The Panther 2021-22 Issue 3: Faces of Palmetto

PANTHER

the

FACES OF

A SPECIAL EDITION OF

PALMETTO

THIS IS US Welcome to the fifth annual issue of our special edition of The Panther, Faces of Palmetto. This issue aims to show the Palmetto community the unique and special people who walk our halls: from the students currently enrolled in Palmetto to the faculty who dedicate their time teaching us and the alumni who spread Palmetto’s positive influence wherever they go. The Panther staff chose 12 people they feel embody the spirit of Palmetto through their stories and impact. The Panther also hopes to broaden perspectives on the people in Palmetto, as the 12 featured in this issue have stories not widely known to the Palmetto community. The Panther recognizes their importance and their humanity. Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York,” The Panther looks forward to continuing this incredible tradition of highlighting the remarkable people walking among us on campus far into the future. For more stories written by the Panther staff, visit www.thepalmettopanther.com

THIS IS PALMETTO. these are our stories.

CONTENTS

ARIELLE COHEN.......................................04 06.................................CAMERON GUSSIN TYLER SHAPIRO.......................................07 08.................................MICHAEL PAREDES FABIAN VILLENA.......................................09 11.......................................JULIAN ORREGO CAROLINA MERCHAN-MENDES............12 14......................................FRANK MENJIVAR CHUNG BING WANG...............................16 18.............................REISHMA SEUPERSAD MERKLE SISTERS.......................................20 22..............................................NOAH GRAY

DEFYING EXPECTATIONS ARIELLE COHEN

From the moment she was born, Miami Palmetto Senior High School freshman Arielle Cohen has faced adversity. Born with Cerebral Palsy — a neurological condition that affects movement, muscle tone and muscle coordination — Arielle has had to overcome difficulties with walking, speech and motor skills. “I was born premature and that kind of led me to having this disability. It affects everyone differently, but it primarily affects your walking and talking. You may look differently and that may make it seem like you have other issues,” Arielle said. Arielle’s parents learned about the

possibility that Arielle would have developmental delays when she was only six weeks old. Eventually, doctors diagnosed Arielle with Cerebral Palsy at 13 months. Despite the challenges, she has not allowed this disorder to define her life. In fact, Arielle has uniquely persevered in order to fulfill her greatest potential. “Like most kids, Arielle’s childhood was filled with fun and laughter, surrounded by her family and friends. She was part of a Girl Scout troop, has been a cheerleader since third grade and even danced Hip Hop and Ballet. But, unlike most other kids, for the most part of her childhood, Arielle attended physical therapy three times a week, occupational therapy and speech therapy. With a lot of optimism, determination, and hard work, she consistently improves her physical abilities,” Arielle’s mother Liat Cohen said. Arielle has identified her family and friends as her strongest support system, causing her to develop extremely close relationships with them. “Growing up with Arielle has been a blessing, and it has definitely opened my eyes and urged me to be a better person to other people I encounter. I would say that growing up as her older brother made me mature much quicker than other people my age,” Arielle’s brother and Palmetto senior Adam Cohen said. “I’ve always

tried to be a positive example for her. We have a special kind of bond that I don’t have with anyone else, so I guess she takes a lot from what I do.” Throughout her life, Arielle has attended all three Palmetto schools: Palmetto Elementary, Palmetto Middle and Palmetto Senior High School. At each of these schools, Arielle has maintained friendships with people that have never treated her differently because of her disability, an experience that disabled individuals usually do not have. “I have never been talked down to with other kids. It’s mostly the adults that do not know how to approach me. [Adults] want to know how they could help me and be friends with me. I know a lot of people, like kids, are talked down to by other peers, but I feel like I have a really unique perspective and idea,” Arielle said. With the multitude of extracurriculars that each Palmetto school has to offer, Arielle quickly became involved in activities ranging from cheerleading to Television Production to clubs. She first joined cheerleading in third grade while attending Palmetto Elementary. “I have done cheer since third grade, and it was very much my kind of thing. It was a big thing at the schools that I have gone to. The first cheer team I joined actually wanted me to be on it. My sister wanted to be on the cheer team, and I remember crying and asking, ‘Why can’t I be on the cheer team?’ My mom did not really know if I could be on the cheer team, so she asked the coaches and people at the school really wanted me. There was never any question if I would be on the cheer team after that,” Arielle said. While on the cheer team, Arielle immediately excelled, becoming part of a championship-winning elementary school

FRESHMEN | 05 cheerleading team. “Obviously, [Arielle] has my full support in any challenge she chooses to take, so when she tried out for the cheer team, I just made sure that she knew she had my support one hundred percent of the way,” Adam said. Her triumph and passion for the sport has inspired her to continue pursuing it. Now, as a freshman, Arielle is a member of the junior varsity cheer team at Palmetto. With years of experience as a cheerleader, she believes that cheer has taught her several valuable life lessons. “People may think we just cheer on the sidelines and not do anything, but I have had a really good experience. Cheer has taught me a really good lesson: you have to trust everyone that you get yourself involved with. Every person that you do stuff with, you have to trust them,” Arielle said. Apart from cheerleading, Arielle has also immersed herself in school activities like Television Production, which has

allowed her extroverted and outgoing personality to flourish, as well as support her passion for technology. “I would describe myself as really outgoing, down to earth and a chill type of person. I am not the way that people might expect me to be,” Arielle said. “I got into [television production] in middle school, and that is when I really started with that. My mom said I should do something with technology because I am really good with computers.” In being part of Television Production, Arielle has faced some challenges due to the limitations that Cerebral Palsy causes to her motor skills. Yet, she has not allowed this to stop her. “I really took onto it, and of course, I have limitations in my hands, so I can’t really do all of the stuff. I basically do anchoring, which in simpler terms is being on T.V. I also do some computer stuff and lighting cues,” Arielle said. In all aspects of her life, Arielle has defied all odds and been able to overcome

I REMEMBER CRYING AND ASKING, ‘WHY CAN’T I BE ON THE CHEER TEAM?’ MY MOM DID NOT REALLY KNOW IF I COULD BE ON THE CHEER TEAM, SO SHE ASKED THE COACHES AND PEOPLE AT THE SCHOOL REALLY WANTED ME. THERE WAS NEVER ANY QUESTION IF I WOULD BE ON THE CHEER TEAM AFTER THAT

ARIELLE COHEN (9)

the adversity that those affected by Cerebral Palsy face, leaving many inspired and impacted by her strength. “It’s a very eye-opening experience seeing her encounter and beat adversity. It exposed me to a different perspective on life, and in turn, urged me to become much more grateful for everything that I have,” Adam said. “Arielle faces adversity in some specific activities around the house. She also can’t participate in many outdoor activities, so seeing her attack adversity instead of running from it has definitely rubbed off on me in all aspects of my life.”

Bella Martin

Editor-in-Chief

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Amy-Grace Shapiro Feature Editor

a.shapiro.thepanther@gmail.com

DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON PHOTOS COURTESY OF ARIELLE COHEN

06 | SOPHOMORES

MORE THAN JUST BABY FOOD CA M E RO N G U S S I N

Miami Palmetto Senior High School sophomore Cameron Gussin knows the struggles that come when living with a medically fragile family member. At only six months old, the life of Gussin’s younger brother, Jamie Gussin, changed forever after being diagnosed with Glycogen Storage Disease – GSD — a rare metabolic disorder centered in the liver that does not allow one to metabolize glucose. “Children with GSD don’t metabolize glucose, which is the fuel needed for every cell in the body to function,” Gussin said. “It has affected my brother because it requires constant 24 hour care, day and night, to ensure healthy blood sugar levels.” The diagnosis struck the Gussin family with shock and frightened them. As a way to help other children who struggle with medically fragile diseases, Gussin’s younger sister, Andie Gussin, had the idea of partnering with, collecting toys and raising money for “Patches PPEC”— a Florida-based health care facility that takes care of ill children who cannot attend school. While at the Patches PPEC Nursing Center in Florida City dropping off donations with her family, Gussin felt extremely motivated by her sister’s hard work and asked if there was anything she could do. The head nurse told her bringing in different supplies, such as baby food and diapers, would help the children currently being taken care of. “My entire family went to Patches, and we donated the material [my sister] collected. And when I was there, I just realized how much I wanted to help them even more, because everyone was so grateful. They loved having all these new materials come and having us visit. So I knew I wanted to do this again,” Cameron said. Over the summer, Cameron had the idea

