In the Middle (2017-2018 v3)

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Middle school shows spirit Class Trips page 6

Lion King page 16

BY RACHEL H ODES Spirit day is possibly the most fun day of the school year. It is an activity-packed event that requires lots of team building, listening, and of course a good attitude.

This year, in particular, there were lots of changes. One being the addition of co-captains. Mrs. Greenfield, spirit week coordinator said, ?In the past captains have had to leave early for sports, are sick or for some other reason miss Spirit Day which leaves their team at a disadvantage, said By having co-captains, each captain had an 8th grader they could count on to step up if he or she was unable to attend.?

The new edition of co-captains made spirit week more organized and allowed the team to work more efficiently when it needed to be split up into groups. ?Being a co-captain was impactful because I got to see how hard being a leader in these situations is and how hard it is to keep everyone organized,? said Ana Muniz, eighth-grader on Little Einsteins, ? I'll use the leadership skills that I learned that day in the future.?

The team captains along with their teams

came to school with face paint and elaborate costumes. ?I wore a black and white T-shirt, black shorts, a white tutu, and excessive white accessories,? said Camryn Johnson, captain of Mickey Mouse, ?Everyone on my team loved and appreciated my spirit.? ?I wore a very festive outfit consisting of a tutu, red high socks, face paint, red shirt, and more red things, said,? Emma Zelkowitz, captain of Jimmy Neutron, ?My team liked what I wore because it fit our color and it was a fun outfit.?

8th Grade goes to court

BY A L ESSANDRA DI CATAL DO

Water Polo page 22

On January 9th the eighth grade had a field trip to a courthouse and a Estefan's Kitchen, a Cuban restaurant. This is one of the most important trips in the eighth-grade class because there is a lot to learn from it.

The day for the eighth grade started at 8 am.

They were asked to be at school on time if anyone arrived later than 8 am then they wouldn?t be able to attend the trip.

Mr. Fallik is the one that organized court component of this trip. First, they went to the courthouse and then they went to a Cuban restaurant called Estefan?s kitchen. Mrs. Hernandez was responsible for lunch.

Once they got to the courthouse the first thing they did was go to one of the courts. It was a big room, big enough to fit 119 students. A judge was introduced to the grade, her name was Judge Sayfie. She explained how everything works in a courthouse. How some people ended up there, she told some stories about some of her past cases. ?I have been a Circuit Court Judge for just over 10 years. I was a public defender for over 13 years. I had the opportunity to become a judge and it felt like a natural extension of the public service I was already committed to.? said Judge Sayfie.

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Though it may not seem like it spirit week is mainly organized by kids of the middle school. ?Students in leadership are responsible for organizing all of Spirit Week,? said Mr. Greenfield, ?They have to put all students on a color and then once complete put all students on a team within the color. Leadership also chooses the entertainment for the party and events for field day. Students also helped to create the field day schedule.?

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Grandparents Day

BY A RTYOM T RUK HACHEV Grandparents Day is a day where you show your grandparents your classes and the school and where everything is, introducing our school to them, Ms.Greenfield started this for Grandparents to see our school, our classes, and just get the full experience of being at the school, everybody?s grandma, and grandpa, for example, loved the school, and most of them would want to go again, to see more of it. ?I really like this school, I love what the buildings look like, they?re very friendly, and they?re very modern,? said Artyom Trukhachev?s grandmother, ?I love the new building the Center for the Arts, it?s very modern. I also like the teachers they?re very friendly and welcoming when we come in they always greet me and my grandson.? ?Your campus is very modern, very nice I like it very much your campus, I?ve been here before, but I am enjoying seeing it a little bit different going into the building and seeing the rooms,? said Tora Grossman (Jake Grossman's Grandmother) Continued on page 2

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MCDSloves its grandparents CONTI NUED FROM

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?I find the new arts building just fabulous, and that?s where I was just now I?ve only been in one class so far, I?ve only been to EBO and that was nice because I got to be inside in the new building and it was wonderful. And the atmosphere there was amazing, you all are so lucky to have this amazing place as a school, and to have all these teachers, it?s a state of the art this facility that you will forever enjoy, I hope.? ?I love the new Center for the Arts building because it is very modern, and the new cafe which was next to the Center for the Arts, it has really good smoothies.? Said Gerard Van Der Leegte (Sebastian and Thomas van der leegte's grandpa) ?I really like the idea of grandparents day because it reminds me a little bit of school, I really liked science as a kid, I know nowadays it?s not the favorite subject of most kids but I really liked science, and the school science (STEM) was really fun.? Said Steve Rineliat who is Maryam Rassif ?s grandfather. ?I really liked the school, you guys pay a lot of attention to sports, the teachers are amazing, very kind, very nice atmosphere and territory.? Said Yuriy Radkovets, Grandfather of Artyom Dmitriy Trukhachev, ?I really like the idea of grandparents day, because it?s fun to see kids learn and progress in school, it makes me remember my days at school, and the students days at school they both look similar.? ?I liked the school a lot, the grass everywhere, and it sort of has like a modern, but like natural feeling to it, I really, really liked the school, but I have one complaint I did not like the school lunch, the sandwich was pretty bad, I liked the smoothies at the cafe though, but overall it was a great experience.? Said Jommie Van Der Leegte, Thomas Van Der Leegte Grandma, Thomas?s grandparents really loved the smoothies at the cafe.

M ar yam Rassif had a great day with her gr andfather, Steve Rineliat.

Spirit Week excites, unites CONTI NUED FROM During the day students enjoyed events like soccer, kickball, selfie scavenger hunt, dodgeball, and more.

and against two read teams,? said Arty Trukhachev, a sixth grader on the blue team, ?I three-sixty someone and I felt really proud of myself because we won that game.?

Students and teachers seemed to be enjoying the event and took it very seriously. Kids were incredibly spirited and cherished the day to its fullest. The halls were filled with cheering and smiling faces. Even K ids were incredibly spir ited if you don?t consider yourself and cher ished the day to its athletic there were still plenty of fullest. The halls were filled things to participate in.

A lot of people agreed that dodgeball was their favorite activity.

with cheer ing and smiling faces

?My favorite activity was dodgeball because my team was really good and we played with another blue team

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?We should have had some more outdoor activities, I thought dodgeball was the only good indoor one,? said Jake Goldberg, an eighth-grade student, who was on the blue team.

?I would want to put basketball as one of the activities since it is as popular as soccer, said Arty. ?I think there should?ve been more activities like the card building in the stem lab.?

Captains and co-captains learned leadership skills

that will stay with them for a long time. ?We did very well, worked together, encouraged each other, shared laughs.... when we lost, we encouraged each other even more,? said Andrea Pantin, the Phineas and Ferb team captain. ?Being a captain impacted me by teaching me leadership skills I will need for the future,? said Jasper Feldman, team captain of the loud house and spirit week winner. ?Also, I made new friendships and memories that I will cherish forever. I learned to never put down your teammates in anything you do and to only encourage them.

Jasper also said, ?When my team won I was in shock. I just couldn't believe my team actually won.? ?Being a captain impacted me by learning how to make decisions quickly and how to treat everyone how I want to be treated,? said Emma.

Spirit Week

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Zoe's Dolls takes off!

BY Z OE T ERRY Zoe's Dolls is the vision of now 11- year- old Zoe Terry. Raising a socially conscious daughter is one of Zoe's mom's biggest goals as a parent. It weighs high up there with the other essentials like providing a safe and happy home and building a sound spiritual background.

When Zoe was younger, her mom would teach her the spirit of giving by asking her to give away one of her toys at Christmas time. Right before Zoe's 6th birthday, she told her mom that she didn't want to give a toy away at Christmas anymore. Zoe exclaimed that instead of giving a toy away at Christmas, she wanted to do something totally different. Zoe said that for her birthday she wanted to give little brown dolls to little brown girls who did not have dolls to play and that was all she wanted for her birthday! This was the start of Zoe's Dolls!

It was also important for Zoe to give away little brown

dolls to little brown girls because when she was in Kindergarten she was bullied because of how she looked and teased because of her "puffy" and "kinky" hair.

Zoe wanted other little brown girls not to feel like she felt when she was teased.

She wanted little brown girls to know that their image was beautiful.

