be jerkey 6. Now it is time to move the actors in your scene but just a little bit 7.Use any stop motion application on your computer that can make variable fps time settings 8. Go on iMovie, Windows Movie Maker or another movie making program and import your photos 9. Delete any extra photos and put them in order 10. Watch your movie using the slideshow setting

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Innovators build cars of the future

By Rylan Bold and Ciana Ruocco, Staff Interns

Campers in the Engineering course tested different energies to see how far the cars tthey made would go.

“We are making a car powered by a rubber band, turbine and motor,” rising sixth grader Ricky Relyea said.

Instructor Mr. Marchand and counselors Danniel Guarnieri and Rachel Raybuck were surprised by how quickly the students gained an understanding of the task.

“We do go around quite often and help them with things they don’t understand, but they are mostly independent,” Guarnieri said.

Rising seventh grader Noah Peterson liked being able to

solve the problems that came up.

“The most challenging part was fixing the car because there was a point in time that the ziptie on the axle broke,” Peterson said.

Many of the kids had a great time making the cars and experimenting with the different types of energies.

“My favorite part was watching how far the cars went and the science behind it,” rising sixth grader Ashely Salazar said.

Rising eighth grader Aidan Kermis looked forward to learning even more about the topic.

“I like the whole idea of engineering and how you make things work,” he said.

Camper Audrey Erving releases her car to see how far it goes. The campers tested different energies to see which made their cars go the fastest.

PHOTO BY RYLAN BOLD

Campers Dylan Soderman, Avery Picchiarini and Audrey Erving test a chemical bomb car. The campers were given the bonus assignment because they finished early.

PHOTO BY CIANA RUOCCO

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Phenomenal Physics Campers recreate Rube Goldberg machines

By Alexandra Yeats and Giovanna Campos, Staff Interns

Campers in the Physics course made their own version of a Rube Goldberg machine.

“A Rube Goldberg is a very complicated chain reaction that completes a simple task,” eighth-grader Yuvinny Fuentes said.

Campers began making their machines by creating a blueprint.

“The easiest part was doing the blueprint, but it was a little hard in the beginning,” Maneeha Luqman said.

After putting together a

blueprint, the campers had to gather their materials to create their machines.

“The materials we are using (are) wood, balls, dominoes, a tiny car, pipes, hammers and mouse traps,” Julian Dozois said.

Students enjoyed how the Rube Goldberg machine requires complex steps to complete a simple task.

“A marble rolls down a pipe which goes down a tunnel then knocks down a ruler, hits a car and in the end catches a mouse in the mousetrap,” Hunter Millikin said.

Melody Khoury cuts a piece of wood with a wood saw. The campers created their own machines from materials like wood, balls, dominoes, pipes and a tiny car.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA YEATS

Logan Millikin explains how his Rube Goldberg machine works. A Rube Goldberg machine completes a simple task with many, complicated steps.

PHOTO BY GIOVANNA CAMPOS

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Claire Yates talks about the maze the class is trying to complete. The campers had to figure out how to get the robot around different turns and obstacles to finish the maze.

PHOTO BY CAYLIE COX

Robots bow to campers

By Caylie Cox and Bailey Perkins, Staff Interns

Kaylee Salazar watches the robot's program run. The students learned how to program using Lego Mindstorm.

PHOTO BY CAYLIE COX

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Campers in the Robotics course learned how to code a robot to perform tasks.

“We have to plot a maze and get to the end and make a lift to shoot a ball into a cup twice to finish the maze,” camper Sean Halfpenny said.

These tasks are completed by a special coding program.

“It is a drag-and-drop program that shows power and rotation,” counselor Gabrielle Lusskin said. “Each block does something different depending on the motor. There are different sizes of motors, such as

small and medium. There are also sensors, such as touch and color sensors.”

The challenges provided campers with knowledge that will be useful in their future.

“Kids in Robotics learn problem solving skills and further their technical ability,” counselor Lucas Lindgren said. “(They) find new and creative ways to solve problems.”

The campers in the course learned a lot, and some have even come back multiple years.

“I’ve done robotics for four years and I like it so much,” eighth-grader Matthew Millikin said.

