Tornado Times Alerts, Nov. 17, 2022

Tornado Times and Beanpicker staff members meet Reed Alexander at the Florida Scholastic Press Association district workshop Oct. 15.

PHOTO BY ANDREW SHIPE

Harvest Drive feeds 180 families

What in Tornation?

To be continued on Tornadotimes.org

By C. J. Berrios, Staff Intern

Clubs and organizations collected non-perishable foods and toiletries for the Harvest Drive for distribution to 180 needy families on Nov. 16.

“We are working on advertising and collecting goods for distribution,” student government president Ally Vagelos said during the drive. “We are also working closely with Publix to collect the most non-perishable goods we can to help families in need.”

The non-perishable foods collected included jelly, pancake mix, syrup and Thanksgiving foods such as gravy, stuffing and yams.

Although many schools participated, organizations such as churches, private schools, civic organizations, police departments and fire departments have participated in the Harvest Drive since it started 30 years agoCountry Isles Elementary in Weston.

“With 190 schools participating, we have grown to aid 2,400 families each Thanksgiving,” program director Amy Freund said.

Harvest Drive now has three pantries in Broward County where social workers regularly collect emergency food bags for families in need.

With 13 school-based distribution sites, including Pompano Beach High School, Harvest Drive planned for all partaking families to receive 6-10 bags of groceries.

What’s happening

November 21-25. Thanksgiving Break 28. Boys & girls basketball, 4:30 p. m.

29. Boys & girls soccer, 5:00 p. m.

11/17

Wrestlers grapple finding coach

By Coby Barbarosh, Photo Editor

Juniors Dennis Johnson and Lucas Hartman are trying to start the school’s first wrestling team since 1984 and have already started conditioning after school.

However finding a coach is becoming a major challenge.

“I have relations with a bunch of people that are inside the wrestling community,” Johnson said. “And I’m trying to find one.

I think I’ve gotten somebody...

Boys golf backfires Harvest drive bags are organized.

PHOTO BY C.J. BERRIOS

By Cali Jade Berrios, Assitatant Editor

The boys golf team began their season by winning four matches out of five.

“Our goal was to defeat all of the public schools we played,” head coach Richard Campbell said. “We eventually met the real competition in districts...

Girls volleyball reaches semis

By Anna Frey, Staff Intern

Harvest drive bags are organized.

The football team huddles up PHOTO BYNov. C.J.4BERRIOS before the game starts.

PHOTO BY MAYRA SANCHEZ

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The team made it to the district semifinals, where it lost 3-0 to Calvary on Oct. 18.

“I believe we tried our best and put effort into our games always,” senior Brianna Alicea said.

“It’s sad knowing this was my last season playing, but I definitely would not have wanted to spend my senior season any other way.”

The team finished with a record of 7-8.

Swim state meet Saturday

By Amir Vaelizadeh

Florida’s High School Swimming State Championship has been moved to this weekend due to Hurricane Nicole.

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Let them have their pizza and eat it too

Long lines louse up lunch

By Patrick Gohl, Junior Features Editor

When one walks into the school cafeteria during a typical lunch period, one of the first things to strike an observer is the lengthy lunch lines extending nearly half way through the massive room.

Lunch is one of the most critical points in a student’s day, especially at our school. Our students have the longest school days in the district, and our teachers pack each period with academic instruction and high-level content from beginning to end. By the time students reach lunch, they desperately need a break and are likely starving, given that breakfast had to be consumed in the early, dark hours of the morning.

Be it for convenience, cost or simply because they didn’t have the time to pack

lunch before the sun rose that morning, a good portion of students rely on the school cafeteria to provide them with this much-needed sustenance. However, with only half an hour to eat between classes, the decision to eat school lunch can come with a major sacrifice of time – one of the most valuable commodities for students.

Many students report waiting for more than half their lunch period before even receiving their food.

This can leave them without much time to eat, causing them to eat in a rush, forcing them to forgo the moments of peace that lunch provides between stressful classes. In other words, students must choose to eat or actually have a break in the day.

“I feel like we could have more (time),” freshman

Khai Smith said. “It feels sort of tedious,“ Smithbuys lunch on a regular basis.Students purchasing their lunch at our school have the choice of either pizza, which has its own dedicated line, or traditional school lunch.

Students have reported making the decision on what to eat based entirely on the length of the line, not whether they will like what they are eating.

Many students feel the current system should be reconsidered and reimagined to improve efficiency for students. Junior Leila Valbren asserted that it is not the pace at which the meals are made that is the problem.

“They make it (at a fine speed),” she said. “It’s just that everyone is in one line.”

It is evident from the

large number of students who choose to buy lunch each day that the school cafeteria staff works incredibly hard and is successful at providing nutritious and enjoyable food. But, if students could move through the lunch line more quickly, they would have a more fulfilling lunchtime experience – both literally and figuratively. Though it seems like a minor issue, it can entirely change a student’s day. When a student is able to pause, eat, connect with friends and just decompress, they are often able to recharge sufficiently to carry out the busy schedule most students have.

The issues surrounding the lunch line are best summed up by Valbren.

“When we finish the interview, I’ll still be in the same place,” Valbren said.

Reed Alexander presents at FAU during the Florida Scholastic Press Association district workshop. Alexander played Nevel Pepperman on Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” from 2007-12 and now works as a journalist for Insider and a lecturer at the University of Miami.

PHOTO BY KEANU SILVA

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