For her birthday, Zoe decided to kick off her initiative "Zoe's Dolls". She asked all of her family and friends to purchase at least one new doll (particularly dolls of color representing the African/ African American, Hispanic and Caribbean spectrum) from Oct 19-Dec. 20 and drop the dolls off at the various drop-off locations.

Zoe takes the donated dolls and distributes them to little girls at Christmas time in need of toys. She also ships some of these dolls to Lusaka, Zambia, and Haiti to little girls who are in need of toys at Christmas. Zoe would love for you to donate a brown doll.

Zoe is the type of little girl that rejoices in the act of servitude and in the spirit of giving back. These are lessons that were instilled in her at a young age. Zoe learned the importance of her role and obligation to take on community responsibility and the notion that if one is in need then we are all in need.

With all of her giving Zoe was recently named the 2017 Nickelodeon Halo Awards! She was the youngest ever.

Learning criminal justice and Cuba CONTI NUED FROM Judge Sayfie is the Administrative Judge of the Circuit Criminal Division. She oversees all of the Circuit Judges and all of the business of the Circuit Division. She also oversees the interactions of all of the agencies that operate in the A L ESSANDRA building: Corrections, Clerks, DI CATAL DO Probation, Security, Maintenance, the Public Defender?s Office, the State Attorney?s Office, Private Lawyers, Law Enforcement, Jury Pool, the Public, etc. She also has a small caseload which is predominantly homicide cases and she serves as a backup judge for my judges. She also presides over our Mental Health Diversion Court.

They have on average 10 trials per week. Sometimes as many as 20. Sometimes only 5. There are about 32 regular trial divisions in the courthouse. And another 4 or 5 specialized and backup divisions. All of these are often in trial.

When the students got to the courthouse they were separated into groups and assigned different cases. ?I loved the case that we went into,? said eighth-grader Miranda Marquez, ?it was really interesting. It?s definitely something I would love to do again.?

The eighth-grade class has been doing this trip for six years. Mr. Fallik, who is the one who put together this whole trip, said that the students behaved amazingly.

This trip isn?t the type of trip where everything is scheduled. There?s no way for the teachers to know what kinds of cases are going on at the courthouse, so the activities at the courthouse are always uncertain.

Usually, the students get to see a trial, but this year there weren?t any trials going on that day. ?We always expect

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to see a trial,? said Mr. Fallik, ?this year unfortunately many of our kids didn't see a trial, but we can't necessarily plan for that. We want them to learn the different people who work the courthouse, including judges, police, attorneys, etc.?

Mr. Fallik said that our criminal justice system is here to protect American citizens and its important that our kids know how it works. To see it in action is always better than reading about it in a book.

After the students went to their cases they all went back to the first court they were at. There one of the police officers told some of the students about some cases that he experienced. He explained how they treat criminals and suspects while in court. He showed some of the things they use to keep criminals from escaping.

Once this officer finished they students got to walk through the courthouse prison. This could have been something kind of traumatic for some. The prisoners were screaming any kind of crazy things. ?Something that called my attention about this trip was how many of the scenarios that they told us could have been easily prevented without peer pressure,? said Nicole Rodan. ?And when we walked through the jail was scary and they were screaming some rude things.?

After the courthouse, they went to a Cuban restaurant called Estefan?s Kitchen. This restaurant opened about two years ago. The Estefan?s have expanded their business, they used to have Bongo?s in Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. Now they decided to open a more upper-level restaurant and they continue to produce music. ?This part of the trip was important because the idea of it was to make the students aware of the Cuban culture and what it?s about,? said Ms. Hernandez, the person who organized this part of the trip,? Not only know the little things we know about but to expand and to teach about

immigrants that live in the United States and that have been successful.?

Her husband is an anchor for Univision, a Spanish channel here in Miami. His co-anchor is of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent and they needed someone who had the experience of being an immigrant in Miami.

Ms. Hernandez said that ?The first part of the trip was the court. To me, it?s one of the most important field trips that we have in the eighth grade because it teaches them how the whole court system works and hopefully it teaches them to stay away from trouble because it?s the reality?.

She wanted to show what the Cuban American community is all about. She also wanted to show that Emilio and Gloria Estefan are very successful Cubans that came from nothing and rose to the top. She took the students there because the food is authentic Cuban food.

She made the menu simple since these are teenagers, so she made sure that they had Cuban food but something that they could enjoy. They also made some dietary changes, considering that some students couldn?t eat pork. ? I didn?t really enjoy the meal at Estefan?s Kitchen,? said eighth-grader Camryn Johnson,? the meals had a lot of cheese, and I don?t like it.?

Nicole Rodan also said that their time at Estefan kitchen was ?special, especially because I think we bonded as a grade having lunch together.?

This whole trip is rich with two things, knowledge and culture. The eighth graders got a real chance to learn a lot from different subjects.

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Service Day

BY M I RANDA M ARQUEZ Service day was an amazing experience for me, every student got to choose where they wanted to go. There were many different options that the students could choose from, whether it was feeding south Florida, beach clean up, going to a school to work with kids, etc..

These different options are good, because they were many to choose from and it allows the students to do something that they really like.

On service day , I went to W.J Bryan and it was an amazing experience. I chose W.J Bryan because I like being with kids, and I enjoy working with them , playing with them, etc? When we got to the school, we were divided into groups of 3, and based on that we would go into different classrooms.

When we got to our assigned classroom, the teacher asked us if we spoke Spanish.

Those who did speak Spanish, helped some kids that spoke Spanish and had trouble understanding English. I helped three kids , who were amazing, super sweet and super nice. The class was writing and essay on the French and Indian War, I helped them write that essay , but mainly I helped them get their ideas together and organize their essay. Also, I helped them understand about The French and Indian War, The Quartering Acts, etc? It was fun helping them understand this and comparing it to real life situations. I explained the Quartering Acts by telling them to imagine if someone

told you that some dogs need to stay in your house in order to keep you safe, but they have to live there and you have to feed them and give them a home .

Personally, I believe that we usually think of ourselves most of the time. But when you?re working with kids and trying to help them understand , so you have to think about how the kid is gonna understand it . Basically it is the kid first , and you think about helping them get their ideas together and helping them improve.

Once all of the kids were done with their work, we started to talk about where they come from , the three kids that I worked with had incredible stories about when they moved to the United States. I found it admiring how these 5th graders knew so much about immigration and their culture. And from experience , moving from a place that isn?t necessarily good for us, it changes your life. The way these kids talked about it and their perspective was honestly beyond what I would?ve thought they would say, and they are way more mature than I was when I moved to the United States. I really enjoyed getting to know them, I met two kids from Dominican Republic , one kid from Venezuela and one kid from Puerto Rico and it was amazing, like knowing how they grew up and just getting to know them was incredible.

By the end of the trip, the kids felt comfortable with me and I felt comfortable with them. When we were about to leave , many kids hugged me and even if I didn?t work with most of them, it was really nice and sweet of them. The three kids that I worked with asked me not to leave and it was very sweet, I had this ball I was playing with and when i gave it to them they were really happy.

It felt good to do something nice for these kids, who were amazing.

It was an amazing experience, helping this kids and getting to know them, it?s just incredible. I think it is an amazing way of doing service , I love spending time with kids and I love helping them. I think that our service impacted the kids , the teacher and me. The teacher, was relieved because we got to work with kids and even if it?s just with a few kids it helps if she doesn?t have to stress and worry about some .

The kids, we got to help them, with their English

and we helped them understand some information. For me, it was an amazing experience, helping them understand and learning about their different experiences , it was just amazing.

Overall, I loved going to the school, I loved getting to meet this kids and playing with them, it was something I truly enjoyed. It definitely is something I would love to do again, and it is so amazing to impact kids in a good way.

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Class Trips 8th Grade slips and slides through the South

BY A L ESSANDRA DI CATAL DO, JAK E GROSSM AN AND RACHEL H ODES Alessandr a: My trip started on Tuesday at 4 am. Waking up so early was painful, especially knowing that I was going to be up until 11 pm (New Orleans time). I got to the airport later than everyone else, but that didn?t seem to affect anyone.

Getting to the plane was probably the shortest part of the trip, but it was definitely one of the most exciting parts.

Meeting my friends at the airport with tired smiles on our faces was just the beginning of a long journey. One thing that was unplanned was that me, and a bunch of other kids, had to check in our bags.