to create her own project called “Packages For Patches,” in which she would collect baby food through students in different classes and clubs. This past December, the project went into initiation throughout classrooms and clubs, benefiting students who donate through incentives like extra credit or community service hours. Palmetto teachers such as AP World History teacher Julianne Farkas, AP Seminar teacher Marcos Cohen and AP Chemistry teacher Yuria Sharp have all contributed to the project by encouraging students to donate to the cause and hosting their own mini drives within their classes. “Cameron came to me about the second week of December when she was working on her project, trying to increase the amount of donations,” Farkas said. Cameron’s mom, Meredith Gussin, describes this project as a way to unify both students and teachers to a bigger cause and to help those in need. “Simple efforts by the teachers and simple efforts by the students and collectively the collaborative effort is pretty large,” Meredith said. Meredith put a pause on her career to take the mantle of primary caretaker to Jamie and stressed this difficulty for other families. “We’re very fortunate that financially we could afford to go down to one income, but not many families are able to do that,” Meredith said. Despite the difficulties, Meredith believes in the importance of these complications in shaping Cameron as a person. “It’s impacted Cameron because she’s

very compassionate and wants to help and realizes that we can’t really take our health for granted and it’s really made her a very grounded, very beautiful person because she really is very caring and giving,” Meredith said. While Jamie is currently in stable condition, Cameron continues to see the significance of her project and intends to work on it into the future and possibly even spread its impact to other schools such as middle schools and elementary schools. “I’ve become more aware of how you can’t tell what someone’s going through from the outside, and it’s also made me more responsible,” Cameron said.

Tomas Curcio Staff Writer

t.curcio.thepanther@gmail.com

Ava Stuzin

Multimedia Editor

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PHOTO BY AVA STUZIN DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON

IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, NO IT’S TYLER THE FEARLESS FLYER TY L E R S H A P I R O

Standing 25 feet above the ground, looking outwards towards her catcher and beyond at the breathtaking view, she takes a deep breath and jumps. Adrenaline flows through Miami Palmetto Senior High School sophomore Tyler Shapiro’s veins as she swings from bar to bar, performing high level acrobatic tricks at a neck-craning height. Tyler’s experience as a 15-year old trapeze artist embodies the perfect combination of both fearlessness and discipline. The teenage daredevil began her trapeze journey in 2017 while on vacation with her family in the Florida Keys. “The company I work with today, Miami Flying Trapeze, was holding camp sessions and I thought it looked fun, and I have always been the fearless one in my family, so I started taking morning classes,” Shapiro said. Tyler’s prior gymnastic experience and trained flexibility allowed her to improve quickly and skillfully. “I was picked every year from 2017 to 2019 by the instructors to participate in their shows.” Timing and precision means everything in trapezing, especially if the safety harness remains on the ground like in Tyler’s case. Coaches only allow their athletes to fly without the harness if they trust that their athlete can correctly land in the safety net in case they fall. Shapiro’s hours of practice warranted her this achievement. Her coach knows she has the rules on falling ingrained in her brain: always fall with your hands out or to your side to avoid wrist injuries. “Once I started going more regularly and becoming more experienced, I went off-line. I felt more free because no one was controlling my movements. I could do whatever I want; stretch my legs however far…I just felt fearless,” Shapiro said. Shapiro’s fearlessness rubbed off on her sister, who was also inspired to undergo trapezing for the first time despite her aversion to heights. “She was like, ‘well you’re doing it, so it can’t be that bad’ and I was like ‘yeah, go!’”, Shapiro said. Miami Flying Trapeze holds summer

and winter showcases to allow their athletes to display their talent and accomplishments to family and friends. Whether at a showcase or a competition, Shapiro’s family always attends camera-ready to watch her in awe as she flies like a bird. “If I don’t quite nail it at practice before a show, my parents always support me and remind me to straighten my legs or keep my head up high looking for the catcher.” Shapiro said. Alongside her family, Shapiro’s friends support her fly-highing tricks from way below. “Her coolest trick was definitely when she was swinging on the bar and jumped to grab another person’s hands and the back of the bar,” Palmetto sophomore and Shapiro’s friend Sienna Mesquita said. “I remember Tyler telling me that she is younger than the age groups that are allowed to do the skills she knows how to do,”Mesquita said. Despite her age, Shapiro has skills that far exceed those of her peers. Due to COVID-19, Shapiro has been unable to compete for the past three years. However, that does not stop her from practicing and perfecting her tricks. “When COVID hit, I did start wearing a mask when I was flying, and we had to reduce the amount of time we could [catch] because you’re touching another person’s hands,” Shapiro said. In an unexpected aligning of topics, Shapiro has applied her experience with trapezing to physical science school work. “There’s a severe amount of gravity that comes with this sport versus a normal sport, like soccer. So I remember in seventh grade being in physical science, first majorly touching on the topic of gravity, and thinking ‘Wait, I do this’,” Shapiro said. Somersaults in the air soon turned to applicable equations involving gravity and velocity. Trapezing taught Shapiro the importance of time management, dedication and to always continue being her

fearless self. “I also think it helped me become more fearless. Ever since I was little, I’ve been the first one to jump in the water off the boat… I’ve just never been scared to try new things,” Shapiro said. One spontaneous decision turned to continued dedication over the course of four years. Tyler’s talent and discipline continues to take her farther than the graceful jumps she takes from bar to bar.

Cayetana Jaramillo Opinion Editor

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Samantha Elkins News Editor

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PHOTO BY AVA STUZIN PHOTO COURTESY OF TYLER SHAPIRO DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON

ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES M I C H A E L PA R E D E S

After finding the courage to defend himself against middle school bullies, Miami Palmetto Senior High School junior Miguel (Michael) Paredes found himself falling in love with the sport of boxing. “I’ve always watched boxing with my dad, but in seventh grade, I got bullied by an eighth grader. One day, he picked me up against the fence, and I actually headbutted him, and I broke his nose,” Michael said. “Because of that, I got into boxing.” In seventh grade, Michael began training at Muhammad Ali Boxing Center in Tropical Park. There, he trained under world champion boxer Glen Johnson, gaining a foundation in amateur boxing skills, including the different movements, techniques and general rules of fighting. Michael’s dad, Miguel Paredes, has remained by his side every step of the way from his daily training schedule to fights in and out of the state. Though Miguel boxed in his younger years, he has given Michael the space to forge his own path in the sport. “I’ve always had boxing equipment at home because I boxed for the Police Athletics League when I was a kid. So there’s always been punching bags and boxing gloves and all that stuff, but I never really pushed him into it,” Miguel said. “So he was having an issue with a couple of boys in school, and he just came up to

me and he said, ‘I want to learn how to box.’” After his time at Muhammad Ali Boxing Center, Michael decided to pursue boxing with a greater range of coaches, so he booked a session with Florida Hall of Fame boxing coach Jorge Rubio. “When he fights I am going to go with them…and right now I am trying to be in his corner because we have a good connection, working together in the gym and working together in the fight, and I think that he’s doing good,” Rubio said. Throughout his training with Rubio — which began about a year ago — Michael has followed a strict workout schedule to maintain his stamina. This allows him to develop as a boxer while balancing school with his passion. “On the days I have FLVS, I wake up at 4 in the morning. I go to the gym at 4:30, and I am back at school at 7:20. Then, after school, I go to the gym again. I go for a run afterwards. The days I don’t have FLVS, I get to sleep in a little bit, so I’ll go to the gym at 6:00. And [it’s] basically the same process. So [I] try to train twice a day and go for a run,” Michael said. In addition to training with Rubio, Michael works with Coach Jose Roman in his home gym that his dad built for him. With the mentoring and encouragement

from various coaches and his dad, Michael hopes to soon advance from an amateur to a professional boxer and potentially participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics. “I think that he has a good chance to be on the American USA Olympic team in four years. And after that, when he finishes the Olympic games, I think he’s going to professional,” Rubio said. “He’s young, still; he is 17 years old. Four years, and he’s 21; his age will be perfect for a professional, and I think that if Mike can go to that one Olympic game, I think that two years after the amateur he can become a world champion as a professional.” During his time boxing, Michael has learned valuable lessons that he applies not only to the boxing ring, but to his personal life as well. “It’s honestly gotten me so dedicated; it keeps me on a schedule, it keeps me focused… And if I ever feel stressed one day, I just hit the bag to release some stress and I’m good,” Michael said. Although boxing is a physical and aggressive sport, Michael, with the help of a life coach, distinguishes himself as a kind person and displays his true character outside of the ring. “[His life coach] said to him, ‘When you go into the ring, it is like you’re going onto stage. It’s performing, whether you’re a dancer or a singer, or an artist or an actor, because that’s your role,” Miguel said. “You go into the ring and you fight and when you walk away from the ring, you’re Michael again.’”