Cracking the Code Campers learn to code

By Kylee Herron, Staff Intern

Campers in the Coding course learned to code.

In this challenging mind-puzzling course campers learned to code and understand the language of the computer.

This course was run by Lamberto Roscioli, who has taught for five years. Roscioli believes that coding is so important that it should be in every school along with the other subjects such as reading and writing .

“My goal is to have everyone try to code, not just guys because usually people think thats its a guy thing,” Roscioli said.

Sixth-grade camper Olivia Martinez said that her sister liked coding, so she decided to try it herself.

The coding course is a fun innovative experience that challenges the campers’ minds to learn in the language of the computer. According to sixth-grade camper Jae Holder, coding is amazing and is the future of the world.

“Why not learn to code?” Holder said.

“We use it everyday. We have to be able to code because if we can’t that means we can’t keep up with the world.”

Coding can also lead to a very profitable

Mr. Roscioli helps campers understand what their doing in the puzzle so they can crack the code and move on to the next level. Campers also worked together to solve code even faster.

PHOTO BY MEHKYLA MCLEMORE and a very good business.

“My parents are in a programming and coding business,” eighth-grade camper Declan Mulligan said. “It encouraged me to want to learn. I learned Javascript, one of many computer languages.”

Campers used Javascript to solve puz-

zles.

“Coding is fun,interesting,and practical for our online world,” sixth-grade camper Michael Drew said. “You can use code to make websites, apps and more. I may even want to do code as a side profession because coding is simply amazing.”

Campers build with technology, science

By Kylee Herron and Mehkyla Mclemore, Staff Interns

Camper Victor Fuentes shows Mr. Roscioli's son Matteo how to use the program Rhino 6. Roscioli brought his kids to camp so they could learn about some of the courses.

PHOTO BY EDUARDO ANDRADE

Campers in the Sci Vis course learned how to make digital renderings using a program.

“I get to do something I like, and it is preparing me for when I’m an architect,” sixth-grader Mehki Mclemore said.

He said he loves to design because in the future he wants to be an architect, and the Sci Vis course improved those skills, introducing him to the

3-D design program Rhino.

“I love Sci Vis,” rising sixth-grader Jordyn Green said, “I’m really good at it.”

Once campers learned how to use the program, they were able to build things they’ve seen in the world around them.

“I love making realistic objects with 3-D shapes,” seventh-grader Krisztina Tolotti said. “This activity lets you use new ways to be creative.”

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

By Nikki Pizzano Ingredients: 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 large egg 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with non-stick baking mats or parchment paper In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

With electric mixer beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined.

Gradually beat in combined dry ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips with large spoon or spatula.

Roll 1 teaspoon sized balls and place on baking sheets.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or untill golden brown.

Cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Transfer to a cooking rack untill cookie is completely cooled.

Campers Amayah Scott, Isabella Berns and Molly Nipp make cookie dough in the Culinary arts class. They all had fun while enjoying the delicious food they created.

PHOTO BY CHARLI JURVIC

Culinary Arts speeds rise of hopeful chefs

By Alanna Ricahrdson and Charli Jurvic, Staff Interns.

Campers in the Culinary Arts course got to experience life in the shoes of a chef, while working together to prepare different foods.

"We're learning how to bake and testing different recipes," fourth-grader Skylar Weldon said.

Throughout the course students learned to make different foods while having fun with their peers.

"My favorite part of the camp is spending time with the kids in my group," fifth-grader Kayla Fioravante said.

The course helped students who are interested in learning more about the field.

"I took the Culinary Arts course because I want to be a

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chef when I grow up," Weldon said.

Many campers' favorite part about the course is getting to eat the food, but for counselors like 12th grader C. J. Gilchrest,

the best part of the course was helping the kids.

"I love to cook, but I also really enjoy giving the kids a hands on experience while cooking," Gilchrest said.

Joshua Wenag , Mason Udell and Matthew Liebowitz enjoy the breakfast they made in Culinary Arts. In this class they learned to find interest in new foods.

PHOTO BY CHARLI JURVIC

Student Joseph Mullins is drawing a flag for his favorite sports team, the Florida Gators.

