In the Middle (2018-2019 v3)

I NSI DE 6th Gr ade Tr ip

I SSUE 3, 2018-2019

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MCDShosts grandparents

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE

Spir it Week

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Seussical!

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Every year Miami Country Day hosts its annual Grandparents Day. Grandparents Day has been around almost since the school started and its been growing to

a whole school event.

On this day the classes are shorter. Mrs. Pekoc the seventh grade STEM teacher and team leader explained that on Grandparents Day she makes activities in her classroom where the grandparents could also interact. Most of all the teachers would agree with this.

7th Gr ader M ar yam Rassif During class time enj oyed the day with her many of the gr andfather, Steven Rinehar t. teachers have noticed that the grandparents and the PHOTOS BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE grandkids 7th Gr ader Fr ancesca Piffaretti poses with her gr andmother, M ar y Deal. interact an immense the project. amount. In Ms. Greenfield?s seventh-grade social studies class, the students had a In the morning a special breakfast was held for project due that Friday on the all the grandparents and their grandkids of week of Grandparents Day. every grade in the Garner Center.

On Grandparents Day, grandparents helped their grandkids with all sorts of things including cutting for Continued on page 11

Learning from survivors

BY TAL I A K URL ANDSK I

Holocaust Education Day is where the eighth graders get an opportunity to see the Holocaust memorial in Miami Beach and ask questions to

survivors. The school has been doing this for approximately 17 years now.

Noah Perazzo, a current eighth-grader, said ?I got to hear a Holocaust survivor's story.

I enjoyed this because I learned how it was like back in PHOTO BY M R. FAL L I K

the 1940s, and I got to learn about the Holocaust itself. Overall I really enjoyed Holocaust Education Day.?

Isabella Urbina, an eighth-grader said, ?Each group talked with at least two survivors, and we listened to their stories, and we got to have conversations with them and ask them questions about their past.?

Isabella Urbina, an eighth-grader said, ?I learned that many people aren't as lucky as I am. I also learned that we need to share our history so that it doesn't repeat itself. I loved the experience, and I learned so much.?

Holocaust sur vivor M or r is Dan shows 8th gr ade students the tattoo he received from the Nazis when he was a child dur ing the Holocaust.

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people almost every day and give out my information, including my parent's names. I had to do whatever I could to survive even though I was so scared.?

Judy also said that she watched people die, and saw things she could never forget.

Mrs. Aronson, an Upper School science teacher said, ?I was directly involved with the Holocaust program for the years I taught in middle school ,which started approximately 17 years ago. I continue to tangentially work with the program when the MS faculty members need US students for facilitation positions or for general advice if requested.

Mrs. Aronson also said, ?For the past 12 years, I have been very involved with the March of the Living, an international program focused on Holocaust education where US students (typically seniors) attend educational sessions as preparation for a two week trip to Poland and Israel. This program also has the involvement of Holocaust survivors during the pre-session and on the March itself.?

Judy Rodan, a Holocaust survivor, said, ?It was very upsetting and very hard during the Holocaust. We had no lights, phones, tv?s, or any distractions. I had to stand in front of bad

Overall Judy Rodan had a very hard time during the Holocaust but wanted people to know her story.

Julius Eisenstein, another Holocaust survivor said he was a shoemaker during the Holocaust.

He also said, ?During the 1940s when the Holocaust took place the shoes at that time were either really big or really small.? Julius also said that his worst memory was when he was in a line and all boys 25-80 had to step out. He refused, so a German grabbed him and pulled him out. That was the last time he saw his family.

So Julius Eisenstein overall had a tough time like many others.

The experience is very memorable for these students. Ninth grader Emma Zelkowitz remembers the day well.

She said they went to the Holocaust memorial and got the opportunity to ask survivors about the Holocaust. She explained, ?The survivors were just reflecting on what happened as all of the information and images

they gave us were very impactful. We also listened to survivor stories.?

Emma also mentioned, ?Although I should have asked more questions, I really enjoyed this experience and hearing their stories because each one was so valuable to me to hear.?

Another ninth grader, Gabi Martinez, said, ?We also listened to survivors stories, which I thought their stories were so valuable and truly reflected on this horrific event. I think that it's so important for kids to listen to other peoples experiences, especially if they affect a race.?

Gabi also said, ?It was so sad when I saw the survivors crying as they told their story, but I was very proud to hear how brave they were.

So I thought it was a great experience.?

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Black History Month

BY CECI L I A STORM

was the floor rows, and I love the song,? said Zoe.

On February 13th Spartan Dance presented their Black History Month Dance to the middle school. They had various dances and short videos accompanying them that showed us many things about Black History Month and segregation.

Leyka Rojo, a seventh-grader said, ?My favorite was Gregory Meyer?s shadow dance because it was so good and Greg's such a good friend, and I want to support him. It really looked like Greg's shadow had come alive, and I thought that was really cool.?

Zoe Terry, a seventh-grader and a dancer in the Spartan Dance performance, said, ?my dances meant to me that African Americans are powerful and they can do whatever they put their mind to, and it explained the history of African Americans.?

Mr. Johnson the dance teacher and coordinator of the Black History Month performance said, ?I believe my students not only enjoyed creating and performing in a show centered around such relevant and consequential topics, but they were also happy to engage in meaningful conversations about what they can do to strengthen diversity here at MCDS and within their own lives.?

Leyla Fernandez, an audience member, said, ?My favorite dance was This is America because it was cool and fun to watch. I thought the dances were really well performed and amazingly choreographed.?