Allison Gould

Print Editor-in-Chief

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Sara Paredes Copy Editor

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PHOTO BY RYAN MCKEAN DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON

HOME ALONE FABIAN VILLENA Miami Palmetto Senior High junior Fabian Villena is only 17 but is living the life more typical of a college graduate. Five months ago, due to political and economic turmoil in his home country of Peru, Villena moved to Miami. The catch? He came without his parents. However, this is not Villena’s first time in America; it is his third. Villena was born in Miami, making him a U.S. citizen. He returned to Peru until he was 10, when his father received a two year contract with the World Bank to represent the Peruvian government. From 2014 to 2016, Fabian’s family lived in Rockville, Maryland before moving back to Peru. On July 25, 2021, Villena returned to the States. Since his parents do not have U.S. citizenship and work for the Peruvian government, they were unable to immigrate alongside him. Moving in July was not always part of the plan. Initially, Villena was going to wait until he graduated from high school in November 2021 before moving to the U.S. for university. However, due to the increasingly unstable situation, Villena and his parents made the difficult decision to expedite plans. “There is a lot of delinquency in the streets and civil unrest in Peru. There’s no efficient judicial system, so there is not a lot of political action,” Fabian’s father Jose Villena said. “To send a kid to university in Peru is to put him at risk.” Luckily, Fabian has relatives here, including an uncle, whom he now lives with. But given his work schedule, Fabian rarely sees him. This means that Fabian mostly takes care of himself, making his own meals, doing his own laundry and for the most part, transporting himself to and from his obligations. “You want to be independent, but once you’re actually alone and you realize you’re

JUNIORS | 09

IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

eating breakfast, you’re eating dinner in a complete silence like the kind in the middle of the night – it is horrible,” Fabian said. “You don’t have someone to ask you about your day, even though at the time it was annoying.” The adjustment has not come without its own set of obstacles. For one, Fabian entered Palmetto as a junior, a difficult time to be a new student. “Everyone else already has friends here,” Fabian said. “It’s been hard to actually get to know someone, especially when you have 3,000 people in one school. In Peru, there are roughly 500 people, counting primary and secondary schools.” Back home, most of his friends have graduated now, so they have moved onto different stages in their lives. But while they may be moving on, they admire Fabian for choosing a more unconventional path. “I think that many people — including myself — would have a really hard time doing what he’s doing. I, and probably many, don’t even know how to wash their dishes,” Fabian’s childhood friend Ana Lucia Campos said. “But I think it’s really valuable and really impressive that a teenager can do something like [what Fabian is doing].” Besides the social aspect, the course load at U.S. high schools is very different from Peruvian high schools, especially since Fabian is taking rigorous classes like AP English Language and AP Spanish Language. “The school work here is long,” Fabian said. “But I get it that here, they want you to have a good GPA, so they assign you a lot of homework.” On top of balancing other obligations, Fabian works at Publix. He saves some money for college and sends the rest to his parents to provide additional support. Unfortunately, the distance has made it

difficult for him to stay in touch with them. They are able to track his location, but they only talk about once a week. “[Moving] had a cost — a real sentimental cost,” Jose said. “It costs us a lot to deal with our family being dispersed around the globe. It’s not the same talking to [Fabian] on What’sApp or on Zoom.” Despite the challenges and many responsibilities, Fabian does not regret the decision to move, especially because he has wanted to live in America since he was young. “[Fabian’s] very determined at everything he does… and he had always had this goal of going to college in the U.S.,” Campos said. In the future, though, he hopes his parents can join him here as well. “I want to repay [them] the favor of sending me here. So I want to stay here, go to college, have a good job and eventually, I want to bring them here,” Fabian said.

Katriona Page

Senior Copy Editor

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Eitan Greenberg Copy Editor

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PHOTO BY RYAN MCKEAN DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON

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Since 8th grade biology class, Miami Palmetto Senior High School senior Julian Orrego has always had a deep passion for all things related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Orrego’s commitment to STEM led him to create the Science Education Association Project in January of his junior year at Palmetto. Orrego’s inspiration for the SEA Project came from his experience with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students could no longer participate in lab experiments or apply their knowledge to real-world situations due to virtual learning, stripping them of essential learning practices. The SEA Project aimed to fill this gap in the elementary school science curriculum. “SEA allowed us to go to these schools and give science presentations,” Orrego said. “These interactive experiments and demonstrations would increase children’s interest, critical-thinking skills and science literacy.” Throughout his high school career, Orrego has joined numerous STEM extracurricular associations, such as Palmetto’s Science National Honor Society, of which he is the vice president. Additionally, Orrego has taken every AP science course offered at Palmetto, including AP Physics, Environmental Science, Biology and Chemistry. “Palmetto has definitely helped increase my interest in science just because there are so many different extracurricular opportunities available,” Orrego said. “Number one for me has been AP Chemistry; that course definitely changed the way I look at science and got me into the problem-solving side of it.” Among the many mentors Orrego has gained at Palmetto, one of his biggest supporters is Palmetto’s AP Chemistry

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SENIORS | 11 STAFF |08

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teacher Dr. Yuria Sharp. Sharp recognized his tenacity and continued academic excellence despite COVID-19’s negative impact on his personal life. “Julian has always been an exceptional student; he is a perfectionist and has always been a consistent student,” Sharp said. “He was isolated from all his friends and even family during COVID. Obviously it is more difficult to learn from home, but he did it while also getting amazing scores and recognition from his teachers.” While Orrego learned remotely, some of his family members contracted COVID-19, including his step-father, who was hospitalized and at one point, barely conscious. His mother contracted COVID as well and was bedridden. Despite singlehandedly caring for his sick mother, Orrego did not let himself fall behind in his studies. “What kept me going was that I had to be strong for my mom and had to be an emotional rock for her,” Orrego said. “It was just us, since no one else in our family could come because they didn’t want to risk getting COVID. That, and knowing I had to continue persevering for school because I couldn’t just let up with all my courses.” One of Orrego’s closest friends, Palmetto senior Catherine Baylis has watched him flourish throughout high school, while modeling strong qualities of a devoted leader in associations such as Tutoring for Tomorrow and Science National Honor Society. “Over the past year Julian has grown so much,” Baylis said. “He’s always been a leader but with him starting SEA and taking on a leadership role with Tutoring for Tomorrow, I’ve seen him become super independent.” Despite the obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulty of virtual learning, Orrego persevered,

and his experiences fueled his passion for STEM. He plans to study biochemistry, a combination of his two favorite science fields, at university next year. “Science has definitely taught me to think creatively,” Orrego said. “It makes you look at things from a different perspective and pushes you to think outside the box; it’s all about discovery, inquiry and research.”

Mikayla Ashe

Multimedia Editor

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Ava Garcia Staff Writer

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12 | SENIORS

RETHINKING MENTAL ILLNESS CA RO L I N A M E RC H A N - M E N D E S

Using the knowledge she gained throughout her battle with mental health, Miami Palmetto Senior High senior Carolina Merchan-Mendes co-founded Blooming Minds Miami — a student-led initiative providing teens with mental health resources including articles, podcasts and videos. As a child, Carolina struggled to pay attention in school but found that she could easily focus at home. “The teacher told my mother, ‘She’s never gonna be able to do anything.’ I found out recently that my mother actually stood up for me at that moment. That’s why I find it very important to both educate people who don’t know much about it and to stand up for people who have mental health issues,” Merchan-Mendes said. In middle school, Carolina battled with a mood disorder, which caused her to feel emotions at a greater intensity than others. With the help of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and sessions with a one-on-one therapist, Merchan-Mendes’s can now better process her emotional struggles. Despite growing up with mental illnesses and feeling disconnected from her peers, Merchan-Mendes has stayed true to herself and uses Blooming Minds to help others feel secure in their identity. Through Merchan-Mendes’s battle with mental health and identity issues, she’s seen the differences in mental health among different ethnicities, sexualities and communities and has put in effort to make sure Blooming Minds Miami has resources for everyone’s situation. “I try to be super open about my identity as a genderfluid, pansexual Latina,” Merchan-Mendes said. “I never really had that kind of representation when I was growing up, and I want people to have