The plane ride was peaceful, especially because we all got to rest for at least an hour. That was the fastest hour of my life. Once we landed we had to wait an hour because some people didn?t get their luggage.

Once we got on the bus we went directly to Ormond Plantation. There we ate a buffet including salad, pasta, alfredo sauce, meat sauce, and dessert. That was the first meal of our trip. The meal was the same as any other pasta that I would?ve eaten back in Miami, but there was something about the taste that was different about it.

After that, we had got a tour around the plantation. I could feel the history as I walked through the houses.

Everything looked old but classy. The more crazy facts we would hear about that land the more I wanted to stay and hear more.

After that, we went to Mardi Gras World. We watched a video on how the floats are made. There we saw the different floats that are going to be used in Mardi Gras this year. Some of them were insane. After our short tour around the warehouse, we got make our own masks.

There was glitter in many different colors displayed for us, and some silver masks. Then we were served some King Cake.

The King Cake tradition is thought to have been brought to New Orleans from France in 1870. A King Cake is an oval-shaped bakery delicacy, a cross between a coffee cake and a French pastry that is as rich in history as it is

in flavor. It's decorated in royal colors of purple which signifies "Justice," green for "Faith," and golf for "Power." These colors were chosen to resemble a jeweled crown honoring the Wise Men who visited the Christ Child on Epiphany. In the past, such things as coins, beans, pecans, or peas were also hidden in each King Cake.

Nowadays a baby is hidden in King Cake. If someone gets the baby in their piece, then that person is named "King" for a day and bound by custom to host the next party and provide the King Cake.

Rachel: For dinner we stopped at a famous Cajun chain named Mulate?s. Put out for us buffet style was salad, jambalaya, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, French fries, and bread pudding. While we enjoyed our meal there was a band playing zydeco music.

Once we finished our meal we when by the french market for a ghost. Keep in mind it had started to rain/snow since it was 32 degrees. Personally I prepared for 40 degree weather so I was super cold walking outside in the WIND with NO SUN for almost an hour.

The tour itself was not so much scary as it was creepy. I definitely would recommend the ghost tour but maybe not during the coldest month of the year. Obviously I survived and we made our way back to the hotel.

At the hotel we rushed into the warmth and got our rooms. We were all so exhausted but we still stayed up late because why would you sleep when you could talk to your friends.

The next morning we awoke to the sight of snow! It was unexpected but we were still excited to get on with our day. We got ready and had breakfast. Breakfast was okay but I was excited to have coffee so it didn?t really matter.

Unfortunately we were told the streets were full of ice and therefore we couldn?t use our buses. In addition most of the town closed because they are not used to the ice and it wouldn?t be safe to operate. Then the teachers said that we would stay at the hotel until further notice.

It was a bummer but at the same time it was really chill.

In the ballroom my friends and I listened to music, played games, and cards.

Jake: Then when the time came we went to the French market.

We had time to walk around and buy the food that we wanted, I had beignets, and they were delicious I wish they had a store here. Later we went to the national WWII museum and learn in more detail what we have learned in 6th grade. Also, the museum had four sections with different parts of history in them. One has all about the war in the Pacific ocean. Another was about the Holocaust, the weapons and military equipment, and vehicles. Also, I met a WWII survivor that was 94 and that made me feel grateful for the time that I live in.

Then when we arrived at the hotel and waited some more until we noticed that the restaurant that we were supposed to go was closed. So we waited until the teachers arrived with pizza and soda we were all downstairs waiting until we were in the release, that night was terrible.

Alessandr a: Honestly, that was probably the best night out of the trip.

We played cards and laughed all night long, my friends even taught me how to play a card game. Then all the teachers bought around 20 or more boxes of pizza.

Obviously, we didn?t finish all of them. Later I found out that Ms. Seidel and Ms. Mahoney took all the leftovers to a homeless shelter.

We went to our room at around 9 or 10. Bu me and my friends didn?t go to bed until around 1:30 am. I don?t remember much from that night, only looking for a Pop Tart, again, and jumping in the beds until we were exhausted.

The next day was going to be a long one, we had an eight-hour bus ride ahead of us.

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The 8th gr ade students visited Elvis Presley's Gr aceland. I n addition to lear ning about the " K ing of Rock and Roll," they were free to visit the many exhibits and shops. Sophia Tilis and Sier r a Hudson took some time to enj oy some delicious ice cream.

As par t of their cultur al exper ience, the students took a class where they lear ned how to cook Caj un dishes and lear ned the histor y behind them.

A BOVE AND L EFT: PHOTOS BY M RS. A BREU-GRONDI N

I n New Or leans, the students visited M ar di Gr as Wor ld and lear ned about this great Amer ican tr adition. I n addition to seeing the floats being made, they also enj oyed a hands-on mask-making class. Gabr iela M ar tinez and Andrea Pantin wor k on their masks.

Right: M ilan L uciano, Thomas van der L eegte, Tyler Walsh and Noah Gaudet in New Or leans.

PHOTO BY T YL ER K OCH L eft: Alena L abzina, Sabr ina M or ata, Ana M uniz Rodr iguez, and Gabr iela M ar tinez enj oy the snow in M emphis.

PHOTO BY M I RANDA M ARQUEZ

Right: Rachel Hodes, M ir anda M arquez and Alessandr a Di Cataldo at M ar di Gr as Wor ld..

PHOTO BY I SABEL L A T ORRES

National Civil Rights Museum Memphis, TN

Above: Sophia Rosenber g and Chloe Glaser

Above: Connor Sastre

Below: Oscar Goncalves and Oliver Perez

Below: L uke Nixdor f and Victor Destr i

Destrehan Plantation

M ikey Por t j ams with blues musician Sean Bad Apple.

The 8th gr ade enj oyed a blues concer t on Beale Street in M emphis. Ar ielle Rubens and Sophia Tilis pose for a picture while enj oying the music.

Rachel: Once we finally got on the road I was happy to get to chill with friends for a 5 hour bus ride.

What we did not know at the time was that the roads were still icy and that the ride would be more than 5 hours. After all the detours we took the ride was 8 HOURS! I had never been on a bus for so long and to be honesty I wasn?t feeling so good.

From L eft: Alessandr a Dicataldo, Rachel Hodes, I sabella Tor res, and Gabr iela M ar tinez in After, for what seemed like a Jackson Square, New Or leans year, we arrived in Memphis. It Alessandr a: was 9:30 and even though it was early we were all so Originally it was supposed to be six hours, but because tired. The night continued at the New Daisy Theater, of the ice on the road, it got way longer. When we woke where we ate chicken, tater chips, salde, cookies, and up we went to get breakfast, like every other day. That brownies. was our last day at the Drury Inn. After breakfast, we all The club had a blues band playing music. Multiple went back to our room to our rooms to pack our students in my grade perform flips, dance, or sang. It suitcases. was fun but since we were all so tired most of us just Later we went to the bus, we were on our way to the wanted to go to the hotel.

New Orleans School of Cooking. This was located in Jackson Square, where we had been the day before. Not Earlier in the day we found out the pipes had broken in having to walk to Jacksons Square again felt quite good. the hotel we were supposed to stay in so we had to relocate. What we didn?t know was how much of an The cooking school was at the top of a vintage looking upgrade we would receive in the new hotel. The hotel building. When we got to the top I saw a beautiful room. we went to was called the Guesthouse at Graceland and It looked like a ballroom, the kind of room where a it was so much nicer than I expected a class trip hotel to sweet sixteen would take place. The room had round be. The bathroom had a pretty big shower and the room tables and a kitchen in the front. On top of the kitchen, (at least mine) was clean. there was a mirror, I assumed it was there so that everyone could see how the meals were cooked.

Jake: I don?t remember the name of the woman that cooked, but I remember that she taught us many things. She taught us about the history of New Orleans, and how to cook the delicious dishes she made.

After we finished eating we got a performance from the Congo Square Preservation Society. It was a dance and percussion performance. They taught us about the history of Congo Square, and one if their dances. I happened to be one of the people they picked to dance.

The dance seemed easy when I saw it, but it was harder than it looked like.