The dance performance was performed on the CFA stage where the dancers expressed themselves in various ways. The performance started with a video on African American ballerinas and how they would have to paint there ballet shoes

to match their skin tone. When the video was over the first dancers came on stage and performed what they'd been learning, and so on. Out of all the dances, many people called the ?This is America? dance their favorite because they choreography was punk and cool and because it was interesting how they showed the races being divided and then coming together to reveal one coherent group. ?My dance was ?Body and Soul?, and my last dance was about breaking free from jail and the jail system and the justice system. For ?Body and Soul?I did it during lunch rehearsal, so that was pretty hard because we only had 30 minutes to and it was really difficult. My favorite part of ?Body and Soul?

?The black history performance, now called 'The People of Color Presentation' began with an idea of collaborating dance and visual arts.

Mrs. Mahoney and I created the first performance entitled 'Shattering The Lines.' I have continued this tradition after receiving all of the positive feedback from students, parents and also teachers,? Mr. Johnson says about the backstory on this performance. ?I think my experience as an African American teacher here at MCDS allows me the privilege of using my voice-talent to bring awareness to the issue some of our students face on and off campus. I understand that it can be uncomfortable to talk about race and discrimination, but when we truly listen to the experiences of others, we have the opportunity to engage in deep and meaningful conversations that are centered around preserving our humanity - hopefully strengthening our community thought honest human connections.?

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Around MCDS Best Buddies celebrates friendships

BY A L EXI S K APL AN

Geogr aphy Bee team from left: Dylan M eyer, Asher Hare, Nate Giovannucci, Jashan Singh, and M iguel Escobar friendships where everyone treated others the way they want to be treated,? said Daniella Judge.

The club does various fun activities and field trips with the other kids, like bowling, dance parties, baking, etc. These activities all the students to interact.

Francesca then explained, ?Best 7th Gr ader Fr ancesca Piffaretti enj oys her time with her Buddies is based on creating buddy. everlasting friendships. Our activities help the Buddies feel Best Buddies is a non-profit club that partners welcome and create friendships.? with the Miami Learning Experience in South Miami. The Learning Experience is a school that has students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our students get the opportunity to make friends with these students.

This club was started the beginning of last school year, 2017.

Mrs. De La Cadena, the sponsor of Best Buddies, said, ?I started the Best Buddies club because I think we need to bring awareness that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are just like us in many, many ways and they deserve to have the same experiences that we have.?

Mr. Muhlig is the co-sponsor of this club, and he got involved because his niece has Down syndrome. He wants the students at our school to ?appreciate more what they?ve been blessed with."

Maddy Bram, a seventh-grade club officer, said, ?My family was already involved, and when I moved here in fourth grade, I started fundraising and have been doing it ever since.?

She adds, ?I think that people join this club because they genuinely believe that we are doing something important. Most who join the club have a friend or family member with an intellectual disability.? ?I had joined Best Buddies because it seemed like a unique club where we would make true

?Some of the students I typically wouldn?t have thought would enjoy the club have really surprised me. They?ve been able to really grow in their maturity through the club,? explained Mrs. De La Cadena.

Maddy said, ?Personally, when interacting with people with intellectual disabilities, it?s best to talk to them as if you were talking to anyone.?

Francesca said, ?I am a truly creative person, so I personally like to create crafts with my buddies. We have a lot of fun.?

MCDS scores in Geography Bee

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE

T his year the school?s Geography Bee placed third place in the state! But something even more exciting is that Nate got selected to compete nationwide.

Nate Giovannucci was selected of the top 100 National Geographic Geography Bee contestants in Florida and has qualified for the next round of competition at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday, March 29th.

Nate said that he felt very good to be awarded ?It felt really cool. In sixth grade I wasn't expecting to win it, but after that I was more confident.?

Daniella said, ?I would treat my buddies like any other friend. I?d laugh with them, have fun with Ms. Seidel, an eighth-grade English teacher, them, and give them hugs!? has been a sponsor for the National Junior Honor Society for one year. She explains Although this is a club, they have planned a what it takes to be in the Geography Bee. fundraiser this year so everyone outside the club can meet the buddies and experience what the First all the students take the quiz in their members do. Also, as it is a fundraiser, the club social studies classes and then the teachers will be able to make funds for future activities. grade the quizzes. ?Based on the scores we choose the top from each grade went to the ?We?re having a major fundraiser this year. The school Geography Bee and then we selected focus last year was more about friendships, and the top three winners from the school we?re expanding the vision this year to include Geography Bee to join the two previous team the fundraising aspect,? said Mrs. De La Cadena. members, and then as a team we applied to be part of the ISSF Geography Bee which is just for the Miami Schools.? ?This year, the walk is on March 16th, and we would love if people attended!? said Maddy.

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iBelong Movie Night not as planned February 26 was the sixth annual MCDS middle school iBelong movie night. This year we watched The Greatest Showman, or at least tried to.

BY EL L A SM I TH

Unfortunately, on the day of the iBelong Movie night, the whole campus had low internet, so the students were only able to watch 30 minutes of it. Many people in that came last night we very sad that we did not get to watch the whole movie.

Elias Rodriguez, an eighth-grader, said that he wished that it worked and that he is unfortunate that we could not attend the movie.

Xavia Orr noted that she hoped that they downloaded the movie so then we could watch it instead of having to get it straight off of Netflix. Mr. Fallik said that it was the first time out of all the five years they have been doing a movie night, that the movie did not work.

Every year since iBelong was created, MCDS has had a movie night because our school wants always to remind students of the importance of being inclusive.

The people who pick what movie and what night are mostly teachers but, also kids. All the 8th-grade peer counselors help teachers like Mr. Falik which is the eighth-grade civics teacher, and Ms. Byrne, the middle school guidance counselor, pick out which movie to watch. The eighth graders had a group chat, which they would go back and forth debating over which movie is better. They had to find a movie that is related to the theme of iBelong.