someone they can relate to if they are struggling mentally and know that they can achieve the extraordinary if they put their mind to it.” Merchan-Mendes co-founded Blooming Minds Miami with Lara Gastelumendi, and together they realized that their community did not provide proper and equal access to mental health services. When MerchanMendes and Gastelumendi discovered all the mental health resources that the public school system had overlooked, they decided to start Blooming Minds Miami in January 2021 to help educate others. “We started Blooming Minds Miami during COVID. We noticed that a lot of our friends were struggling with their mental health and when we would tell them, “Hey, you can talk to your parents about that,’ and, ‘You can go to therapy and you can reach out to people,’ they would say, ‘No, we don’t talk about that in my house, and my parents would be disappointed in me,’ and things like that, which we both found very odd,” Gastelumendi said. BMM started on Instagram (@ bloomingmindsmiami), and since the organization’s founding, it has bloomed; it now has a website and a podcast as well. The Instagram account includes educational posts on different mental health topics, such as definitions of various mental health disorders, how to spread awareness, coping advice and issues in certain marginalized communities. The BMM podcast discusses issues in mental health and invites speakers for specific topics, providing a diverse set of perspectives on many mental health issues. The BMM website has multiple sections, which different members of the BMM run. Writers create educational blog posts about current events in the mental health

community and advice for those struggling with mental health. The ‘Resources’ section of the website provides general and specific resources for groups such as AAPI, African-American, Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ individuals. “Many therapists haven’t gone through the same experiences as people with different social upbringings, ethnicities or sexual orientations,” Merchan-Mendes said. “My old therapist was white, and she didn’t understand or relate to any of the potential racial biases I may have experienced. I made sure our website helps to provide mental health resources pertaining to specific communities, because there is not a lot of intersectionality within the mental health practices.” BMM utilizes six subgroups to help facilitate the creation of content: writers, researchers, podcast editors, marketing managers, social media managers and an outreach team. Merchan-Mendes and Gastelumendi work together to delegate assignments and lead team meetings with their members. “Throughout my time working with Carolina, I’ve seen her passion for mental health and their understanding of it grow immensely…Since founding the organization back in January 2021, we have more of a plan as to what we’re doing. We’ve applied to numerous grants, and we’re recording podcasts and making videos,” Gastelumendi said. Merchan-Mendes’s close friend, Palmetto senior Irene Lee, decided to become a member of the BMM research team to help educate the community on misinterpretations surrounding ADHD. Lee has expressed utmost respect for MerchanMendes’s leadership at BMM, and they have experienced firsthand how she is able

SENIORS | 13

to apply her mental health knowledge to their personal life. “Our friend group considers Caro to be the therapist of the group just because of her vast knowledge of mental health resources and experiences with different types of therapies,” Lee said. “Caro is very receptive to listening to people’s problems and has the level of experience to help them solve those problems because they’ve been through a lot of the same problems.” BMM’s team played an immense role in putting together their largest event thus far: The Kids Virtual Town Hall. The live-

streamed event, hosted by the founders of BMM, featured a panel of therapists, a school counselor, a children’s author, a school board member, the mayor of Palmetto Bay and the mayor of Pinecrest. 171 viewers watched as the panelists discussed a variety of coping mechanisms for teens with anxiety and stress. “The most important thing that I’ve learned through my work with Blooming Minds Miami and something that I didn’t know back when I was in a very bad place is that I really am not alone,” MerchanMendes said. “I’ve created a community of people who can openly discuss their mental

health issues and offer each other advice, and that’s really beautiful I think.”

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I WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE SOMEONE THEY CAN RELATE TO IF THEY ARE STRUGGLING MENTALLY AND KNOW THAT THEY CAN ACHIEVE THE EXTRAORDINARY IF THEY PUT THEIR MIND IN IT.

CAROLINA MERCHAN-MENDES (12)

BEHIND THE

LENS

F RA N K M E N J I VA R The arts can act as an escape for anyone. A young mind who can express themselves through their creations is testament to the grand imagination of our youth today, and the energy which we as a generation can encapsulate. This holds true for Frank Menjivar of Miami Palmetto Senior High School’s senior class of 2022. Capturing moments while expressing his feelings through photos became an important aspect of Menjivar’s life from an early age. Because of this, Menjivar began his photographic journey years before by pretending to be a photographer as a child, which would lay the foundation for one his passion’s: photography. “When I was little I would always have this small camera; it wasn’t mine; it was my parents,” Menijvar said. “There’s not a lot of pictures of me when I was little, just because I would always be the one that would take the pictures, and I just never really thought anything about it. That was really the start, [so] I guess I just grew with it.” Completely self-taught, Menjivar shares his love of capturing a moment in photos with adventures and off-shoot images of those around him, recording a range of emotions. Menjivar has drawn inspiration from those around him, his past experiences in the arts and by watching documentaries and short films on YouTube through the initial COVID-19 quarantine in March 2020. “I really was drawn to a lot of Youtube videos, out of boredom and of just being home all day. I started getting interested in how some videos would be made. [I started] watching more and more videos and documentaries with the ongoing interest on wanting to make my own too,”

Menjivar said. “I started making my own plans to implement them, and I would ask my friends about the ideas and [would] get their full support with the concepts I had created.” In the beginning of his junior year, Menjivar began to explore this new artform through researching individually, asking questions to Palmetto staff about photography and saving up to collect the materials to achieve his vision. “Whatever he gravitates towards, it starts off small. He had one camera that was an old recording camera; then he got this older camera to take photos in, and then he saved up to buy the film camera. It’s always like that with Frank,” Palmetto senior and close friend of Menjivar Manuel Cutie said. Beyond taking pictures, Menjivar has been heavily involved in the arts, including his ability to play both the viola and piano, as well as his past in taking ballet lessons. “I was supposed to play violin at first, but they didn’t have any more violins available. So they [were] like we have a viola, and they told me ‘it’s just like the violin but it’s just a little bigger,’ so I stuck with the viola. I’ve been playing in the Greater Miami Youth Symphony for six years,” Menijvar said. From his experiences in the arts, his understanding of discipline and commitment have flourished. Applying these lessons to his current projects, Menjivar has found great success in staying consistent to his photography while improving his skills. “I was nine when I picked up the piano. I started getting lessons, and I remember my first recital was in December. I saw other kids that were all a little older than me, [and] they’re playing better than me.I had

to tell myself I shouldn’t let that discourage my getting better. It lit this spark in me, like a flame, to do better,” Menjivar said. Having to take public transportation to his music lessons, Menjivar has not let challenges hinder his ability to express himself through the arts. “I’m in the Greater Miami Youth Symphony and on Sundays, you practice. My parents can’t take me because they work, so I just take the bus everywhere. I don’t drive; I don’t have a car, but my philosophy is don’t ever find an excuse for something you really like to do,” Menjivar said. Pursuing film photography has especially presented an obstacle for Menjivar; however, his passion overrides any potential inconveniences. “I develop my film at Cardinal Film Labs, which is in Allapattah. I go right after school; I just walk to the bus stop from the bus, take the train to the train.I get off;it’s over an hour to get there, get off, walk to the film lab,” Menjivar said. “I remember the first time the guys were like ‘Whoa, are you sweating?’ I was like, ‘Man, I came from Palmetto Bay.’ He [was] like, ‘Man, you know what, like, props to you man. If you really love it, keep going.’” Looking through the lens, Menjivar captures more than just photos; he aims to encapsulate the diversity and beauty within Miami that the world of photography has helped him realize. “I’ve gotten so comfortable with being in Miami especially throughout high school just because I take the bus everywhere. You take a picture and it definitely opens your eyes more, and there’s so many places that I just know from the top of my head like a map in my head,” Menjivar said.