PHOTO BY BRIDGET SWANEPOEL

Students score history of sports Sports history is out of the park

By Bridget Swanepoel and Esther Klavan, Staff Interns

Samantha Burton is drawing a flag for her favorite sports team, the Gators.

PHOTO BY ESTHER KLAVAN

Students in Sports History learned about the rules, strategies and aspects of a variety of sports,in a fun and interesting new way by taking new aproaches to a topic they love.

“We learn about different sports each day,” sixth grader Sammie Burton said, “(I decided to take this course ) because I love sports.’’

Mr. Firth, the course instructor, provided information about sports and tried

to help guide the students to find their own answers when learning in the class. “(My favorite parts about camp) is the free lunch and working with kids,” Firth said, “which is why I like to teach.”

Most of the students in the course decided to take it because they loved sports and wanted to dive deeper into the history and origins of the sport they love. “(I like this class) because I have learned a lot and have fun,” Burton said.

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Camper Charli Jurvic explores the anatomy of a crayfish in the Marine Biology course. Campers dissected squids, crayfish and clams.

PHOTO BY GRACE SWANEPOEL

Exploring sea life from inside Marine biologists dissect crayfish

By Grace Swanepoel and Shea Zecca, Staff Interns Students in Marine Bio dissected clams and crayfish and learned more about sea life.

“I picked Marine Biology because I want to work with sea creatures when I am older,” sixth-grader Josh Brown said.

Before the studented examined the sea life, they created models of clams to learn about all their parts.

“I am now familiar with how a clam looks on a diagram, and in real life,” eighth-grader Charli Jurvic said.

The reasons some students

“Some of the students get a little grossed out by it.” — Mrs. Coker have chosen Marine Biology was to learn about sea creatures and how they fuction.

But diseccting may be a little challeging to the campers that are not comfortable with the idea of examing a sea creature.

Mrs. Coker, the Marine Bio teacher said, “Most of the students enjoy this class but when it comes to dissecting some of the students get a little grossed out by it.”

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Marine Biology campers Lauren Bavaro and Madison Goderre work together on dissecting a crayfish. The campers made cutouts of the crayfish before dissecting to gain understanding of the sea creature.

PHOTO BY GRACE SWANEPOEL

Campers Anna Frey and Brooke Rock work on decoding DNA molecules. The work they did helped them learn how to put together Punnett squares.

PHOTO BY LYNN-ROSE RUIZ

Decoding DNA in their genes Campers study traits like eye color, height

By Lynn-Rose Ruiz and Jordan O'Loughlin, Staff Interns

Mr.Frey teaches the basics of how to set up a Punnett square. They eventually get more difficult and went from four to 16 boxes .

PHOTO BY LYNN-ROSE RUIZ

Campers in DNA class learned about a fundamental chemical of nearly all living organisms and how to make Punnett squares.

The course was offered to both elementary schoolers and middle schoolers, and the different grades learned different things.

“I enjoy Mr.Frey’s method of how to teach and how he anwsers questions,” said sixth-grader Kriztina Tolotti Mr.Frey is very aware of the diffference in age and what he needs to do to correctly teach.

“The amount of instruction needed is a little more with the

young kids, but they are also more attentive,” course instructor Mr. Frey said. “It’s fun to interact with young kids and be less strict.”

The kids were also very interested about the human body.

“It’s interesting to know more about ourselves.” said sixth grader Kriztina Tolotti The campers were excited to learn about DNA because the knowledge they gain can help them in the future.

“DNA is the future and the core of our society,” eighth-grader Edden Ledy said.

“It will help us with school later on,” sixth-grader Ianna Millerm said.

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Camper Madison Chu colors in her drawing. The campers enjoyed drawing and coloring in the art room.

PHOTO BY AVERY PICCHIARINI

Julia Golding asks her mother, Debbie Golding, for help on her art project. The teachers and counselors helped students whenever they had a question.

PHOTO BY CASSANDRA JORDAN

Pompano's young Picassos

By Cassandra Jordan and Avery Picchiarini, Staff Interns

Young artists were hard at work in the art room these past two weeks. Students going into third through fitfh grade all got to work together in the classroom to make beautiful works of art.