Jake: After the cooking class, we went on a nine-hour bus ride to Memphis it was terrible. We made one stop only for the bathroom we were all hungry and tired, I struggled to go to sleep because of all the bumps. When we arrived in Memphis and the first thing we did was go to a stage and listen to music and eat food until one o'clock in the morning. Then the hotel that we were supposed to go to the pipes froze up and broke. So we went to a nicer hotel, but it was farther away from the places we were supposed to go.

On the last day, I woke up and had a great breakfast with some more orange juice. Then we went on the bus going to the national civil rights museum. The museum was very well made with a movie at the start and ending with the gift shop. But, in between, there was information, physical props, and there were different sections with different things with interaction purpose. Then we went to Graceland and our group ate at a barbecue restaurant and I had a great salmon with this sauce that was ok not very flavorful but ok. Then we went and an interactive tour of his life throughout Elvis Presley's house I was cool to see all the old designs of things. Then I had time to explore Graceland, and it was very weird relating all the things that he did to popular artists. Later we went to the airport and said our goodbyes to Memphis and New Orleans.

Alessandr a: We woke up too early in the morning. We felt the excitement as we opened the curtains because apparently, it had snowed during the night. I rushed the whole time we were in the room since we had very little time to pack our bags and get downstairs for breakfast.

We hurried out of our room. My roommates and I debated about who was supposed to bring the card key with them because no one had bought one.

We pushed the button for the elevator to come, and when it came three of my friends got inside. As the doors started to close, I put my hand in the middle of the doors, so it wouldn?t close and I could get in. When I noticed that the doors wouldn?t stop closing, even though I put my hand in the middle, I carelessly decided to push the doors open. The doors opened, and I got in the elevator.

Then as the doors started to close we saw that the doors got stuck. They kept moving, like if it was trying to fix itself. There was a small portion of the elevator that was still open, it was about two inches long, so none of us could fit through it.

When we realized that we were stuck we started screaming. Well, my friends were screaming, I was laughing at the top of my lungs. We texted our group through GroupMe. That was the app that we were supposed to use to communicate with our travel group. I started to play music, just to kill time, but I had to turn in off when my friend got mad at me since it was all technically my fault.

Mr. Fallik got there in less than three minutes. We told him what happened, and he got help from the hotel.

Once the hotel workers realized that they couldn?t fix that door they decided to call the fire department. While all of this was happening I saw all my classmates pass by the elevator and take pictures and videos of us. More teachers came, and one of them brought us cereal. While everyone was worried about us, we were just in there laughing. Only one of my friends was really worried and nervous.

We were out of there in 30 minutes, and those were the best 30 minutes of the trip. When we finally got out of the elevator everyone had already finished breakfast, and two out of the three buses had left. Fortunately, our bus was scheduled to be the last one to leave, so we were right on time.

After that incident, we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. This museum was built around the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. There we learned about the different parts of the Civil Right Movement. The first thing we did was watch a video about the Civil Rights.

Then we went on to explore the rest of the museum.

There were different exhibitions, like in the National WWII Museum. I don?t exactly remember the exhibitions that clearly since there were a lot of them. I remember walking out of each exhibition and feeling a little richer in history. We got to see the hotel room that Martin Luther King Jr. stayed at.

Rachel: Once we finished up and ate some ice cream we had to go to the airport. At the airport we had some time in the airport and got to walk around. My friends and I went Starbucks and chilled before we had to leave. The first flight was very short and when we landed it was eight something.

Our gate changed so many times and by the time we sat down to eat it changed again. It was a little stressful but worth it in the end.

When we arrived to Miami airport it was 12:30. I had a really good time and am so fortunate to have had that experience Special thanks to Brightspark for creating a wonderful trip!

Page 10

7th Grade visits nation's capital

BY K ENNETH BARRETT For some this trip was a long awaited vacation. For others it was a chance to learn new things. For several, it this was their first time traveling without their families.

On the first day, we arrived at the airport early and were met by a swarm of teachers and students congregating at the entrance of the airport. After everyone had arrived, we were given our boarding passes. We filed into the security line, and we slowly moved through the metal detectors and x-ray machines. We walked to our separate gates and we were reminded no seat changes were allowed. This mandate was received with backlash, but the decision was final. The seating arrangement was completely random. You could be next to a student, teacher, or random person. It was all part of the fun and adventure.

We arrived in D.C. with an uneventful journey. We filed off the plane and went to go retrieve our luggage. With luggage in tow, we were separated into three groups and boarded three separate buses.

This time we were allowed to choose our seats. Our tour guide was a jolly, middle aged man with a quirky personality and good sense of humor. The first stop was a government building about 30 minutes from the airport, where we all ate lunch at the food court. After lunch we set off towards the White House. When we arrived, we grabbed our winter coats, our gloves, and our hats and we walked around taking pictures of nearby monuments and the White House.

We relished the cold, a great change from hot and humid Miami.

Our tour guide entertained us with a fun fact about how lobbyists began in the Willard Hotel during President Ulysses S. Grant?s presidency when people would try to convince him to do things, while he was in the lobby drinking a brandy and smoking a cigar. After taking pictures, walking around and listening to our tour guide, we went back on the bus and made a pit stop at a souvenir shop. Many people decided that they wanted to have a little fun, so they bought bucket hats and caps with Make America

Great Again on them. We then headed off to the famed Air and Space museum, the holy grail of museums.

with a drop of liquid nitrogen so that when you bit into them, steam would come out of your nose and mouth.

Also, people were trying their luck at a shoe keymaster desperately hoping to win a pair of new Yeezys. When they had tried a couple of times without avail, they finally gave up and joined the rest of the group.

As we entered the building, we looked up to see planes and a helicopter soaring above us, yet very still, as if these man made birds were frozen mid-flight. We were given a questionnaire that we had to complete, and we all crowded into a certain area which we thought We then headed off to the ice skating rink where we contained most of the answers on the sheet. Later, we strapped on our skates and walked onto the ice. There were stumped by the direction to take a picture with the were three main groups: the ones that hung onto the Wonder Woman plane, as we had looked everywhere for railing for two hours; those who could stay up pretty it, but without resolve. We were later informed by our well; and those who were flying around the arena as if teacher that it was a joke, ice skating were a piece of cake. For the next two hours, as the Wonder Woman we saw slips and falls, and then fall after fall. Then, the plane is Zamboni came out invisible. smoothed the " L ater, we were stumped by the and Next, we all ice. When we got direction to take a picture with back on, this proved piled into a line at the the Wonder Woman plane, as we worse as the ice was flight slicker than had looked ever ywhere for it, but even simulators before. After and had an without resolve. We were later receiving our fair immense of bumps and infor med by our teacher that it share amount of bruises, we hung up was a j oke, as the Wonder fun being our skates and went able to fly back to the hotel.

Woman plane is invisible." and control a For a short while virtual plane with real life after ice skating, when we walked, it still felt like the affects. ground was a piece of ice and we were still sliding across it.

After four hours of touring the museum, we were We were sent to our rooms, where we showered and driven to our hotel where we anxiously awaited the succumbed to our tiredness, but still having enough moment where our roommates would be announced and energy to stay up until 11:00 to 1:00 in the morning. We would be given keys and sent to our rooms. Because our woke up to the sight of snow on the ground. For some, it hotel, the Hotel was their first time seeing it, while for others it was a Arlington Court common occurrence. When we went down to breakfast, Suites, used to be an you could immediately distinguish the early birds from apartment building, those who like to sleep in. When everybody had finished our rooms varied in their breakfast, we rounded up and set off towards the size. Some were Newseum. given standard two We had a handout to do there as well about our first queen beds and a amendment, the incident of 9/11, and the Pulitzer prize small room, while winning photographs. After finishing the handout, we others were given had lunch in the food court and went to see a few more colossal suites with a galleries. The temporary gallery about the life of the bedroom, a living Kennedy?s was a popular one among both teachers and room, a huge students. We then headed to the Holocaust Museum bathroom, a where we were quiet and solemn from the moment we showering room, and stepped through the entrance. We followed the story of a a large kitchen. family who went through the holocaust from beginning Jealousy brewed to end. When we came out of that first exhibit, people between us as people were hugging each other, while some were sobbing into bragged about the their sleeves. Because of the emotional impact that this mere size of their museum had, the advisors decided it best to not continue room. We were then through the rest of the museum. taken to a mall where we were given free roam to choose The Natural History museum was first on the list, and where we wanted to when we arrived, we were sent on a scavenger hunt to eat. When we find artifacts such as the skulls of our previous ancestors finished eating, we and the hardest one to find being the Mummified cat. were given a sticker Next up was the American History Museum where we to put on our jackets were given the hardest scavenger hunt, which took a which would give us team of us and hard, arduous work to find all of the parts admission into an ice and answers. Last, we went to marvel at the grandiose skating rink. While John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where we were waiting, they host the Kennedy Center Honors. We were able to people were tasting a go inside where we toured around and took a picture treat called Dragon?s next to a bronze depiction of his face.