SENIORS | 15 Menjivar’s ability to communicate with others has improved since the beginning of the school year, as he has gained confidence as people now approach him and ask him to take their picture rather than him having to ask for one. Gaining confidence by reaching out to people and asking questions has also brought him additional opportunities that Menjivar did not expect. “I remember going over to Romero Brito’s gallery one day, and there was this guy buying a painting…and he saw me with a camera. He [was] like ‘Oh what type of camera?’ and he just had paper in his notepad and just ripped out a piece of paper and started writing photographers names. I guess you could say I was inspired by this guy. It’s really cool [that] people see what you’re doing and they’re like ‘I want to help you, maybe try looking at other people’s art so [that] you can get your own type of style.’” Opportunities to take pictures for professional skateboarders, street artists and even a press pass at this year’s Miami Art Basel all have come to fruition because of Menjivar’s ability to take photographs and reach out to people. A connection with the people he loves has been a large part of his success within the hobbies he loves. “His photos, at least for me, are always so personal. He’s able to achieve that by taking his personal relationships into his photos. He does that by always asking people about their thoughts or even their life experiences and just hearing all these different perspectives to include them in his

photos. I love it when he asked me those questions because I know that he’s gonna hear me out and try to kind of execute what I have to say in a photo and through art,” Palmetto senior and a close friend of Menjivar, Sofia Fernandez said. Throughout this journey, fearlessness has contributed to his great success. Menjivar’s innovation and persistence is evident through his work, inspiring awe in those around him. “He has a very big mind and doesn’t let things limit him from achieving what he wants. Which, honestly, I think is so rare because a lot of people are like ‘Oh, I’m just 17; I’m just in high school. I can’t do this,’ but he doesn’t let any limitations stop him,” Fernandez said. With only one semester left of senior year, Menjivar deeply values each day and seeks to capture the beauty of everyday moments through his pictures. His camera has become attached to his hip, ready to take a photo at a moment’s notice. “Ever since school has started there has not been one day that I haven’t had my camera on me. Even if it’s in my bag, I still have it on just in case [of] anything,” Menjivar said. Menjivar finds beauty in the dynamic essence of photography and exemplifies that art belongs to everyone regardless of professional training or age. “Photography is really universal, and each photographer can have their own interpretation and ideas of their own work. It’s not right or wrong. That’s what makes

it unique for everyone; there’s no right or wrong way of doing it; it’s only trial and error of how you want them,” Menjivar said.

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16 | STAFF

CHASING DREAMS FROM TAIWAN TO MIAMI C H U N G B I N G WA N G

From Taiwan to Miami, Miami Palmetto Senior High School Chinese teacher Chung Bing Wang has a long history of accomplishments. From being the cofounder of one of Taiwan’s largest digital entertainment companies to succeeding as a businessman to fulfilling his dream of becoming a teacher who constantly inspires his students to be the best version of themselves, Wang never fails to bring out the best in those he interacts with. Prior to becoming a Chinese teacher at Palmetto, Chung Bing Wang began his career in Taiwan. Sparking his enthusiasm for linguistics, he started learning English in sixth grade despite his school’s requirement that students start studying the language in seventh grade. Wang’s dedication to his studies continued on through university where he pursued his interests in mathematics and finance. After graduating from university, Wang worked as a teacher’s assistant to further follow his passion for math and teaching. However, due to his father’s poor health, he became heavily involved in the Taiwanese finance industry to generate a higher income and support his family. “There is my dream: when I graduated from college, I was a teaching assistant to teach statistics,” Wang said. “But

something happened that I have to go to earn money because my father was sick. I have to support all of my family.” Consequently, Wang joined a trading company and did business in Japan for seven years. Adding to his impressive list of languages, he became fluent in Japanese. After his time with the company, Wang went back to school to further his knowledge in the field. He majored in marketing and received a Master of Business Administration. After earning his degree, Wang worked for one of the largest banks in Taiwan — Citibank Taipei — and focused on commercial banking and later, investment banking. Wang moved to the U.S. during the summer of 2009 to prepare his children to enter school in the States. From 2009 to 2013, Wang worked for his youngest brother’s business, Kworld, a Taiwanesebased company that focuses on digital entertainment provider technology services. Until his retirement in 2013, Wang worked at Kworld’s Miami branch, which he established. “My youngest brother invited me to join his business. That’s why I come here, because my youngest brother asked me to establish a branch in Miami for doing business to South America,” Wang said. “They produce an electronic device which can attach to the computer to watch T.V.” Despite the huge cultural shift that comes with moving to a completely different country, Wang and his family loved the U.S. and found life here much easier than life in Taiwan. “They all like [the States] very much. Especially my son, he told me that the first week, he didn’t want to go back to Taiwan anymore because Taiwan is very competitive, especially in entering to

college. Life is easier here than it was in Taiwan,” Wang said. Wang always dreamed of becoming a teacher. This became a reality in 2013 when there was a vacancy in the Foreign Language Department at Ronald Reagan Senior High School in Doral. “[Teaching] is my dream… When I graduated from college, to be a teacher always was my treat,” Wang said. After retiring from Kworld, Wang taught Mandarin at Ronald Reagan Senior High School in Doral, Florida until 2016. After that, Wang started teaching mathematics, a subject he has had a life-long passion for. “I like maths very much, but in 2013, my friends in church introduced me because there is a vacancy of Chinese language; therefore I started the Chinese language,” Wang said. “However, after 2016, things changed. [There was] a chance for me to teach mathematics in Broward County. After that, I also started to teach in Homestead.” In 2018, Wang relocated to Palmetto to continue teaching Mandarin. Henry Zimet, a sophomore at Palmetto, became interested in Chinese after taking Wang’s Chinese 1 course his freshman year. Zimet has continued to further his knowledge in Chinese with Wang through his Chinese 2 course this year. “I’ve had a great time [with Mr. Wang]; he knows how to teach us very well, and when we’re done with our work he plays popular Chinese media so we can get a look into what the Chinese culture is about,” Zimet said. Similarly, Palmetto senior Alexandr Kim started taking Wang’s Chinese 1 course in his freshman year. Throughout high school, Kim continued learning Mandarin each year with Wang and is now

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追夢想從台灣到邁阿密 taking AP Chinese Language and Culture. “It’s been really nice to stay with the same group of people and teacher,” Kim said. “It’s a good source of constancy to have someone be supportive of you while you’re developing throughout the four years.” Throughout Kim’s years in Wang’s class, Kim has not only improved his Mandarin but has also gained a tight-knit community. In class, Wang works hard teaching Mandarin while simultaneously sharing his experiences in hopes of motivating his students. “One time we had a relatively light workload and one of our assignments dealt with personal advice. Mr. Wang told us a few anecdotes from his life, and I remember that I started crying because what he said really resonated with me,” Kim said. Wang’s dedication shines through in all his students. His passion for teaching and linguistics deeply moves and inspires his students.

“It was clear to me from his stories that he’s very loving and kind but also hardworking. It’s really compelling for me to see someone who is gifted and decent at the same time,” Kim said.

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[TEACHING] IS MY DREAM… WHEN I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE, TO BE A TEACHER ALWAYS WAS MY TREAT.

CHUNG BING WANG

BETWEEN TW REISHMA SE

Growing up in Trinidad, Miami Palmetto Senior High School AP English Literature and Composition teacher Reishma Seupersad used books as an escape from her poverty-stricken reality. “Trinidad, especially when I was growing up there, was quite undeveloped. That’s changed a lot, but I grew up very poor in the countryside. My home didn’t have indoor plumbing, and my dad didn’t have a phone until I was 16.” Seupersad said. “I just spent a lot of time with books; they were like my escape because we grew up really poor. But in a book, I could travel, like I could experience the world like when I was a kid. So books. Yeah, books took me everywhere. I love reading books.” Seupersad was not the only one who felt an internal connection to books. In the outside world, books made up a separate reality for many. “​​I would say [reading] was probably a great escape [for her]. And I relate to that. I’m also an only child, and you can lose yourself in fiction and find different worlds and do things you could never imagine in books,” Arianne De Govia, a friend of Seupersad for over 30 years, said. As Seupersad grew up in rural Trinidad, she faced adverse conditions that few would

become accustomed to growing up in. Her uncommon upbringing brought her two starkly different realities. “I sort of always have my foot in two worlds at once. I grew up on the banks of a river and the sugarcane fields where I would run around with my cousins, climb trees and eat whatever was growing that we could find and this really wild life, but then my parents were both teachers. So books were a huge part of my life as well as just culture and learning. So I also had that side of it. So it’s like this weird life of privilege, but poverty, that I really love about the way that my life started,” Seupersad said. As an introvert in a big family, books served as not only a tool for education, but also played a significant role in her life from a young age. Following her parents’ lead, Seupersad learned to love literature throughout her childhood. “In Trinidad, our parents teach us to read before we go to school. So I was reading by the time I was like two and a half, you know, preschool things. My father is very intellectual, and so he always had books around him in different languages. My father speaks Hindi and English, and my mother also always has books around her,” Seupersad said. The divorce of Seupersad’s parents affected her early in life and moved her to a very different area of Trinidad than the one she grew up in, prompting a reality that seemed like worlds away to a young Seupersad. “When my parents got divorced, my mother and I moved to the city, which is where she’s from. We moved from Princes