“I get to make things out of my own hands instead of having someone make it,” Eleanor Montecaleo said. “I don’t buy something, I’m actually making things myself.”

Montecaleo was proud of her creations and will keep them for a long time.

The campers appreciated the opportunity to express

themselves creatively with like-minded artists.

“I’m like the Picasso of the family,” Carolina Carrera said.

something comes out nice or when they see their artwork in front of them,” counselor Shirley Kwan said.

“I’m like the Picasso of the family.

I really like to express myself on paper.” ­— Carolina Carrera “I really like to express myself on paper.”

Carrera loves art because she loves creating things.

“My favorite part about helping the kids is seeing how happy they get when they see

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Camp counselors said they enjoyed the chance to help younger children. The camp counselors spent time with the young campers every day at camp from class to class and enjoyed helping campers. The

youngsters appreciated the help from the counselors and the art teacher.

“They help me if I ever need assistance or if I did something wrong and I need to change it,” Montecaleo said.

Counselors enjoyed spending time with students and helping them with their art.

Kwan loved helping out at the camp because she loved interacting with the kids and recalling her past self.

“I chose to be a counselor because I wanted to hang out with the kids and to see what it was like to go back in time and remember what it was like being a kid again,” Kwan said.

Pascal's Triangle Explained

“Within Pascal’s Triangle, (there are) different patterns along the diagonals. You’ll have a diagonal of ones, a second diagonal of the integers, a third diagonal of the triangular numbers and then a fourth diagonal of tetrahedral numbers. The tetrahdreal diagonal looks like a pyramid.” — Mrs. Picchiarini

Camper Yuwei Huang recreates the tetrahedral diagon of Pascal's Triangle. The campers recreated the different diagonals using spaghetti and marshmallows.

PHOTO BY ALEXIS SCHATTEN

Instructor Mrs. Picchiarini helps Alexander Young with a logarithms worksheet. Campers in the Math History course worked out advanced math problems while also learning about the influential mathematicians responsible for them.

PHOTO BY EDUARDO ANDRADE

Campers explore roots of mathematics

By Eduardo Andrade, Managing Editor

Campers in the Math History course learned about the history of math and how to solve math problems they’ve yet to encounter in their classes at school.

“I have been introduced to the logic behind it, but I’ve never done some of these things before,” camper Ashley Salazar said.

This was the first year Math History was offered and some campers were excited at the opportunity to take the class.

“I really love math, and I thought it would be interesting to learn about the history of math,” Salazar said.

Counselor Bria Kuntz also enjoyed working in the new course.

“Math is honestly my favorite subject, which is not something a lot of people say, but I like seeing the young generations get interested in their education,” Kuntz said.

Being the only counselor may

seem challenging, but Kuntz did not have a problem, especially because of the smaller size of the class.

“It’s nice having a smaller amount of kids,” Kuntz said.

“I’m really just showing the kids how to solve equations and stuff like that, like showing them the steps to figure out problems.”

Students learned about many new mathematical concepts and about influential figures in math, pushing them to learn more and challenge their mental abilities. “(Math History is) very challening,” Salazar said.

Despite the difficulty of the course, many campers still enjoyed themselves.

“Doing … math is fun so you can flex your knowledge,” camper Rachel Ostrow said.

Campers gave credit to Karin Picchiarini, the instructor of the course. “(Mrs. Picchiarini) is very nice and I really like her,” Salazar said.

Camper Garret Weadock focuses on a difficult math problem. Weadock and other campers in the Math History course worked on problems several grade levels above them.

PHOTO BY BRIA KUNTZ

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Yuvinny Fuentes is studying and taking notes for the Federalist debate. Fuentes was on the Federalists team, which won the debate.

PHOTO BY ALEX RATHBUN

Kids learn about Founding Father

By Alex Rathbun and Anasofia Morales, Staff Writers

Campers in the Hamilton class learned about Alexander Hamilton in an entertaining way.

“History is boring but it’s fun to learn about Hamilton,” sixth-grade camper Audrey Erving said.

In the class, teacher Mr. Lichtenstein had the students learn about Hamilton’s life by listening to songs from the musical “Hamilton” and discussing the meanings.