Breath that was made Continued on next page of cereal balls mixed

Page 11

7th Grade Trip CONTI NUED FROM PREVI OUS PAGE

We went back to the hotel where we then went to sleep and awoke to the sound of our alarm clocks blaring in our ears. After breakfast, we visited the African American History Museum, where our activity prompted us to find important items pertaining to our history like Muhammad Ali?s boxing gloves. We then ate at the food court where some of us noted the general trend that wherever we went, eighty percent of us got a side of mac and cheese. After eating, we continued going through the museum and we visited a lovely fountain in the center.

We first visited the Vietnam Memorial, which according to our tour guide had around 58,318 names engraved on the walls and kept up to date. This was designed by a student at Yale and is the only black colored memorial in D.C. All the rest are made of white stone. We then saw statues of the nurses that were in the war. Our tour guide told us that many of the men that fought in the war lied about their age to be eligible to join the war. We then moved on to the Lincoln Monument. On our way to the monument, we passed the Iwo Jima Memorial depicting American men raising the American flag after the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Unfortunately, it was closed for construction so we could not see it up close.

When we continued on to the Lincoln Monument, we had a wonderful view of the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capital lined up in a straight line. The Washington Monument was also closed because the integrity of the structure had been compromised during a recent earthquake. It is one of the tallest stone and mortar structures in the world. When we were at the Lincoln Monument, people decided to test their luck and step out on the frozen lake. They had a brief moment of fun before being harshly reprimanded by the advisors for fear that they might fall in.

After that, we visited the Korean and World War II memorials in memory of those who lost their lives serving our country bravely. Our tour guide told us that when they were building the World War II Memorial,

the government told them that they could not block the view of the Capitol and had to incorporate the already existing fountain. They did this and they made a pillar for each state and territory and two main towers for the Pacific and for the Atlantic in the design of two semicircles.

From there, we went to Dave and Busters where we ate dinner and were given game cards to play the arcade games and have fun. After about an hour of gaming, we turned in our credits and redeemed them for cool prizes. We then went back to hotel and went to sleep. We woke up with heavy hearts on the last day, knowing that we would be going home, but we all went down to breakfast, then packed our bags and waited for the advisors to come inspect our rooms. When we had passed inspection, we went down stairs with our luggage and piled onto the bus.

With some time before we had to be at the airport, we went to the Capitol building where we toured the old chambers of congress and the Supreme Court and then ate lunch at the food court. We then passed by the current Supreme Court building and headed to the National Archives. We saw old documents pertaining to anything from old congressional bills to property taxes, to letters from George Washington himself.

Our last stop before the airport was the Library of Congress. There, we saw an immense collection of books and documents only available to congress and to the public by special request. We then boarded our buses and headed to the airport. We received our boarding passes, went through security, and headed to our separate gates. Some people stopped by an ice cream place called Sweet Jesus where we savored the delicious taste of ice cream. An hour later, we boarded our plane and went home to Miami having had the experience of a lifetime, full of fun and at the same time, learning about our nation's history.

An experience we will never forget!

Page 12

6th Grade visits Space Center

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE

to have dinner they said, just ten more minutes, which was more like two hours.

Every year the 6th grade goes on a class trip. This year it was my turn to go.

It started off by having to be on a bus for 4 hours going to Cape Canaveral. It was hard to think that I would be having to be awake until 10 pm. I was nervous that I wasn?t going to be with any friends on my bus, but I got to be with one of my friends.

The bus ride seemed longer than it actually was. I watched many TV shows and one movie.

When we arrived at the Brevard Museum the teachers broke us up into advisories and each advisory was guided by a different guide. We learned about lighthouses and the history of surfing. It was fun learning how each lighthouse is known for the patterns or colors that they each have.

We also went to a butterfly garden at the Brevard Museum. After looking at the garden we went inside a room which had real fossils of two extinct animals, a mammoth and a giant sloth which its fossils were found in Daytona.

After being in the museum for an hour which felt more like 10 hours, we drove to the hotel. The 6th grade had to wait in the lobby for Mrs. Finny to call out the people in each room. When she called out four of my friend's names and mine we got really excited. Mrs. Finny gave us our key to the hotel room and told us that we had to be downstairs in an hour.

The room that we had was on the third floor (only for the girls). Like we were five girls in our room, we got one of the bigger rooms.

We hung out in the hotel room the whole time, and we talked about school.

When we came downstairs to the lobby after an hour, each advisory got counted and we went back on our buses, and we were headed to the Kennedy Space Center. I didn?t know what to expect.

I was wowed when I saw a huge orange rocket placed outside in the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center. We walked into the Kennedy Space Center each advisory was guided by a different guide. My advisories guide was named Amy. We participated in many activities.

The first activity was a scavenger hunt. It was pretty hard because all the different answers were outside.

We also had to watch a video about the Atlantis, the first rocket that was reused many times, and then we got to see it! It was huge I everybody started to scream when we got to see it. It had gone to space 33 times It was starting to get cold and we were all starving. Every time we asked a teacher when we were going

After one more activity, the teachers finally took us to dinner. Dinner was in a big room next to the theatre. There were two bars with pizza, pasta, salad, corn dogs and drinks set up in the front of the room and at least ten tables set up behind them.

The bus ride to the Kennedy Space Center felt shorter than the night before.

When we got to the Space Center each advisory got to go where ever they wanted. My advisory went on a simulator. It was very fun; you felt like you were in an actual rocket going to space.

After we all got off the simulator the 6th grade got back on their buses and we were headed to another part of the Space Center.

I don?t remember what the building was called but it was part of the Space Center.

We walked in and we saw the first American rocket that reached the moon. It was huge. The thrusters of the

My friends and I got our plates put food on them and tiredly sank into our chairs. We had been walking and doing activities for three hours straight and we were exhausted. We didn?t even hesitate to start eating. None of us spoke until we had finished.

When everybody in the room had finished we were headed to our next activity which was about being able to construct a bridge with clips and sticks that would be able to hold twelve pounds. My group's bridge sadly broke apart when it held two pounds.

Our last activity was meeting a real astronaut named Jon McBride who had first gone to space for nine days.

Before actually meeting him we watched a slide show about him. When he walked into the room everyone was speechless we were all amazed that we got to meet a real astronaut. He explained to us a lot of things about space and then told us that when he was up there, he had grown two inches because there is no gravity.

We got to the hotel at about 10:00 pm. My friends and I fell asleep watching TV. The next morning I was woken up by an alarm in the room. I turned around to turn it off and saw that it was 6:45, we had slept in!! We had to be downstairs by 7:00 am.

I woke everyone up by screaming we are going to be late. My friends got up except for one that slept in for 10 more minutes.

As we rushed downstairs we saw a giant buffet waiting for the 6th grade. We grabbed all the food we wanted and started to eat. After eating the 6th grade sang happy birthday to two twins, Michael and Justin Claramonte.

rocket were so big that all five of my friends and I could fit inside.

Behind the rocket, there was a gift shop. I was really excited to walk in because I LOVE gift shops. I can?t leave a country or a place without having a souvenir.

After buying a souvenir, we were taken to a cafe inside the building. There were only two things that you could eat. Pizza with a drink, or chicken fingers with chips and a drink. I at the chicken fingers.

My friends and I saw a real piece of the moon inside a glass box and we were able to touch it.

After the whole 6th grade was counted we all got back on our buses and we were headed back to Miami.

I can?t describe how much I enjoyed the 6th grade trip to the Kennedy Space Center. I had so much fun and I hope that the 7th- grade trip will be as fun or even more fun.

On the Water!