Town, which is the country town that my dad grew up in, to Port of Spain, which is the capital of Trinidad and where my mother grew up,” Seupersad said. “I lived with my grandmother, my mother, my mother’s sister, her husband and their three children, and all of us are in one house because it’s such a Caribbean thing to do. So even though I’m an only child, I had all of them around me.” Seupersad’s relationship with reading takes many forms; on top of her parents’ guidance, her introverted personality gave her her own reasons to read. This sparked a longing for independence and time where she could just step back from her reality. “It’s great to grow up in a family with people who are always in your face all the time, but I’m very much an introvert. So I had to figure out really early how to find quiet time for me. That’s where reading came in; it’s always been my thing because Trinidad is the country that really privileges education. If you’re doing anything studious, people leave you alone, so I read,” Seupersad said. Even Seupersad’s friends have recognized the impact of literature on her life, claiming that it has helped mold her as a person. “I think [literature] has also been a gateway to what makes her who she is. She’s a person you know, when you do literary analysis you look for what’s really happening here. What’s the deeper meaning? What’s the other thing? As a friend, that’s how she shows up. She shows up as someone who is able to take in the surface description of whatever it is, but is always thinking about what that’s really about. What is the deeper meaning of that? I think that that sort of approach to literary analysis that we use is something that informs her way of looking at the world and people around her,” De Govia said. With an upbringing where reading contributed to who Seupersad is today, school and education were always a priority

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STAFF | 19

UPERSAD of hers and of her family. As the end of secondary school neared, she soon had to think of her future. “I moved to New York City to go to university because I lost a bet with my mother. I wanted to go to the university in Trinidad because most of my friends were staying, but she said ‘if you apply abroad, and you get in, then you have to go’. I didn’t think I was gonna get in, but I got into Dartmouth and Columbia. So then she was like, ‘well, you’ve got to go somewhere,’ and so I chose Columbia,” Seupersad said. Having spent her summers in the city, Seupersad was keen to study at Barnard College of Columbia University in New York. De Govia soon joined her at the school and her other long-time friend Melanie Archer did not hesitate to visit. “When I ended up in New York, Reishma was in New York and I was looking for an apartment and she was like, ‘come and stay with me until you figure your things out.’ There was no sense of me being in her space or me being an inconvenience. She was just extremely welcoming,” Archer said. Seupersad reciprocated De Govia’s kindness and advice by acquainting her with staff at Columbia’s registrar’s office and helping her get a taste of home by introducing her to local Caribbean restaurants.

“I credit Reishma with me getting out of college in three years and getting into Harvard for law school. Absolutely. She laid the groundwork when I got there. It was like having a man on the inside,” said De Govia. Seupersad’s caring personality continues to be a positive light in her friends’ lives as she helps them find stability and grow as people. “I just think it’s extremely grounding. I would say Reishma is a grounding factor. And she will challenge you but she won’t do it in a negative way, it’s always in your best interest,” Archer said. At Columbia, Seupersad continued to follow her passion of English, but also took the advice that her mother offered her along the way. “After I graduated from Columbia, I decided I was gonna leave and go back to Trinidad, but then I got a job doing public policy research. I double majored in English and economics because English was my love, but my mother said I needed something that would get me a job like economics, and that’s what got me the job. I started working in New York for five years, and then decided I needed to leave and go to grad school. I had a choice between Howard and University of Miami, and I decided to go to UM because they

had a better Caribbean Studies program,” Seupersad said. While her degree in economics got her a job post-graduation, the impact books have had on Seupersad ultimately led to her choice of career as a high school English teacher at Palmetto. Her dedication to her students is evident through her passion for the subject. “I think helping my cousins with homework and seeing both of my parents as teachers really impacted me because they both chose this life. They approached it like service to be a good teacher. It really is not about you; it’s about your students,” Seupersad said. “And I think that instilled in me that your life should not just be centered on who you are; your life should also have this component of how you can help people around you be the best that they can be. I think that’s what led me to teaching, and I have to teach literature because I couldn’t teach anything else.”

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I JUST SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH BOOKS; THEY WERE LIKE MY ESCAPE BECAUSE WE GREW UP REALLY POOR. BUT IN A BOOK, I COULD TRAVEL, LIKE I COULD EXPERIENCE THE WORLD LIKE WHEN I WAS A KID, REISHMA SEUPERSAD

THE “LETTU

GROWING A BUSIN

LISA MERKLE AN

Sisters Lisa Merkle, Miami Palmetto Senior High School Class of ’92, and Cheryl Arnold, Miami Palmetto Senior High Class of ’88, have returned to Miami to cultivate an innovative business: Imagine Farms. Offering their products across the county, the sisters continue to give back to the community in a sustainable way. Born and raised in Miami, Arnold and Merkle grew up with each other, but as they were five years apart, their relationship did not solidify until later in life. “In high school, we were not very close until college, and I think we’ve been pretty tightly bonded ever since then,” CoFounder and Chief Marketing Officer of Imagine Farms Lisa Merkle said. “[Now], Cheryl and I are bonded sisters and each other’s biggest support.” The education the sisters received from Palmetto teachers and staff influenced their later success. “Palmetto was an environment that really supported us to follow our interests and felt like a great sense of community and neighborhood, and I still feel that today,” Merkle said. For Arnold, Palmetto helped her foster new connections, a core aspect of her

business today. “A big part of who you are is who you surround yourself with, and I think that I made some really great friendships and met some really great people that helped [me] to sort of start being on the right path,” Co-Founder of Imagine Farms Cheryl Arnold said. “Being in an environment that fostered that belonging and inclusion and just the opportunity to get to be friends with all different kinds of people, I think that piece was helpful.” After Palmetto, the sisters left Miami to attend college at the University of Florida. Upon graduating from UF, Arnold and Merkle parted ways: Merkle worked in New York City as a fashion photographer, and Arnold developed a marketing program called ‘Endlessly Organic’ in South Florida. Without knowing it, the sisters’ intense education and professional experiences had prepared them for beginning a business in Miami. The idea for what would soon become Imagine Farms was sparked by a simple video. “Cheryl’s husband had seen a video of a company that takes used shipping containers and turns them into little indoor farms, and I looked at it and thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’” Merkle said. “He was thinking of maybe putting one of

these farms in the neighborhood and I was kind of looking for something new, so I said, ‘That’s so cool, could I maybe become your farmer?’” Inspired by the idea, Arnold and Merkle reunited in South Florida, using their life savings to establish a farm in Little Havana — an approximately 30 minute drive from Palmetto. For a year and a half, the sisters worked on Imagine Farms together, handling everything from the seeding, harvesting, packaging and delivering of the plants. Imagine Farms does not resemble a typical farm; instead, the produce is grown in an indoor vertical hydroponic farm. In other words, the sisters grow all plants indoors, vertically and without soil. The sisters feed the plants a nutrient-rich solution of filler water and added minerals. Additionally, they employ Controlled Environment Agriculture, which involves controlling light and temperature to create an ideal environment for the produce. “We’re growing food, and the magic is really in the seed. Given the perfect environment, the seed will thrive beautifully,” Merkle said. “With the use of technology, we’re able to create this ideal [and sustainable] environment, so it is the perfect temperature 365 days a year.” Imagine Farm’s CEA and hydroponic design ensures that all produce is fresh

UCE LADIES”