One peer counselor, Danielle Respler, said that the reason she thought that The Greatest Showman was an excellent movie to watch because it shows the diversity and how people are unique, and that?s part of what iBelong is about.

Mr. Fallik said, ?It's a film that captures the themes of iBelong like, inclusion, self-confidence, and belonging.? He says that he believes that this impacts the students because art can always inspire discussion and we hope that the students will talk about how kids are different and build empathy.

Ms. Byrne, the middle school guidance counselor, said, ?She liked the film because it is about embracing our differences.? She also

states that she feels that it?s a way to get together with their friends and see this group of different people create a family for themselves feels empowered by their difference. Ms. Byrne hopes that this movie speaks to the students that think that their differences make them less than.

Ms. Byrne adds that her favorite movie out of all the ones they watched at this event is The Greatest Showman and also Hairspray because they both have similar themes to them about inclusion and embracing our differences.

Mr. Fallik says that his favorite film they shown at iBelong Movie Nights was called ?Promises.? It is a documentary about Palestinian and Israeli children that lived near each other but never met. In the movie, they meet for the first time, and the documentary follows their growing friendship.

Movie Night was entertaining, while it lasted, but since the movie did not work the students at pizza and donuts and went home. Hopefully next year it will work, and the middle school can watch a whole movie, and more students will come.

Model UNprepares students for diplomacy

BY A L EXI S K APL AN

Model United Nations is ?an educational simulation and/or academic activity in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations.?

Ms. Michelle Holcman, a middle school Social Studies teacher, began a Model UN club at Miami Country Day at the beginning of last school year, 2017-2018.

Ms. Holcman took on starting the club when ?two years ago, a parent of one of my students asked why the middle school did not have a Model UN club.

I really did not have an answer for her, but I did think that this was something middle school students could benefit from.

So, I presented the idea to Mr. Mathes, found some students to start the club, (about 15? so there was a general interest), and we started the club?, she explained.

Each year, there is a competition at Miami Dade College where Model UN teams all around Miami acted as delegates and competed with

resolutions they wrote about an assigned country, which they then turned into a debate that they argued at the competition. ?The students did a lot of work on their own time, explained Mrs. Holcman. "They needed to research the country they were assigned and the role of that country with the issue and the committee they were on. For example, this year, the Security Council was presented with the issue ?Palestine.?"

The students acted as delegates from Saudi Arabia and China and needed to research the issues that Palestine faces and what their country has done in the past. They then present this research in the form of debates during the meet. ?To prepare for the competition, I used CIA country profiles and UN documents (available online). I also read articles about different countries' standards of living, recent events, and political history with other countries. With these resources, I was able to learn about geographies, economies, populations, immigration rates and more,? said Isaac Brown, eighth-grade Model UN member.

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From top left: L eyka Roj o, M iguel Escobar, Zoe Ter r y, Hendr ix L ee, I saac Brown, K enneth Bar rett, Jessica L evy, Zachar y Ar nold, Nicholas K or ff, Xavia Or r, Dylan M eyer, Renan Dreyfuss M ond Ramos

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6th Grade Trip

BY GABRI EL L E BASSETTE

This year 6th grade when to Kennedy Space Center. The 6th-grade trip was totally different than expected. It was a great learning experience.

There were many different activities like the slide that represents the speed going into space. There was actually a space simulator. It takes you back and forward, you go back to represent the rocket shooting up into space, and forward to show you how it feels to go faster or land.

There were gift shops, places to eat, little games to play, and real rocket ships and shuttles. Also, there are little steps. When you step on them you help shoot a rocket onto the moon.

Ella Smith, a 6th grader, said, ?The best part was we went on this slide. You get to race against your friends. Also, there are these curvy things that you run in and it kind of makes you dizzy.?

She also said, ?I learned what the inside of a rocket looked liked and spending time at Kennedy Space Center helped me to understand what astronauts have to go through and the process.?

David Bejar, a 6th grader said ?The most interesting part is when our guide turned water with food coloring into this gel-like substance and he pretended to throw it on us. It was very funny.?

He also said ?The bus ride back was also interesting because we got to discuss the things we saw and parts we enjoyed. Especially playing around.?

Riley Richards said, ?I learned how the food was packaged and sent. It was air dried to pack light in the space-shuttle. If they pack heavy then there will be more problems going into space.?

Diego Rodriguez, a 6th grader, said ?I enjoyed the slide because you go really fast and you can slide different ways at the bottom.?

At Kennedy Space Center they take the parts that are not going to be used or left over from space shuttles or rockets that go up to space, and they actually life-sized too. Even though some of the shuttles are not the real thing, they make the replica out of foam. One thing we learned is when the foam hits the sun it turns orange. One real shuttle that the space center has is the Atlantis.

They displayed it in the museum. We learned how the astronauts slept, eat, exercise, and even how they use the bathroom.

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Far top: Hannah Webb and I sabella Smilowitz Center top from left: Jolie M ultack, Rachel M aloy, Riley Richar ds, Oscar Ber gier Far left: M arcus Papunen

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Speaking of astronauts, we met one. His name was Bob Springer. He went on two missions STS-38 A and STS-29. He said, ?I did it once and I did it twice, how crazy was I to do that??

He shared how beautiful the sunset and sunrise was from a space perspective.

He also told us about how all astronauts in training have to learn buttons and parts of a space shuttle in case of emergencies.

It was harder back when he was training because the technology was not as developed, so they have to look at this thick book. His second time going into space technology was more developed and he had a bunch of computers to look at and that made it easier but harder. Bob had to learn new stuff. He had a lot more computers and he had to learn what was their purpose.

The teachers took pictures of us 6th graders having a great time with our friends and enjoying the scenery in front of us. Laughing, faces of awe, and excitement. I bet they enjoyed themselves also even if they went many times. It is always the experience that counts.