BY A RTYOM T RUK HACHEV

Fishing Tr ip This day I woke up tired going to school to go on a field trip, normal day I was thinking when I got to school, went to the cafe, the music was really loud their that day, and the smell was really good, it smelt like croissants right out of the oven.

Then I met up with a couple of my friends we talked and figured out who was going on the trip with, who, and I went on the fishing trip the first day, so when it was 8:00 we got on the bus and played games on the bus, talked.

When we got there we were lost then we found our boat, it was very cozy, pretty big, and overall it was kind of nice, we got on the boat went far into the ocean, but what no one liked was the chilly weather that day, then everyone got a bit sea sick and it was cold so you just wanted to sleep. Then we got taught how to fish if we didn?t know how to fish, but most people knew how to fish. Now we?re at the fishing, the first three fish were caught by the same person Agustin Malo, then Bella Brod caught a fish, then Agustin caught about ten more before lunch, he caught a lot of fish. Then a lot more people started catching fish, and the atmosphere was really nice that day even though it was freezing. We had lunch inside the boat in the middle of the trip, then it went down to the last 20 minutes of the trip and I had to catch a fish and I did, I caught a normally sized fish and I was kind of happy a lot more people caught fish like Agustin caught about 20 fish, he didn?t even get sea sick! How? The bus after the trip was really good, the whole trip overall was really good.

Beach Cleanup This day I woke up excited for the trip, because the fishing trip was amazing I was excited about this one.

That day started out with me going to school everyone talking about who?s going on what trip, and which trip is better and all of that. For me I couldn?t really care because I thought that the trip I was about to go on was going to be good.

We got on to the bus, the ride was really short, once we got there we stood like outside of house and waited to get inside, once we got inside we got to talk about turtles which was quite interesting to me I like turtles, and we talked about different types of turtles the different body parts of turtles, and then we went on the beach, it was a house on the beach, and we started picking up trash, we found weird stuff like, shoes, dead birds, we even saw ashes in a bottle which was really creepy for all of us, then we just sat on the grass and ate our lunch.

Overall both of the trips were amazing. They were entertaining and helpful for the community, I?m very grateful for the stuff I have at this school, and for what school I go to.

Frost and Seaquarium The students who did not go on the class tr ips had the oppor tunity to visit the br and new Frost Science M useum and the M iami Seaquar ium. They had a wonder ful, enr iching exper iencing lear ning about science and getting close to var ious animals.

Page 15

Immokalee The middle school M ulticultur al Club visited the migr ant far m wor ker s and their families in I mmokalee.

Above: Carolina Rossetto

Above: M anuela Vilela and Car la Zmirou

Above: Hanley Ramirez

Above: M r. Dear acama poses with some I mmokalee children.

Above: Car la Zmirou and M anuela Vilela Above: Ava Cohen

Page 16

Entertainment MSpresents: The Lion King

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE

their favorite character was Timon.

Indira said, ?Timon played his role really well. He was funny and enthusiastic.?

Mr. Fallik said, ?Timon was hilarious. He made everyone laugh.?

T

his year the Middle School performed the Lion King musical on February 28- March 1. ?I decided the play to be about the Lion King because I knew that it was going to be a large cast and that the student at school would definitely be familiar with it since it is such a popular Disney movie,? said director and middle school drama teacher Mr. Charles Gracy. ?The Lion King is so much fun, I love all the different music and all the different styles of music and its got everything: action, adventure, romance.?

Jessica Levy, a backup dancer for the play, said that she loved the costumes because they were bright, colorful and full of patterns.

She also said that if she would have been able to change something about the play she would have liked the backup dancers to be in the front of the stage not all the way in the back.

Indira Schargel, a sixth grader, said that she liked the play because it seemed that the performers worked so hard for it and that they had beautiful voices.

She also said that she liked this play better than the play Hoodie because it was more exciting and fun.

Mr. Fallik, the eighth-grade social studies teacher and the middle school journalism teacher, said that his favorite song was ?The Circle of Life.? He thinks that it?s a beautiful song and that it captures the overall theme of the play. He also said that he has seen the Broadway show and the movie of The Lion King.

He said, ?The Broadway show uses these giant puppets to portray the animals and that was not really possible in the middle school production, but I think that they did a great job of recreating that.?

Mr. Fallik and Indira both said that

look much brighter.?

Mr. Robert the middle school tech teacher was asked to be a musician in the Lion King along with other teachers. The instrument that he played was the drums. He has been playing the drums for 35 years. ?In a band, everyone is together and every role is different when you work in a play you have more of a role of supporting the play and supporting the actor.? He explained.

Mrs. Mahoney, the middle and upper school art teacher, created the all the masks that all the He also said, ?In a band, you are one of the stars, in a performers play you are more kind of almost wore with hidden but the sound that you create it ?Timon played his role is going to make a big difference in her upper school really well. He was how the actors and singers proceed.? sculpting funny and He also said that, ? I have played other class. musicals in my life and the feeling is enthusiastic.?

She said ?It always great because the whole music took us coming together is usually very - I ndir a Schar gel about 2 emotional and this play especially weeks to make the masks. It wasn?t really there is a lot of strong emotions in the hard because I was given a picture of an songs and usually in good plays the African mask to copy from Mr. Gracy, although there music is well written and the way the music evolves and were some damaging issues.? moves with the emotion so usually you really feel that you are contributing to that emotion.?

She also said, ?It was really fun seeing my classes artwork on stage. Under the lights it made the masks

The middle school looks forward to many more plays and hope to make each one better.

Page 17

REVIEW: Etaru, Hallandale

BY T HOM AS VAN DER L EEGTE

As the sun goes down, the Etaru Hallandale opens on the waters of Hallandale Beach.

When you walk into the restaurant you get a natural feel to it with the wooden chairs, tables, and floors. The kitchen of the restaurant is exposed and you can watch the chefs prepare your food. Just in front of the kitchen there is food setup so you can look at what you want order. The restaurant also has a bar on the opposite side of the kitchen. Etaru Hallandale has an overall really unique interior.

The restaurant has a big outdoor patio with a beautiful ocean view. The outside of the restaurant also has a wooden bar facing the water.

The outdoor patio also has couches, chairs, and tables set up for people who would like to sit outside. There are stairs you could take from the patio that lead you right on to the beach.

When you arrive at Etaru Hallandale there is a very friendly lady who will greet you and show you to your table. Etaru Hallandale has a very relaxed atmosphere with calming music and a beautiful view of the ocean.

Etaru Hallandale has a great selection of japanese foods with the menu revolving around the robata grill. Which is a concept based on the fishermen of Japan?s northern coast who charcoal fish on their boat.

The restaurant has all kinds of sushi, sashimi, salads, and raw dishes. One of their most popular dishes is yellowtail sashimi with a yuzu truffle dressing. If your a person who isn't into raw foods they also have various meats and seafoods like salmon teriyaki.

The desserts at Etaru Hallandale are also very good with many different options including Guava Mousse, Chocolate Sundae, and puddings.

The food at Etaru Hallandale is all very good but comes in very small portions. The prices of most the foods are also very high for the amount you do get.

I have been too this restaurant many times and the service has always been very good except for one time. The time the service wasn't as good the food had taken a very long time to come. The other times I had went to the restaurant the food came very quick and the waitress is always there if you want to order something.

The restaurant had opened in late August of 2017. Etaru Hallandale is open for brunch and dinner everyday of the week. The restaurant is ran by Rain Becker, Owner of Zuma , a Japanese restaurant in Miami with very high ratings. Etaru Hallandale has gotten some good ratings on places like yelp with 4.6 stars.

Etaru Hallandale is usually not to busy on the weekdays but on the weekends it can get very busy. Even though the restaurant gets very busy, there is never a long wait because they have a lot of tables inside and outside of the restaurant. The restaurant has a total of 255 seats.

The restaurant is 3000 square feet and located at the former Hyde Beach Kitchen Location. The new restaurant had hired 84 people to work there when it had opened. Etaru will also open later this year in Los Olas, Fort Lauderdale.

If your a person who is really into Japanese foods I would definitely recommend going to Etaru Hallandale.

Above: Gr illed pr awns at Etar u in Hallandale Beach.