Lichtenstein has been teaching for three years, but this year was his first with the gifted camp.

“I wanted to experience kids who really want to learn,” Lichtenstein said.

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Some activities included designing currency and learning about the Coast Guard, which Hamilton founded.

“ I wanted to experience kids who really want to learn” — Michael Lichtenstein “It helps us learn a lot,” sixth-grader Giovanna Campos said. Campos also said that the classes that she took helped her get

ahead of her classmates in school.

The campers also participated in a debate in which one team, the Federalists, the party to which Hamilton belonged, would convince the anti-Federalists that their system was the superior one. The kids who acted as the jury voted on the group that presented the best evidence, voted in favor of the Federalists.

“We were taking a trip back in time,” eight-grader Yuvinny Fuentes said.

The students enjoyed learning about one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

“I have a lot of fun with everybody, and it’s also very educational,” said Campos.

Campers STEMulate their skills

By Lindsey Miner and Amariel Nelson, Staff Interns

Third graders in the STEM course made everything from marble mazes to marshmallow catapults, having fun and making new friends while doing so.

Students really enjoyed their counselors and had a good time using their resources to make something new.

Some students knew people who went to camp beforehand, but, other students including Saiya Zipper, were informed about the camp by others.

Third-grader Luciana Friedman-Annynziata said the counselors are “great, fun, and kind.”

Students learned to make marble mazes using resources such as pipe cleaners, paper plates and popsicle sticks, binding them together with tape. After they were done, they dropped a marble on the plate and tilted the plate to try and get the marble to make it through the maze.

Third-grader Angelina Melius said, “Making marble mazes is fun!”

The stem kids had fun interacting with others while launching marshmallows, and making marble mazes.

“I’m happy that I’m around other people just like me,” Friedman-Annynziata said.

Saiya Zipper is launching a marshmallow using her handmade catapult. She launched marshmallows into her classmates' mouths.

PHOTO BY AMARIEL NELSON

Camper Raghav Raman, decides how many popsicle sticks he needs to build his catapult. He used rubber bands, glue and a paper plate to bind them together.

PHOTO BY AMARIEL NELSON

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Luciano Suarez-Zavala watches as his opponent makes a move. Suarez-Zavala is only a few moves away from beating his opponent.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA MARTINEZ

Campers capture chess skills

By Sophia Fernandez and Olivia Martinez, Staff Interns

Campers in the Chess course learned new strategies through hands-on instruction from the teacher, Mr. Mumtaz, and competitive matches against each other.

“Chess is exciting when you don’t know what’s going to happen next,” fourth-grader Megan Eddie said.

The students learned how to checkmate the king in many different ways, how to beat their opponent and how to work together.

Fourth-grader Luciano Suarez-Zavala said he “learned that there is not only one way to checkmate the king, but there are five ways.”

Students welcomed both the academic and competitive nature of chess.

“It is very entertaining, and it is good for my mind,” Suarez-Zavala said.

Some students had played chess many times before, while others had only limited experience with the game and were looking to learn a new skill.

“I would like to get better at (chess),” Eddie said.

Regardless of skill level and experience, campers enjoyed the course and the challenges that came with it. ‘’It doesn’t matter if you’re playing a good person or a bad person,” Suarez-Zavala said. “It is still a fun game.”

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Counselor Jaxon Lasher plays a game of chess with camper Ishaan Kachhal.

Kachhal won the match.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA MARTINEZ

Ms. Picchiarini guides students Molly Nipp and Kenneth Ferwerdo in solving sudoku. Campers tried their hardest to solve puzzles all week.

PHOTO BY HUILING ZHANG

Small kids take on big problems

By Christian Farese-Khaouli and Huiling Zhang, Staff Interns

Campers in the Logic Puzzles course used their wits to work through abstract math equations.

“The problems that they give us ... are very hard, and the people are trying their hardest,” fourth-grader Julian Kukawka said.

Even the course advisor, Diane Barbic, had trouble with some of the puzzles given to the campers.

“She tries things that she doesn’t even know, and she gives us things that she doesn’t

“I love math and I always have, and I love puzzles myself too because it’s fun to figure them out.”