Next year the 6th-grade class is going to go on this trip. Let them have an amazing and make the best out of it and remember that trip is not just about learning, it is about having fun.

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Spirit Week Annual competition excites middle school

BY CECI L I A STORM

This year?s Spirit Week had originally been scheduled for the last week of January, but due to the lousy weather forecast Spirit Day and the party were moved to Wednesday and Thursday on the first week of February. All the students were very disappointed, especially when the forecast turned out to be completely false. But Spirit Day still did end up happening, and more competitions will be held throughout the year which the students are looking forward to.

Mr. Finny, the middle-school director, said, ?I love Spirit week. I think it's great. It came about as an idea that middle schoolers wanted to have something like homecoming week that high school has.

So homecoming is a huge week that they have obviously right in October. That's how middle school spirit week started and its evolved into a fun series of events and a field day but, whereas in high school its a competition between grade levels we thought as for in middle school it would be more important to have to be a competition where different grade levels could work together.?

Julia Marquevich said that her favorite part about Spirit Week was getting to hang out with her friends and getting to meet new people, like the sixth graders and eighth graders.

Seventh-grader Leyka Rojo said, ?I love Spirit Week because it?s fun and I get to play with my friends, and my favorite part is getting to dress up. One thing I might change is the restriction for what was allowed to wear

because the boys get little restrictions and the girls get a lot. I was part of the Blue Team, lifesavers, and I thought the theme was good because I like candy.? Leyka added, ?I was so sad when heard Spirit Week was moved to a later date because I thought it was canceled and it wasn't even raining so I was so mad and sad at the same time.?

Mr. Finny said that they intentionally made teams that were not 6th vs. 8th but mixed so that way the 6th grades could feel more comfortable in school and people get to know other students who maybe they wouldn't otherwise because they were in different grade levels.

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Natalia Pantin a seventh-grader at MCDS said, ?I get to dress down I really like the way we get to work in groups and different people from different grades and that way we get to meet new people and make new friends.?

New teacher, Ms. Leon, had something to say for Spirit Week after experiencing it for the first time. ?All kids from the while middle school get into groups and get to enjoy the competition together,? she said. ?They grow together even though they are different grade levels but combined grades you know you have a sixth, seventh and eighth graders in the same group, so that's pretty neat to see them get back together and work together to win.?

Christina Hernandez said that her favorite part about Spirit Week was not having homework and having activities all throughout the week. I also liked how all the grades were combined and i got to meet new people.

Mrs. Greenfield, the coordinator of Spirit Week, tells some of the stressful things that can come when dealing with Spirit Week and its end results. ?It is difficult to keep the momentum and spirit up for another week. We had to create three additional lunchtime activities at the last minute. It was definitely stressful changing everything and then not have it rain, but it is better to be safe than sorry. ?

It has been announced that at the end of Spirit Week, the White Team was ahead of the Red Team by two points. Mrs. Greenfield said that she and her leadership team will create some additional team events before announcing the final winner at the end of the year. Mrs. Greenfield also noted that also tells us she enjoys in the planning process because she gets to empower my leadership class to create activities to help build camaraderie and spirit amongst the middle school students.

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Southern Supper brings community together

BY GABRI EL L E BASSETTE

Southern Supper is an important event that happens for the eighth-graders to reflect on the eighth-grade class trip to New Orleans and Memphis. Eighth-graders learn about the purpose of why they are going on the trip and the history behind it. Students said the trip was very meaningful and said they discovered a lot.

Faculty and staff that went on the trip also experienced things that they haven't before and never thought they would learn. It?s not just the students that gain, the teachers do, too. " When I went

class trip experience and how it will be reflected that night.

Zachary Arnold, Hailey Asseus, Charlie Bertucci, Amy Bhakta, Alexis Kaplan, and Xavia Orr shared their very own written poems at Southern Supper.

Attendees of Southern Supper also got to experience different types of music from on the New Orleans. Mrs. Pelletier teaches the Spartan Singers, and Mr. tr ip, there was food Mofsky is responsible for the jazz that was there that band.

Mr. Fallik, the eighth-grade team leader and coordinator looked and tasted of Southern Supper, is very like the food my Mr. Mofsky said, "It is very passionate about this event. gr andma makes." fun to be there every year see Staff and students work very hard on making this happen - Anna K nyshova peoples faces when they hear the music. My favorite part is every year. There are catered being able to teach my class Southern food and desserts songs that they play in New Orleans. cooked by our very own students. There are It is also an advantage to learn new artistic displays, and speeches, music, and songs every year we perform at poems performed by our students as well.

Southern Supper. Especially the food, every year that I go to Southern Dylan Smiley, an eighth-grader said, "The trip Supper the food gets better and was very fun, and I had a great time learning better, especially the spicy foods.?? new things like the dances and traditions.??

Dylan added, "I got to eat new foods and learn new dances.??

Another eighth-grade student, Anna Knyshova said, "When I went on the trip, there was food that was there that looked and tasted like the food my grandma makes. It reminded me a lot of Russia and family traditions. That is why I really like the trip.??

Anna Knyshova and Lucas Buckwell opened the Southern Supper with speeches about their

Mrs. Pelletier said, "The spartan Singers consists of seven girls: Maya Bassan, Salome Benitah, Sofia Rotundo, Siena Junger, Shaelyn Davis, Ameya Beohar, and Ana Gallotta. They practice very hard, and when they perform, it shows at Southern Supper.

Learning songs from New Orleans is very cool because you get to experience a similar feeling that the actual performers do.??

Mr. Mathes, the Middle School Director, said, "Thanks to Mrs. Louis, Southern Supper is here now, and we are very grateful for that.