REVIEW: Makoto, Miami

BY H ENRI QUE M ARK M AN

Sunday, March 27, was the opening of Makoto. Chef Makoto Okuwa has developed his own take on Japanese cuisine, that cousin is called Makoto.

Makoto is a great place for you to go to. Their food is delicious and it is very elegant.

Makoto is located in Bal Harbour in the Bal Harbour shops.

Makoto doesn't just serve sushi but it also serves premium steak, noodles and so much more although Makoto

is mostly famous for its seafood. Makoto has really nice reviews and has 4.2 stars one of the reviews are 5 stars and it says this ?Best restaurant, no doubt!

Great food! Super good service!

I?m going there at least once a week? - S. dannan Makoto has really friendly servers and great service. Their prices are very fair, and while you?re waiting for a seat you might as well just check out the mall because it is an extraordinary mall.

In 2007, Chef Makoto Okuwa received a New York award by StarChef.com. He also made various appearances on the Food Network?s original ?Iron Chef America? alongside his mentor Masaharu Morimoto also known as Iron Chef Morimoto.

Masaharu is a Japanese chef. He is known for his unique style of presenting food. Makoto Okuwa was awarded for his exquisitely M akoto (below) is a beautifully presented dishes which pay tribute to decor ated restaur ant.

Japanese tradition. It is a special dish with fried rice, eggs, meat and more!

Okuwa said ?I wanted to craft a menu that was both daring and elegant as well.?

When comparing Makoto to Sushi Joe not only is there a difference in the quality of food but also the service. The employees at Makoto as mentioned before are very friendly and the service is amazing.

After ordering your food it gets to your table fifteen minutes later, unlike Sushi Joes, where we have to wait 40 minutes and that also happens when the place isn?t even busy. The quality of the food at Makoto is also a million times better and it?s worth the amount being spent on your meal.

At Sushi Joes you pay almost the same amount if not a few dollars less for the same sushi roll and the quality of the food is just terrible.

If you?re ever stuck in picking a good sushi restaurant Makoto is always the way to go.

Page 18

Miami City Ballet - The Nutcracker

UM Robotics Team visits MCDS

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE Every December The Miami City Ballet has been performing George Balanchine?s The Nutcracker for longer than 10 years.

The Miami City Ballet has been performing it in the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami and in Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. This year, however, The Nutcracker performs in the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami as always, in the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, and in The Music Center in Los Angeles which already happened.

This is the first year that the Miami City Ballet Nutcracker has changed the costumes and props since the school started doing the Nutcracker. It is also going to have a live orchestra. The Nutcracker has two acts, Act I and Act II. The ballet dancers at the Miami City Ballet have to audition to make it into the Nutcracker. There are different parts that the dancers can be, for example, they can be in the party scene or they can be a solder or even if you are good enough you can get the part of Marie, the main girl. It all depends on the teachers that are choosing. Sometimes some dancers that auditioned don?t get any part, but that doesn't happen very often.

For those who don?t know what the Nutcracker is about, it is a ballet about a girl, named Marie, that has a big Christmas party at her house during Christmas Eve. In the middle of the party, Marie?s uncle, Herr Drosselmeier, comes into the party with his nephew. Herr Drosselmeier gives Marie a Nutcracker as a Christmas gift. Her jealous brother, Fritz, grabs the Nutcracker and breaks it.

After the party, Marie goes to sleep and Herr Drosselmeier fixes the Nutcracker without her noticing. Later that night, Marie dreams that the Nutcracker becomes real and that it was actually Drosselmeyer?s nephew that is the Nutcracker. In her dreams, the Nutcracker saves her from ugly rats.

The Nutcracker gives Marie a crown and takes her to The Land of Sweets where he lives. There they get to watch different dances like the Angels, the Spanish Hot Chocolate, Marzipan, the Chinese teas, and many more.

After watching many dances, The Nutcracker takes Marie back to her house. Marie will soon wake. It is Christmas Day. George Balanchine?s The Nutcracker is an absolutely great ballet to watch because of all the dancing that is going on. There is never a place where you can get bored or tired.

Congratulations to the MCDS Geography Bee Team

Black History Month M r. Johnson coor dinated a thought-provoking assembly for Black Histor y M onth. His dancer s per for med sever al pieces, as did the middle school musicians and singer s.

Tragedy in Parkland On Wednesday, Febr uar y 14 an ar med 19-year-old walked into M ar j or y Stoneman Douglas High School in Par kland, FL and killed 17 people. Four teen children and three adults went to school that day expecting a nor mal day, and they lost their lives at the hands of a madman. As the countr y mour ns for the victims, we all ponder how we can prevent it from ever happening again. Please keep Stoneman Douglas High School's students in your thoughts.

Page 20

Holocaust Education Day

Page 21

Sports Winter Sports Awards

BY JAK E GROSSM AN After the winter sports, they have an award ceremony for the players of the two sports: soccer and basketball.

Soccer has a boys team and a girl team, and the basketball has a boys JV team and a boys varsity team that only has middle schoolers, and the girls team only has a JV team. There are middle schoolers on the high school varsity team. The coaches for the basketball teams are Jules Penn for boys JV, Shenequah Johnson for the girls JV, and Gerald Terry for the boys varsity.

Eleni Pizanias, an assistant coach of the girls soccer team said, ?The season went well. We had some injuries that took place to a few players but other than that it was a good season.?

Luke Nixdorf, an 8th grader that is a part of the boys soccer team, said, ?The season was one of the most fun seasons I have for three years.?

The girls middle school soccer team had a great season with not many loses.

Eleni Pizanias said, ?The only thing I would change Carrollton in our tournament that we host. So that we can win the tournament.?

But the girls soccer team did have 4 ties in their season.

Eleni Pizanias said, ? I think the team can improve for next year by just keep practicing with a ball or join a team to play throughout the summer we also need more players to come out for the team.?

Eleni Pizanias said, ?the improvements we did from last year is that we won more games.?

loving soccer more than they would have more interest in it.?

Luke Nixdorf said, ? One mistake that I did was I did not take the season as serious as I should have.?

Basketball has three middle school teams: boys JV, boys varsity, and girls varsity, but on the high school girls varsity team there are some middle school players. Also, on March 1 they won their 6th state championship in a row.

Coaches Award ? Logan Traband Boys Middle School (JV) Basketball Most Valuable Player Award ? Alex Mendelson, Joshua Harris Coaches Award ? Evan Hurwitz Most Improved Player Award ? Nicolas Margarit Girls Middle School Basketball

On the boys varsity team they didn?t do very well in their season. They lost 10 games out of 15. The team is full of 8th graders and only four 7th graders: Tristan Bradley, Jude Held, Maximilian Ruskowski, Logan Traband.

Most Valuable Player Award ? Rachel Hodes, Ella Gilderman

On the boys JV team, they did worse than the varsity team. They had 12 losses out of 14, which is not very good because most of the people that were in JV moved up to the middle school varsity team. There were many players on the boy's basketball team so they created a boys varsity team.

Most Valuable Player Award ? Mathew Collins

On the girls JV basketball team they had the same score as the boy's varsity team, 10 losses out of 15. On their team, they had many 6th graders on their team so a lot of them may have just started basketball season in middle school. Also, the girls team didn?t have a lot of players on their team so they couldn?t have two teams.

This winter sports season in 2018 was amazing in soccer and not so well in basketball, but next year new people may join and some people may leave.

Eleni Pizanias said, ?Some mistakes that we did this year was not talking enough time for the basic soccer skills every practice.?

Boys Middle School (Varsity) Basketball

In the boys soccer team, they had 12 wins this season which is very surprising.

Most Valuable Player Award ? Jasper Feldman, Torrence Mack

Luke Nixdorf said, ?The team can improve by just keep

Most Improved Player Award ? Eric Germeus

Most Improved Player Award ? Chloe Fong Boys Middle School Soccer Offensive Player of the Year Award ? Stefano Dumas Most Improved Player Award ? Connor Sastre Defensive Player of the Year Award ? Lucas Hansen Coaches Award ? Ben Malamed Girls Middle School Soccer Most Valuable Player Award ? Lauren White Coaches Award ? Chaya Hazan Most Improved Player Award ? Ginger Jacob Spartan Award ? Logan Sennett Girls Varsity Basketball Most Improved Player Award ? Emani Theodule, Sydney Shaw

Making a splash with water polo

BY JAK E GROSSM AN Water Polo is not a very popular sport and not many people join, but this year they got fourteen people to join and that is a large number of the Water polo team.