ALUMNI | 21

NESS TOGETHER

N D C H E RY L A R N O L D and ready to sell to customers, while typical farming methods result in pounds of discarded produce that cannot be sold in stores. While working together to build Imagine Farms, Arnold and Merkle also strengthened their relationship with one another. “Lisa and I [are] kind of like yin and yang,” Arnold said. “We both have opposite skill sets, and because of that, our skill sets are a perfect compliment to each other. She is unbelievable at branding, design, marketing and event planning, and I handle all the operation parts.” Over the years, the sisters have cultivated three main lettuce blends: Happiness Blend, Citrus Pop and Watercress. Each blend has a unique flavor. The Happiness Blend includes green & red leaf lettuce. The Citrus Pop includes peppery mizuna and mild red leaf lettuce. Lastly, the Watercress is a nutrient-based blend, since the lettuce variation is the most nutrientdense leafy green on the planet, according to Merkle. Aside from these blends, the sisters also sell romaine lettuce. Toppings can be added to any blend to enhance the taste. One of Arnold and Merkle’s year-round customers is Joel Soldinger, Palmetto’s AP Macroeconomics teacher. “I always try to just support local businesses, and I’m always looking for new businesses that are popping up. I came across Imagine Farms on social media and [saw] they would deliver during the pandemic. So every Tuesday or Wednesday, they would show up with a bag with four boxes of lettuce,” Soldinger said. Imagine Farms piques Soldinger’s interest because the food is not only local, but also fresher. “I’ve learned the importance of eating local and supporting local businesses for many reasons: it’s fresher and less

damaging to the environment. When you get Organic Girl [a lettuce brand], it goes from California, refrigerated, to Miami. So, the idea is supporting local, first and foremost,” Soldinger said. As the owners of a food business, both Merkle and Arnold have preferences when it comes to blends. “I eat the lettuce every single day. My favorite blend is definitely the Citrus Blend. It’s so delicious. It needs almost nothing on it and it goes with anything, [like in] a sandwich,” Arnold said. Merkle, on the other hand, prefers a different blend. “​​My favorite salad is what I call ‘The Kitchen Sink Salad,’ [which consists] of a base of Happiness Blend. Then, I add in any other veggies from the fridge, throw that in with hemp seeds and pine nuts, dress it with some market dressing...and chow down,” Merkle said. Due to the lettuce’s popularity, Imagine Farms has expanded into local farmers’ markets, restaurants and grocery stores, including Pinecrest’s own Milam’s. “It is a really big deal to get on a supermarket shelf. The Pinecrest Milam’s location is at the Publix that Cheryl and I grew up at, and [we] agreed that this is so right to start here at this grocery store—the one where we grew up,” Merkle said. “We have really deep roots in our community, [one] that really values the things that we’re passionate about and that’s about what we can do that’s good for the planet and good for the people.” The sisters plan on expanding Imagine Farms to include foods other than lettuce; namely mushrooms and berries. Arnold and Merkle will grow the mushrooms in a similar, but not exactly the same, hydroponic system; however, the berries will be grown in the same way as the lettuce.

“Mushrooms are very exciting because not only are they delicious and nutritious, but they’re versatile,” Merkle said. “So when people talk about eating less meat or meatless Mondays or reorganizing their ratio of meat to plants, mushrooms can play an incredible role in creating the sort of umami meaty flavors.” As owners of a business that has made such a strong impact on the community, the two sisters have seen a lot of success. Arnold and Merkle’s long-time friend from elementary school, Erin Schumacher Rubin, believes that the sisters have created a sense of community. “The sisters have a great work ethic, and I think they also care about each other, being successful role models and femaledriven businesswomen. You see them turn nothing into something great, and that makes you want to do a little yourself,” Rubin said. Imagine Farms will continue to make an impact on the community. The bond they have with their customers and between themselves is why they feel business and impact can only become stronger. “I am incredibly proud that I’m able to bring something into the world that’s good for the planet and people. So here we are growing healthy food, in our community and for our community, in a way that’s considerate of the planet and the climate,” Arnold said.

Ana Martinez

Online Editor-in-Chief

a.martinez.thepanther@gmail.com

Ryan McKean

Multimedia Editor

r.mckean.thepanther@gmail.com

DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON PHOTO COURTESY OF IMAGINE FARMS

22 | ALUMNI

THE

NOAH

SHOW

Whether in front of the camera interviewing peers on today’s pertinent issues or behind the camera producing for some of television journalism’s most prominent names, Noah Gray has always had one central passion: sharing lived experiences in their most authentic and factual form. A graduate of Miami Palmetto Senior High School’s Class of 2010, Gray combined his interests in journalism, politics and community involvement early on, driven by the passion to promote matters related to the human experience through television production and documentary filmmaking. Upon entering Palmetto, Gray joined former Palmetto teacher Jay Salon’s Television Production class and participated in Elizabeth Valero’s Stagecraft and Theater classes. “I’ve always been interested in my community, and my grandmother and my parents taught me the importance of being engaged in your community and aware of what’s going on. I always watched the news, and I found that a lot of young people did not care about the upcoming [2008 presidential] election,” Gray said. With that in mind, Gray spoke to firsttime voters in the community. Filming his interactions with others, he created “The Virgin Voting Project Documentary.” “Young people don’t like being told what to do sometimes. I feel like a lot of people come across politics and political views because of their parents, because of the communities they were raised in,” Gray said. “I’m a big believer in thinking for yourself and learning for yourself and learning from your friends and your peers. So, I thought it was important instead of some old politician to tell me what I should think or how I should feel or what I should do.” Through his conversations with students of voting age, he noticed a recurring theme.

“[When] I would ask people, “What’s an issue important to [you],” they were always issues that were literally relevant to [their] age. But the stuff politicians are talking about, whether you care about it in the moment or not, it’s stuff that will affect your life down the road,” Gray said. “It’s important to be engaged at a young age, to be involved in your community.” At Palmetto and within the local community, Gray and his documentary impacted those who had just come of the legal voting age, inspiring them to partake in the political process. Determined to continue to educate others, Gray wanted to continue to spread his message. After entering the documentary into various film festivals, Gray began to garner interest from media outlets like the Miami Herald and the Associated Press. “The idea that one student in a high school started a national movement was kind of mind blowing to me,” Valero said. Shortly thereafter, CNN took notice of Gray’s film, and offered him a position with the network as their Youth Political Correspondent for the remainder of the 2008 election cycle. Through the network, Gray attended events for then-candidates senator John McCain, former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and others. “I have this letter here from Hillary Clinton… It says, ‘Dear Noah, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful documentary with me. I’m so glad to see that even though you can’t yet vote, your enthusiasm for this campaign has led you to act,’” Gray said. Gaining more experience in front of the camera, Gray interviewed candidates but also televised live to CNN directly from Palmetto. Unlike today, where connecting with others virtually can easily be done with a tap of a button, it was a school-wide effort to get Gray on-air. “I was setting up my own camera and…

Mr. Wiener – the principal at the time, who was incredibly supportive – had teachers turn their computers off sometimes to power the Internet down because we needed bandwidth,” Gray said. “We’d broadcast live and they’d say, ‘Palmetto Senior High School, Noah Gray, Virgin Voting’ and I would broadcast to CNN from Palmetto.” The summer prior to his senior year, Gray spent a summer living in Washington, D.C. where he interned for the Special Olympics. In that time, he created another documentary, “Stand Up, Speak Out,” which shined a light on the exercise of First Amendment rights in the U.S., specifically the right to protest in front of the White House. The documentary, which went on to win a second prize in the Video Documentary category at C-SPAN’s 2010 StudentCam awards, serves as another example of Gray’s drive to share what the real world looked like in a digestible and comprehensive format. Moved by his experiences at the Special Olympics, Gray put together an assembly for Palmetto students known as “The R-Word Project.” This assembly provided a space for students with disabilities to come and speak about their experiences in school and share their talents with attendees. Using the slogan “drop the R-word” and dispensing bracelets to attendees, Gray facilitated a conversation surrounded by a simple principle: treating everyone with respect. “I was there for his assemblies, and he had amazing people who either stopped by or came out live on video…it made a difference,” Former M-DCPS District Nine School Board Member Dr. Lawrence Feldman said. “It was like a telethon, but of kindness…He told me later on that year that there were less incidents of bullying.” Learning alongside teachers, Gray also made a large impact on faculty and staff. Administration offered Salon a position as TVP advisor, where he took a chance

ALUMNI | 23 on a freshman Gray and gave him the opportunities to learn. “I think people don’t understand how they inspire other people accidentally,” Salon said. “The reason why Noah was so successful is because he had the personal drive to do it. I just opened the doors. I gave him the freedom to do what he needed… he was in the right place at the right time.” Palmetto’s collaborative, supportive and uplifting environment where students were encouraged to pursue their interests on a massive scale is one that Gray and his family is especially grateful to have had. “I had an entire conversation with [Gray’s] mother about this; about how lucky we all were that he went to Palmetto at a place where there were all of these teachers who supported him and realized his enormous potential that looked different from other traditional students and they let him grow and flourish in that role, and it made him have the confidence to do all those other things,” Gray’s wife, Kristen Holmes said. After graduating from Palmetto, Gray attended American University in Washington, D.C. where he received his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science in 2014. As he transitioned from a high school student journalist to a college-aged one, Gray’s experience with CNN matured with him. “When I was in high school and doing [CNN], I was kind of doing everything myself. I was shooting, I was writing, I was recording my voice overs, I was editing and I was appearing on the T.V.,” Gray said. “When I got to college and I started interning [at CNN], I entered the traditional route of you know, you’re the intern; it’s not The Noah Show. You’re working for the show. You’re working for a network. You’re working for the news gathering operation. I learned how to do different things professionally.” During his college years at CNN, Gray worked with The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and the 2012 Special Election Coverage — Gray had the opportunity to learn in different atmospheres and grow as a professional in the various areas of broadcast journalism that interested him. Post-graduation, Gray was offered a position at CNN as either a News Assistant in the Washington, D.C. bureau or an