Geography Bee After the ISSF Competition it is the end of team competition. ?Since Nate won the Championship round of the school assembly, he took an online test. The top 100 scores in Florida then go to Jacksonville for the State Competition.? Ms. Seidel explains.

When Nate gets to Jacksonville he will compete to become the top student in Florida.

If he reaches that point, Nate will go to the National Competition.

Seventh grader Dylan Meyer competed for the

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Both the students and staff appreciate and love the experience that they had at Southern Supper and the eighth-grade trip. We thank Mrs. Louis for how it came to be, and we hope the new eighth-graders next year can have a fantastic experience as well.

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second year in the Geography Bee. He said, ?When I first competed I was nervous at first but then when you get going I was fine.? He also said that he is excited to compete next year because he will be the captain of the team.

The school has been participating in the Geography Bee for three years. The first year the school participated in the Geography Bee we didn?t place, but last year we won first place. This year we won

The whole point of Southern Supper is made for students and parents to have fun and teach about the culture of New Orleans, from music, traditions, foods, art, dances and many more.

Having fun is the main part of the whole event, you should just enjoy it.??

third place. Next year the school and the Geography Bee team hopes to place again.

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MCDSgets to know Grandparents Day Blue

BY DAVI D BEJAR

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This year, MCDS got a therapy dog named Blue. The original idea came from Mrs. Broce?s 4th-grade class three years ago. Blue is four years old and she is a labradoodle.

Ms. Byrne, the middle school guidance counselor, said, ?Blue actually has proven herself to be calming and comforting both to someone who is going through a rough time or a hard moment all the way to what we are doing now this week with exams. She has been around as people are going to exams and coming out of exams and just really kind of just helped people in distress. When you see her and touch her and play with her people start to feel comfortable.?

Ms. Byrne described the training process as "extensive." There are several weeks of obedience training learning to sit, stay, heel.

They get tested for a good citizen certificate that shows they are able to do these kinds of commands. Then there is a second level as a therapy dog where they have to be able to manage things around like wheelchairs, going into elevators, hospitals, be in crowds and not be too excited.

Ms. Broce explained, ?One day a student came in and said that he thought we should have a mascot for our class. One of the students thought it should be a dog, and it evolved and she said why don?t we just get a real dog. Then they got really excited and started thinking about how they could make that happen."

Ms. Broce mentioned, ?I always think of getting another dog. I think Blue would love to have a companion at home to play with.

She loves other dogs and to run around with them she loves chasing other dogs and when other dogs chase her she rolls around with the dogs."

Ms. Broce said ?Choosing Blue was also a part of the evolution of the discussion. They said why don't we just use Ms. Broce?s dog.?

Lastly, when asked about not going through with a therapy dog she answered ?When my family was looking at what type of dog to get and we had had a poodle before we had a golden retriever. We had to get a dog that was willing to go in the water because we like going to the beach and boating we also wanted a dog that did not shed a lot. So we did the research and found that a golden doodle was a dog that would do these things.

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May Deal, Francesca Piffareti?s grandmother has been coming to grandparents day ever since Francesca started school. ?My favorite part about Grandparents Day is seeing a lot of people turn out because I think they should for their grandchildren.?

Francesca Piffareti, a seventh grader, says that she enjoys having her grandmother here at Miami Country Day School. ?It feels really nice that my grandmother is here with me because I know that she is supporting me by coming to this event.?

Steven Rinehart, Maryam Rassif ?s grandfather favorite is quite different from Mary Deal?s.

Steven?s favorite part has been meeting all the teachers. ?Especially the Stem teachers because we do projects.?

M s. Seidel greets Blue in her classroom.

A dog that would not be too furry so she would be comfortable here in Miami. So we looked at some dogs that we liked, but their coats would be really hot in the summer months here in Miami so we just kept researching and we found a breeder. We really liked this breeder because they were interviewing us as much as we were interviewing him for what type of family we had and wanted to make sure their puppies had the right home that would be able to accommodate the needs of the dog. We also found that these dogs are really good with training and also with service animals and emotional support animals, we already had Bongo here and that kind of gave me the idea and we love the idea of dogs out and making people happy so it all worked out.?

Seventh grader Dillon Meyer said, ?It took a really long time, at least a month.

When asked why her classmates decide to get a therapy dog, 7th grader Scout Hudson said, ?We wanted to be different from the other classes and have something we could create ourselves.?

Maryam Rassif, a seventh grader, says that her favorite parts about Grandparents Day have been the videos that the school produces and showing his grandfather the Stem department.

Mr. Mathes, the middle school director has been at this school for thirty years. He explains that Grandparents Day has grown a lot since it started. ?Grandparents day has become so much bigger. It used to be an almost entirely lower school and only one or two middle school grandparents would come. Now last year 60 grandparents came.?

When it first started more than thirty years ago, no grandparents would come, and if they did it would only be in the lower school. Like Mr. Mathes explained, more and more grandparents have been coming every year.

Before, Grandparents Day was held right before Thanksgiving but in the past years, it has been moved to February. Most people including most of the teachers assume that the cause of this change was the fact that most grandparents couldn?t make it because this event was right before Thanksgiving.

Ms. Pekoc and Mr. Mathes, both agree with this reason for the change.

Scout said that it took the entire year to get the Blue really approved.

When asked about how she felt when the dog got approved she answered ?I felt really excited, proud, and surprised.

If you walk around campus during break or lunch you will most likely see Blue and you can always pet her. In my opinion, I think it was a great idea to get a therapy dog.

?The last couple of years grandparents day has been changed to February because a lot of grandparents really couldn?t get in because of Thanksgiving.?

Grandparents Day has grown so much for the past years since it started and the school hopes to expand it even more.