Last year the Water polo team only had nine players so they were excited to have five more players this year. Water, polo is coached this year by Eleni Pizanias who coached the girl's soccer and accompanied by William Davis who coached softball last year.

The head coach Eleni Pisanias said, ?The season is going great so far.?

One of the new 8th grade players Vladyslav Tsukanov said ?The water polo season is going pretty well so far even though we haven't had a game?

In the practices of Water polo, there are a lot of different activities that they do. For example, at the start of practice, they do exercise outside of the water called dry land. Inside the water they do pass ing swimming and shooting drills just like in other sports.

Another one of the new 8th graders Masimo Swail said ?I don?t know what the team should improve on yet. I?d say sprints?

Declan a 7th grader that attended swimming season said, ?The team needs to bring goggles?

Vladyslav Tsukanov said, ?I think the team can improve by practicing as a team.?

Massimo Swail said ?Well I think swimming is the core of water polo?

Marco Pacheco an 8th grader said, ?My favorite part of practice is when I get to block shots in the goal, as it is a simulation of what will happen in a real game.?

Marco Pacheco said, ?you swim all the time while playing water polo, so practicing it helps a lot.?

Massimo Swail said, ?My favorite part of practice is when we work with the ball.?

The Water Polo team hasn't had a game yet, but their first one is on March 5th at Gulliver.

In Water Polo, the players do this movement underwater called treading or eggbeatting it when they rotate their knees to push themselves out of the water it helps them to get more movement in a game.

Marco Pacheco said ?The practices help the most because we scrimmage and condition. On the other hand, the games let us learn about our opponents and help us handle the pressure of a game.?

Vladyslav Tsukanov said, ?The games help the most because there is a person fighting against me.?

Marco Pacheco said, ?The three things I would change in water polo is having more sprints, core workouts, and running.?

Massimo said said ? In Water polo, I struggle the most in dry land training.

Vladyslav Tsukanov said, ?I think I struggle in water polo because I am new.?

This year the Water polo team is a Coed team meaning there are both boys and girls on the team.

Water polo is a sport that is in the pool that means that it has swimming components with it. For example, the players usually use swimming strokes in the water polo practices and games.

Vladyslav Tsukanov said, ?Everything is fare it helps to practice.?

Declan Scott said, ?Eggbeater because my legs aren't as strong as others.?

Macro Pacheco said, ?I struggle with swimming with the ball because the water stops the ball when I push it and it gets in my face.?

Lacrosse soars in popularity

BY A RTYOM T RUK HACHEV Lacrosse is an important school sport in Miami Country Day school because it is a team sport where you have to pass, shoot, and play hardcore defense.

get him back we?ll probably be 9-7, because Beno is a big contribution to our team.?

?This is my first year playing Lacrosse,? said Ryder Rosenberg, ?My dad has been playing for a couple years and I watched some MLL games and friends games with him, I watched Ryan Mendelson?s games?

?I?ve always wanted to play for the team, but no one?s asked to do it, girls have thought of playing lacrosse in previous years but no one?s ever actually done it, apart from this year,? said Rachel Hodes, who?s a girl junior varsity player, ?I think the best players on the B team (Junior Varsity) are Andrea, Pedro, and I also think a couple of the sixth graders and seventh graders have a lot of potential like Josh (Harris) for defense, and Ryder (Rosenberg) on offense, On A team (Varsity) I think it's Milan, Kyle, and the best defender is either Jose or Noah, I can?t decide.?

Ryder Rosenberg said, ?I wanna play either Midfielder or Attack because I like to shoot, not as much run, but I will if I have too, that?s why I like Midfield or Attack,? ?I have been playing Lacrosse for 2 years and this is my third year,? said Noah Gaudet and Tyler Walsh, ?I think our record will be 1-12 this season because we have good players but we don?t necessarily play well together, we don?t have a lot of chemistry. Because most kids are new.? said Tyler Walsh. ?I think our record will be pretty good like 7-3 because we have a good team in general, good attack, good midfield, and good defense, but like Tyler, I think we don?t have the best of chemistry, and we need to start working better together.? ?I have been playing Lacrosse for about three years and a half years and have some experience playing goalie, I also play hockey which is similar to Lacrosse,? said Varsity team goalkeeper Rainen Clarke Beggs O'Kurley, ?I don?t know exactly how many games there are but I?ll just say there will be 16 games for Junior Varsity I think the record will be 11-5 and on the Varsity team if we get Beno Garcia back we?ll probably 10-6 and if we don?t

?I play all the positions they all have their good parts, but the one that I want to play is midfield and attack, because I feel like on defense you don?t run as much as you do on offense and I love running, but I do play defense sometimes in practice? said Rachel Hodes, I think Lacrosse is a skilled sport, and you have to be constantly cradling and looking out for if anyone is running at you going to slash you, or if anybody is passing to you, you have to be really in the game.? ?I am not really that excited about the season, because I think we?re going to lose, and I think that because there are way better teams than us, like bigger stronger kids and there harder to go against, and I know size doesn?t matter that much but it?s hard though when you?re on offense a small kid compared to a really big kid, it?ll be harder to go against because he?s like big, and it?ll be harder to see the field,? said Sixth grader Joshua Harris who plays for Junior Varsity.

Baseball season underway

BY T HOM AS VAN DER L EEGTE The Miami Country Day baseball team has started the year of struggling, with 2 losses this week. The baseball team had lost their game the 1st of March against Doctors Charter and the 3rd against Marathon.

Assistant Coach John Broderick said he had ?decent expectations for the baseball season, not the best though.?

Head Coach Jimmy Simpson said his expectations for the season were ?Even amount of wins and losses, 8-8.?

Both Coaches did not think they would have the best season since it is a lot of the players first year playing for the country day baseball team and they have a lot to work on in practice.

6th grader Isiah Dinar said ?This is my first year playing baseball at Miami Country Day School.?

work on fundamentals and the mental side of baseball in practice.?

Head Coach Jimmy Simpson said, ?I have been coaching baseball for 6 years of my life.?

Assistant Coach John Broderick said the players ?Need to work on consistency on defense.?

?I've been coaching for around 8 years. I used to play in the MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies but stopped playing because of an injury,? said Assistant Coach John Broderick.?

When I went to watch the baseball team practice they were working very hard on conditioning. Towards the end of the practice they worked a lot on batting, throwing, and catching the ball.

8th grader Jeff Jeffries said ?During practice I need to work on fielding.?

6th grader Isiah Dinar said, ?I need to work on catching fastballs.?

Both the Head Coach Jimmy Simpson and Assistant Coach John Broderick have many years of experience coaching baseball.

Head Coach Jimmy Simpson said the players ?Need

The players of the baseball team were all excited for the season to start again and were ready to play. There are many new players and also experienced players who have been playing baseball for a couple years now. ?This is not first year playing baseball, I have been playing for around 10 years now. I have played baseball outside of school and for fun with my dad. I decided to join the Miami Country Day Baseball team because I love playing baseball ? said 8th grader Jake Goldberg.

One of the new players, a 6th grader Isiah Dinar said ? I decided to join the baseball team because I haven't played in a long time and I really wanted to play again.?

8th grader Yoav Haiat said ? This is my second year playing baseball for country day, I decided to join the team because it seem like a cool sport and because a lot of my friends were on the team.? ?I have been playing baseball for 3 years now and I decided to join the team because Jake Goldberg convinced me to play. A goal I have for this season is to swing the bat very hard? said 8th grade Jeff Jeffries.

The baseball players all have accomplishments they have earned during their baseball seasons and hope to make many more.

6th grader Isiah Dinar said, ?One of my accomplishments would be batting hard.?

8th grader Yoav Haiat said, ? My accomplishment has been to improve into one of the 9 starters in the team.?

The Country Day baseball coaches and players all hope to have a winning season.

GAME: Find the staff!

FI ND THEI R FI RST NAM ES!!!

I n the M iddle Staff

Rachel Hodes Editor-in-Chief Alessandr a Di Cataldo I sabella Galofre Jake Grossman Ar tyom Tr ukhachev Thomas van der L eegte