— Ms. Barbic even know the answers to,” said Kukawka.

Barbic says she is very impressed with what the campers

are able to solve, especially for children their age.

“They get some of the puzzles before I do,” said Barbic.

“I love math and I always have, and I love puzzles myself too because it”s fun to figure them out, and they’re challenging.”

Barbic enjoys the challenge of the puzzles and having the ability to share that feeling with the campers.

“My favorite part is watching them work really hard until they finally get it,” Barbic said. “Like they try, try, and try it and they finally get it and they’re like ‘I did it!’ and they’re so excited!”

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Chase Mulligan and Karsten Slowley attentively work together as they build a minature guillotine in the World Wars course. In the World Wars course, the students had multiple activities and resources to help them learn about the wars.

PHOTO BY DECLAN MULLIGAN

Bombing in knowledge

World wars turn from lethal to lessons

By Frederick Lourenso and Declan Mulligan, Staff Interns

In the World Wars course, lethal battles from across history turned into educational lessons for campers to study.

Richard Nagy, the course advisor, educated campers on the wars. Nagy said he enjoyed informing students about conflicts and debates, and believed they were excited and quickly learning.

“I like when kids are able to not only see what happens during the wars but why it happens and how we can maybe move to a better place with no wars,” Nagy said. “For the

most part, especially when we get to the wars, they’re excited about that even if they feel

they start picking it up and get interested.”

Students were deeply inter-

“I like when kids are able to not only see what happens during the wars but why it happens and how we can maybe move to a better place with no wars.” — Richard Nagy they’re not interested initially.

Once we start teaching and making it interesting for them

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ested in the course. The classroom, full of students buzzing around and working on

projects, had anxious learners reporting entertainment and enjoyment. Many said they enjoyed the various activities the class had to offer, and would continue to learn at home.

“The teacher’s actually really nice, and nice teachers usually do a good job of teaching, so I like that,” fourth-grader Karsten Slowley said.

Some campers take their knowledge and enthusiasm for studying these wars outside the classroom.

“I found a website about it,” Mark Denisenko said, “and suddenly got interested.”

Luciano Suarez-Zavala and counselor Indya Evans present the project they made together. They created a small castle and defense system using Lego bricks.

PHOTO BY KYRA BARBAROSH

All you need is pens, paper, imagination Creative writers improve skills with stories about zombies

By Kyra Barbarosh and Sarah Nyemetz, kids become good writers.

Staff Interns “We teach kids how to

Arielle Grasiani writes a story using the emojis that were placed on her table. The assignment allowed the campers to showcase their individual creativity.

PHOTO BY SARAH NYEMETZ

In Creative Writing, campers used their imagination to create short stories about zombies, emojis, Legos and more.

The class was for grades 3-5 and provided an opportunity for students who may not have this class at their school.

Through the guidance of the teacher, Paula Rodriguez, and counselors they learned how to be more descriptive in their writing and how to create pictures and stories in their minds, sometimes working through nervousness to better express themselves.

Bayli Conway, a senior and a counselor, said that her favorite part was helping the

structure their stories, and write what comes to mind,” Conway said.

Fourth-grade Beachside Elementary student Arielle Grasiani said she enjoys writing and making up stories.

“We write about the creative things we think of,” Grasiani said.

Fourth-grader Matthew Liebowitz said writing is his favorite subject. He said that he was able to write creatively about different things in the class.

“It’s really fun and you can express your feelings” Liebowitz said.

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Luciana Friedman-Annynziata writes notes to prepare for an activity in the Debate course. Campers were presented with different topics and had to pick a side before speaking in front of the whole class.

PHOTO BY ALEXIS SCHATTEN

Debaters prepare to be America's next top lawyers

By Chase Calleja and Melody Khoury, Staff Interns

Campers in the Debate course learned how to improve their speech and debate skills.

“In debate you basically learn how to speak loudly in front of an audience because you don’t get a microphone; you’re inside of a classroom so you kind of need to learn how to utilize the space well,” rising sixth grader Olivia Martinez said.