Page 12

GATEway takes MSstudents to Panama

BY I SABEL L A POSSI N

video comes to life,? said Mr. Turf. He added, ?Another one of my favorite parts is at the end of the experience just to see how much they've gotten out of the experience, and that it was all worth it all the effort that they put in.?

GATEway is an excellent trip for everybody.

It?s educational and lots of fun. Students and teachers love going the Gateway experience, and this year, on the long weekend for President?s day, Gateway is going to Panama.

Mr. Turf is the reason why we have the Gateway program. Mr. Turf said, ?I started Gateway in the upper school as a chance to give our students the opportunity to not only just go abroad but to study abroad and to live abroad, so it wouldn?t just be your regular old tourist trip but a real educational opportunity.?

Maddy Bram, a seventh-grader, said, ?I decided to go on Gateway because I have friends that did it last year and it seemed like a great opportunity and a great once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a place I?ve never been to so I jumped to the opportunity.?

There are so many things to stand out to people about Gateway.

Ms. Pekoc, a yearly gateway teacher chaperone, said, ?My favorite part about Gateway is getting to know the students.?

Ms. Minetti, another chaperone, said, ?My favorite part of gateway was to get to spend fun times with students, and get to know them better in a different environment.?

Mr. Turf said, ?On behalf of my fellow chaperones, Ms. Minetti, and Ms. Pekoc, it has been an absolute pleasure traveling with your children, learning with them, serving as their nurses and doctors.? ?My favorite part is seeing the students who have prepared to see cites, and then they see them up close and in person and to see their faces when something in a picture or a slide or

These are some things that have stood out to these chaperones from previous years. This year in Panama, there will be so many exceptional experiences that everyone will enjoy.

Maddy said, ?I?m looking forward to going to Panamรก and looking forward to having the monkey experience.?

Mateah Scher, a seventh-grader said, ?I?m really looking forward to go to the island with all these monkeys because I think it would be cool and they?re really cute, so I want to see them.?

Continued on next page

Photos by M r. Tur f

Page 13

Continued from previous page

There are so many amazing sites to see on Gateway like staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, going to the Panama Canal, Panama Shopping Tour, cooking in Panama, and Monkey Island.

One of the many amazing places are Jungle Island, a lodge in the middle of the canal zone equipped for dining, sleeping, swimming, kayaking, and stand up paddle boarding. ?Jr. GATEmates participated in a cooking class with three professional chefs,? said Mr. Turf ?We filled our stomachs with typical Panamanian food as we watched the dancers in their traditional dress represent the various regions of Panama through music and dance.?

Mr. Turf said, explaining yet another fantastic thing they did in Panama.

Broghan Muhlig, a seventh-grader said, ?I enjoyed the Monkey Islands most, but I also enjoyed the city and seeing the indigenous people.?

Mr. Turf said that they, ?came face-to-face with several species of monkeys that were more than willing to take some peanuts and bananas from our hands.?

Ms. Pekoc said, ?I wanted the experience that were like our class trips.?

Everyone looked forward to and loved the fantastic adventures this year in Gateway. It is so wonderful that the school does such a unique program.

Ms. Pekoc said, ?I think the school does Gateway to give the students the experience of travel, to see new things, it?s a different type of learning experience.?

Maddy said, ?I think the school does Gateway to open up opportunities for students to be able to go out and learn not just in the school campus but in other places around the country.?

Mateah said, ?I think that the school does Gateway so that the kids get an opportunity to go to other places outside the United States and explore with their friends in a learning environment.?

Ms. Minneti said, ?The school does Gateway to allow the students to participate in amazing opportunities where they can learn and enjoy at the same time, while they spend time with their friends.?

There are so many reasons to go to Gateway and why it started. The whole concept of traveling is fantastic.

Maddy said, ?I have traveled to Europe and places within that European kind of area but never to a place like Panama.? She added, ?In Europe, the culture was fairly similar to the United States, but I do think that there are

small different culture differences and I can?t wait to see the culture differences that Panama has to offer.?

Gateway offers culture and fun. Mr. Turf said it himself, ?It was history, culture, and shopping all rolled into one.?

Broghan said, ?The culture is different from ours and their currency even though I thought it would be the same it was different, and they mostly speak Spanish.

?From sunrise to sunset, we truly lived, breathed, and tasted Panama,? said Broghan.

Page 14

Entertainment Seussical: The Musical!

BY DAVI D BEJAR

On March 13 and March 14 the middle school put on the musical Seussical the Musical.

The cast for this musical is Leyla Fernandez, Zachary Arnold, Lucas Buckwell, Shaelyn Davis, Caterina Serrano-Bigles, Pedro Silva, Marley Borrow.

Mr. Gracy is director of the drama department. When asked about where he gets the script he said, ?So you have to purchase the rights so for us it is a company in New York called MTI (Musical Theater International) and they have quite a lot of rights for a lot of musicals.?

Mr. Gracy commented that ?Seussical is sort of all of the Doctor Seuss characters thrown into one big storyline. It?s all jumbled up and is really fun and high energy and I think a lot of people will really like the concept of it.

Mr. Gracy said that they hold the auditions a couple of weeks

before so in this case November.

When asked do people come back from other plays Mr. Gracy stated that ?We do have some returning faces like Pedro Silva, Felipe Bautista, Shae Davis. Marley Borrow is new to us this year and we are really excited to have her.

One of the leads this year is the returning young Simba from last year?s play Lucas Buckwell.?

When asked about how long auditions last he remarked, ?For a musical like this we would usually rehearse for 10 weeks, 4 days a week, and for 2 and a half hours a rehearsal.?

Eighth grader Pedro Silva admitted ?it has been tiring." He explained, "I have had to put a lot of things aside but in the long run, I think it will be great. Our performance is looking better than we expected and I think that all the rehearsals and all the connections to our characters are great.?