Associate Producer in the Atlanta, Georgia bureau. One option allowed him to stay in a place he loved to call home and one option allowed him to grow exponentially right out of college; Gray made the difficult decision to move to Atlanta. “I was on the Brooke Baldwin show at that time, and I worked 40 hours a week and then I worked most weekends, too, trying to get out in the field and do more and learn more,” Gray said. Shortly after, the opportunity of a lifetime came knocking on Gray’s door: CNN asked Gray if he wanted to be an embed — a correspondent for a network who travels on the campaign trail for a candidate — for former president Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Unsure how long his time with the campaign would be but excited about the opportunity, Gray agreed. “When I was getting advice from someone about whether I was going to do this or not, they said that being embedded is, and I would agree, the greatest experience that I would never want to do again,” Gray said. “ It was an incredible experience. It was very difficult, very trying and very rewarding. I met my wife on the campaign trail. Trump won. I came back to D.C. and became a White House producer and the rest is history. I didn’t think that any of this would happen.” However, in the midst of all the excitement and chaos that his career has brought him, Gray has felt that his reflection on his career as a person, producer and journalist have taught him a singular, yet invaluable, lesson. “Always be a human being before anything else. Remember that on the other side of the camera or on the other side of the phone, you’re talking to a person and not a robotic soundbite machine. And I think that a lot of journalists need to get better at that,” Gray said. “I think that we as journalists need to not exploit people in their vulnerable times. I think we have a responsibility to expose corruption and we have a responsibility to inform.” Since Gray has returned to D.C as a White House Producer, he has also since gotten married to Holmes, a CNN national correspondent, and the two recently welcomed a son to their family. “I always say work will never love you back. It’s a good lesson to have a good

work-life balance, and it’s something that people struggle with, and it’s something that I’ve struggled with so being on paternity leave has been amazing,” Gray said. “My wife is terrific, and she’s not only excellent on television, but she’s a huge supporter of mine. But, she also pushes back when I need it and reminds me that it’s not ‘The Noah Show.’ Having a supportive partner and having someone who works in the industry too is fun.” Looking back in admiration, much of Palmetto’s faculty feel a sense of pride regarding Gray and his accomplishments, as a producer and as a person. “To know that the kid holding a TVP camera in our old studio is now producing things that are touching the lives of every American up until this day is proof that your passion can lead you down the life you want to lead,” Valero said. “Seeing him become a dad recently, I think about how that kid is going to have such an incredible life. He’s got two parents who are successful and open-minded and passionate and that’s the environment that’s going to foster kids to continue to do that.” For the generations to come, Gray hopes that the spirit of involvement in the political process carries on. In his viewpoint, the world works better when all those that can involve themselves not only do so, but see how they can make an impact on their world and society. “Care, be aware and be involved. Whether you’re Republican, whether you’re Democrat, whether you’re an independent, my personal belief is that America works better when more people are engaged, and that’s not just voting. That’s being aware of what’s going on. That’s consuming the news.” Gray said. “Whether you’re stuffing envelopes, whether you’re knocking on doors, whether you’re organizing rallies, whether you’re encouraging people who don’t want to vote to vote and be engaged. People fight for our freedoms, people fight for our rights. It’s a waste to let that go.”

Angelina Astic

Contents/Copy Editor

a.astic.thepanther@gmail.com

Valentina Arias

Multimedia Editor

v.arias.thepanther@gmail.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF NOAH GRAY DESIGN BY GIANNA HUTTON

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LETTER FROM

the editors,

We hope you love “Faces of Palmetto” as much as we loved creating it. We recognize how special the Palmetto community is, and our staff worked diligently over the past couple of months to show that to you. Palmetto has changed significantly. With all students back to in-person learning and the return of beloved school traditions this school year, we have regained our sense of school community and spirit. While our traditional experiences transform around us by the minute, we are lucky enough to find ourselves surrounded by the most inspiring people that continue to do amazing things for their community, overcome incredible obstacles and motivate those around them. To the seniors featured in “Faces of Palmetto,” thank you for dedicating your time to our school and our community. Your impact is incredible, and though we will miss you next year, we know that you will continue to be a positive influence wherever you go. Unfortunately, we can only feature a certain number of “Faces of Palmetto” stories each year, but if we could, we would write a hundred more. Thankfully, we plan to continue the tradition of “Faces of Palmetto” far into the future. Thank you all for reading this year’s “Faces of Palmetto” issue and for learning about the students, alumni, and faculty that make Palmetto so extraordinary. We, the editors of The Panther, are incredibly proud to share it with you.

LOVE,

Bella Martin, Allie Gould, and Ana Martinez

MISSION STATEMENT The Panther staff aims to inform fellow students and parents about school-wide, local, national, and international news. The Panther’s content aims to represent the student body. Editorials feature the opinions of staffers. Features of other students, teachers and clubs further promote the spirit, culture and personality of Miami Palmetto Senior High School.

EDITORIAL POLICY The Panther is a monthly publication of Miami Palmetto Senior High located at 7431 SW 120th Street Miami, FL 33156, (305) 235-1360 ext. 1124. The views expressed are solely those of The Panther staff. Students who wish to respond to an article in this publication or discuss another issue may write letters to the editor and submit them to room 1124 or e-mail us at b.martin. thepanther@gmail.com. The Panther has professional membership in NSPA and CSPA. The Panther prints 1,400 copies per issue for distribution. The Panther is distributed for free to all students in school. Please visit our paper online at thepalmettopanther.com.

BYLINE POLICY:

All creative work (such as illustrations, graphics, photos and writing) excluding staff editorials and staff member pictures will include byline credits.

CORRECTION POLICY:

Any errors in print will be acknowledged in the next print issue in a correction box. Any errors online will be acknowledged immediately. Errors include facts, figures, misquoting and name misspellings.

ADVERTISING POLICY:

Ads will be designed by the advertiser and include all information the advertiser wants included. If the advertiser asks the staff to design the ad, the individual who sold the ad will design the ad or the Ads Manager will. Ads will be approved by EICs, the Advisor and the Ads Manager. If an ad produced is illegible, contains false information, or the advertiser does not like it, they will receive a free ad in the next issue. If you would like to advertise, please contact us.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION POLICY The School Board shall comply with all Federal Laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination and all requirements and regulations of the U.S. Department of Education. The Board will enforce its prohibition against discrimination/harassment based on sex, race, color, ethnic, or national origin, religion, marital status, disability, age, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identification, social and family background, linguistic preference, pregnancy and any other basis prohibited by law. The Board shall maintain an educational and work environment free from all forms of discrimination/harassment, which includes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct such as unwelcome touching, graphic verbal comments, sexual jokes, slurs, gestures or pictures. All students, administrators, teachers, staff, and all other school personnel share responsibility for avoiding, discouraging, and reporting any form of prohibited discrimination or harassment against students by employees, other students and their parents or guardians, or third parties. This policy prohibits discrimination and harassment at all School District operations, programs, and activities on school property, or at another location if it occurs during an activity sponsored by the Board.

STAFF

Editor-In-Chief Bella Martin

Print Editor-In-Chief Allison Gould

Online Editor-In-Chief Ana Martinez

Managing Editor Kate Stuzin

Senior Copy Editor Katriona Page

Senior Media Editor Gianna Hutton

Business Manager Julia Strasius

Feature Editor

Amy-Grace Shapiro

Contents Editor Angelina Astic

News Editor

Samantha Elkins

Life Editor Kate Markus

Sports Editor Michael Angee

Opinion Editor

Cayetana Jaramillo

Multimedia Team Mikayla Ashe Valentina Arias Isabella Hewitt Ryan McKean Ava Stuzin

Copy Team

Angelina Astic Eitan Greenberg Nicole Martin Sara Paredes

Design Team Ella Pedroso Jasmine Judge Paul Yan Denise Vaque

Staff Writers Tomas Curcio Ava Garcia

Adviser

Laura Aviles