The campers were presented with different topics to discuss and told to pick one side of the room if they’re for the topic

and one side of the room if they’re against that topic.

“We came up with topics beforehand and had the kids work out and expand upon the sides they chose,” counselor Andrea Ventura said.

The goal of the course was to allow the campers to learn more about debate, but the counselors wanted to make sure they went about teaching debate in an interesting way to keep the campers engaged.

“We want to make debate fun for the kids,” counselor Andrea Ventura said.

20 | Gifted Camp < August 2019 > @TornadoTimes

“We want to make debate fun for the kids.” — Andrea Ventura

Samantha Burton & Sophia Cavaretta, Theater Ali Natt & Kaitlyn Bernstein, Video Production Rylan Bold & Ciana Ruocco, Engineering Alexandra Yeats & Giovanna Campos, Physics Caylie Cox & Bailey Perkins, Robotics Kylee Herron & Mehkyla Mclemore, Coding & Sci Vis Alanna Richardson & Charli Jurvic, Culinary Bridget Swanepoel & Esther Klavan, Sports History Grace Swanepoel & Shea Zecca, Marine Biology

Kylee Herron and Mehkyla Mclemore take notes during an interview for their article about the Coding and Sci Vis courses. With the help of counselors, campers interviewed sources, took photos, wrote articles and captions, and designed a special Gifted Camp edition of the student newspaper at Pompano Beach High School.

PHOTO BY EDUARDO ANDRADE

Breaking news!

Campers in the Journalism course put together a newsletter that covered all of the courses offered at the camp.

“I like seeing all the stories come together,” camper Amariel Nelson said.

The campers paired up to complete their pages. They spent the first week of the program conducting interviews and taking photos and the second week laying out their pages on the computer and proofreading their final product.

“I think the fact that the kids are working together instead of working alone has made putting together the newsletter a lot easier,” counselor Alexis Schatten said.

“Writing articles and putting pages together can be really difficult at first, so the kids

Cassandra Jordan & Avery Picchiarini, Art Alex Rathbun & Anasofia Morales, Hamilton Amariel Nelson & Lindsey Miner, STEM Sophia Fernandes and Olivia Martinez, Chess

Campers cover courses

By Jude Alvarez, Staff Intern

Lynn-Rose Ruiz & Jordan O’Loughlin, DNA

being able to bounce ideas off each other and go to each other for help makes this easier for everyone involved.”

To cover the camp as a whole, campers got the chance to explore the other courses they may not have had the opportunity to take.

“I like the part (of the Journalism course) where you get to go out and see what the other kids are doing,” Christian Farese-Khaouli said.

Despite the initial challenges the campers may have initially faced, they put in the effort and were happy with the final project.

“I’m really happy (with the final product) because we had a lot of sources,” camper Huiling Zhang said, “I liked the template we chose. It looked really interesting when it was done.”

Christian Farese-Khaouli & Huiling Zhang, Logic Puzzles Frederick Lourenso & Declan Mulligan, World Wars Kyra Barbarosh & Sarah Nyemetz, Creative Writing Chase Calleja & Melody Khoury, Debate Jude Alvarez, Journalism Rowan Rathburn & Madison Valencia, Back Page Alexis Schatten, Editor-in-Chief Eduardo Andrade, Managing Editor Andrew Shipe, Advisor

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What did you do during breaks?

“Mrs. Coker, the Marine Biology teacher, explains everything thoroughly while keeping it fun and simple.”

— Skylar Picchiarini, camper

78 students were surveyed on July 29

“You can pick your own classes according to your interests, and the classes are thorough as well as very educational.”

— Alex Rathbun, camper

“I like working with the children, and it’s reallly nice getting them to open up, and help make new friends.”

— Adam Nobles, counselor

125

students attended the camp in 2013, the first year.

340

students attended the camp this year, representing

40

schools, according to camp director Billy Strachan

“One reason we made this camp is that it’s not avalible anywhere else, so this was a need. We saw it as a community service.

Parents don’t have to search around the country for a good gifted camp.”

— Hudson Thomas, principal GRAPHICS AND LAYOUT BY BRIA KUNTZ, ROWAN RATHBUN AND MADISON VALENCIA