Pedro commented that ?I?d say compared to last years play Lion King Seussical is probably a six out of ten.?

Pedro remarked that ?Mostly this character is quite predictable so I did not have to take that much time to in depth about my character because the character is shallow and you can just tell how they act.?

Sixth gradeer Miguel mentioned that this is his first musical but not his first play.

Miguel remarked that ?I learned a

lot of things here with Miami Country Day because it was my first time doing musical theatre and before I had done this play I thought that musical theatre was just a bunch of songs put together and they had no meaning but know actually looking and going over everything I found out that it is a much bigger story it takes a lot of time and dedication to really understand your part and really be in tune but in the long run it is really worth it.?

When asked about his character Miguel said ?I think it is kind of hard to understand Mr. Mayor (his character) because he is not as predictable as other characters because he is more complex.

You have to understand that he loves his son but at the same time he is also strict and he is dealing with two worlds at the same time being a mayor and being a Jo Jo?s father. It really is complicated balancing both of them and coming up with one single character.?

Miguel commented ?I am not really that nervous to perform, but I think we could have practiced a little more without a script. I also

think there were some technical difficulties the way we rehearsed could have been better because we put the recordings at full volume so people did not get the chance to be heard singing and that was something very challenging. The teachers could not hear if you were doing the right notes or the right words so we could have done better but I think it will come out great.?

I thought that the play was very well rehearsed and the cast crew was great.

Page 15

"Isn't it..." a great movie!

BY I SABEL L A POSSI N

One of the greatest movies I have ever watched was the movie, Isn?t it Romantic. It was a great movie with many parts that made me laugh. It was really funny and it brought a smile to my face. I thought it was great and hearing and I think the people around me enjoyed it as well.

Most of the movie I heard laughter and when I looked around there was nothing but happy people with huge smiles on their faces. It had so many sense that were emotional and so amazing. It had so many different parts about it that I loved.

Not only was it emotional and funny but the actors were amazing. Rebel Wilson was the star of this movie. Her acting was so good and she really made me believe what was happening in the movie was real. Her lines were projected with perfect interpretation. Her acting and style blew me away. Adam DeVine was insanely good at his part in the movie. He and Rebel Wilson both had incredible senses in this movie.

One of them were their dance senses. Like in a karaoke sense were everybody got up and started to dance. They were in sink and nobody messed up and everything went into its place.

Everything was colorful and bright with a great background and every actor had an expression on their face expressing the emotion of the sense.

Another great sense was when Rebel Wilson confronted Adam DeVine about being caught in a fantasy and that he needs to get out. She said this because she thought that everyday he was looking at a poster of a supermodel.

She told him that those things to come true in reality and that he needs to be realistic. She told him that he wasn?t staring at the supermodel but he was staring at her in the reflection. This is when he confessed his love for her and they fell in love. It was an amazing sense.

She and Adam DeVine he showed intense emotion for Rebel Wilson. At first they kept their love a secret but slowly they grew together and were inseparable. They had convinced themselves that they loved each other in a friendly way about as the story went on they fell in love with each other.

Overall this movie was amazing and I recommend it very much. This movie really blew me away and I know it will amaze anyone who will watch it. It had great actors, sense, costumes, and dance senses.

8th Grade watches Best Picture winner

BY X AVI A ORR

On December 20, the 8th grade went to the movies to see Green Book, a film exploring the complexities of race in the 1950s. In February, the film won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. This is a review of the film by one of the eighth grade students, Xavia Orr. ------------------------------------------Green Book (2018) is the story of Dr. Don Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali) and his cab driver, Tony Lip (played by Viggo Mortensen). A big part of the movie was the

involvement of the historical Green Book, a book that African American citizens in the United States used to find specific establishments that would serve them without a hassle in the Jim Crow south, a big part of this story is also the rare relationship that Dr. Shirley and Tony had with each other. At first, like most people that are thrown together without either of them really wanting to be with each, are a very strained pair of friends who usually sit in the car, silent. Contrary to the belief back in the 1960s, and even nowadays in the United States, some people would say that the roles are reversed. Often the black man is portrayed as a thug, a broke and someone who could not possibly climb the social ladder while the white man is a classy, good-looking gentlemen who has a high paying job. In Green Book (which is, might I add, a true story) Tony Lip is a poor man with children and a wife, who is always doing strange odd jobs, while Dr. Shirley is a rich classical musician. The story is a culture shock to some of the people who are living in the United States but it is a lesson that should most

definitely be learned as time goes on and these stories are close to forgotten. One that is most important is that no matter what your differences are, you can still come together and form as one unit, in the United States, that is something that is forgotten frequently, despite the current situation. The story of Green Book is one that is serious, dramatic, but also realistic, keeping in tune with the real Dr. Don Shirley. This movie is one of the best and most raw movies I?ve seen in awhile. This is an extremely important story and it is one every American should see at least once in their life.

This movie puts everything into a new perspective and it is entertaining the whole entire time, in fact, the movie seems much shorter than it actually is because of the entertaining qualities and the various subtle plot twists. This is a movie to show for generations upon generations.

Page 16

Entertainment REVIEW: Captain Marvel (Spoilers) Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, got in a plane crash with a scientist. It

BY GABRI EL L E was a secret BASSETTE plane flight. In the plane engine, there was special fuel and the aliens wanted it, but she shot the engine and the fuel went all over her. Then she got superpowers like when her hands get hot and she shoots out energy out of her hands. The person that is coming after the energy that she absorbs takes her and makes her half-alien by putting his blood into her. The Skrulls tied her up and tried to find her past memories because she does remember her past life.

The Skrulls are shapeshifters.

She meets a cop (Nick Fury) that helps her later on in the movie.

Nick Fury is with the government and follows her around to see

what she can do. Towards the end of the movie Captain Marvel meets with her old friends that she used to live with before she had powers. The Skrulls show up at her friend's house and shapeshifts into the mom. Captain Marvel was one of the bad guys but she did not know that. When the Skrulls took her away they put this chip on her neck to take her powers away at any time. She took that off and now she can do anything. She flies up to space and blasts all these spaceships and the Skrulls.

I would recommend this movie because it is very interesting, action-packed, and exciting. The movie always keeps you on your feet and makes you want to stay there watching it a hundred more times. As a girl, it really felt powerful watching the movie because that was basically the

first Marvel movie to focus on a woman with superpowers, battling bad people. My favorite part was when the shapeshifter turns into an old lady on the train.

Then, Captain Marvel starts beating the Skrull up, but the people in the train don?t know what?s happening. Also when the cop says ??Is that all you can do???

Then she shoots up a whole storm with her hands. It was really funny and cool. The most heartfelt moment was when she meets her long-lost friend and pieces back her memories from when she was little to now. Also when she remembered her friend's

daughter it was so cute. It was like they actually feel the emotion when they are acting.

RESTAURANTREVIEW: Sushi Erika

BY I SABEL L A GAL OFRE

If you are a sushi fan like me then I would totally recommend Sushi Erika as a restaurant you should try.

Sushi Erika is located at 7859-7901 Hispanola Ave, North Bay Village, FL 33141. Although it is small this restaurant can fill up really fast.

From 12 am to 6 pm it is the restaurants popular hours so if you want to get a table without waiting don?t come around those times.

Sushi Erika is a casual restaurant.

It welcomes up to a party of six but if you are only going with family then it's fine.

This restaurant is a sushi restaurant. If you don?t like sushi, well this is not the best restaurant for you.

There is a little bar counter where

you enter and you can see the sushi chef, Erika, making the different sushi. The sushi is very fresh. It doesn?t matter how many times you eat that sushi, it will always taste fresh and delicious.

For an appetizer, the edamame is very good. The edamame is left plain with a little bit of salt.

The menu is full of mouthwatering options. Although I have only gone once, I would recommend sharing multiple dishes. If you like big rolls with a lot of food inside then the Miami Heat Roll will be a very good option. It is a shrimp tempura roll with a mild spicy sauce on top.

The Dragon Roll is also a good

option for big roles, it has jumbo shrimp topped with

There are many options and you can vary because only one comes from every option. Out of that section I chose one Tako and one Salmon. Tako is boiled octopus on top of sticky rice and Salmon is a thin layer of fresh salmon on top on sticky rice. Once you try them, they will leave your mouth watering for more.

avocado.

The salmon roll with avocado is a very good choice of sushi if you want to have something simple. It has the seaweed on the outer part of the roll, the rice is on the inside, and the salmon and avocado are in the middle of the roll.

There are also other options for sushi with salmon. Hand rolls are seaweed that is shaped into a cone and has salmon pieces inside with avocado.

You can choose from the Nigiri and Sashimi part of the menu.

Although I haven't tried the desserts they look very good.

There is a variety of desserts.

There are five different types of mochi. You can choose two pieces of the same flavors, Mango, Chocolate, Strawberry, Greentea, and Red Bean. Lychee Sorbet is also a good dessert. This restaurant really likes green tea.

Green tea tiramisu and Green Tea Cheesecake are also big parts of the dessert section.

If you are a sushi fan this restaurant should really be in your restaurant bucket list!

Page 17

RESTAURANTREVIEW: Mandolin Mandolin is a Greek/Turkish restaurant in the Miami Design

BY JUL I ANA District. When you K OL C-DASS walk into the restaurant, you get a feeling that you are in Greece.

There are many flowers like orchids on the trees. The restaurant immediately will give you a good vibe, and it will make you think that you will have a nice time. The restaurant has an outside and an inside seating area.

I recommend sitting outside since it is much more peaceful since inside it is usually very loud based on my experience. The service is excellent, although once we had a drunk lady serve us. Overall though, it's high, and everyone is real friendly. Once, this lady gave me free baklava and Turkish delight.

Now on the topic, you all have been waiting for, food! The food is absolutely exquisite, no doubt about it. My favorite dish there are the Manti Dumplings. They are covered in greek yogurt, and that is what makes it so delicious.

The drinks are good too, but I can?t have most of them because most of them are cocktails or wine. I usually have tea or water.

They have an amazing octopus. It is extremely well done - very chewy, and tasty. I really recommend it. The greek salad is good, but it has a lot of tomatoes, and personally, I don't enjoy tomatoes too much. Though if you do, this might be yet another great dish!

dessert. They also have a simple chocolate cake that is made with organic products, and Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream. They don?t have so many desserts, but they are still delicious. Everything at Mandolin is homemade and fresh.

I really recommend this restaurant to everybody. I never liked

Greek/Turkish food until I went to Mandolin. I think trying new things will help you become a more curious person. I hope you try this restaurant one day, and I hope that you agree with me. I would give this restaurant 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

There is such a vast spectrum of foods on the menu, but those were my main recommendations.

Now onto the desserts! Even though they only have three desserts they are mouthwatering.

They have baklava, a famous Turkish

RESTAURANTREVIEW: Le Zoo

L e Zoo is a French Mediterranean restaurant located in Bal Harbour Shops. This restaurant opens at 11:30 am and has a variety of savory foods you'll be dying to try.

Le Zoo is a very sophisticated restaurant with excellent dishes.

When you first walk in you get the feeling that you're in a French bistro in the heart of France. The decorations make the whole place seem magical. But the beautiful ambiance of the restaurant is only a complement to the elegant

BY CECI L I A STORM

dishes I got to try.

For the appetizer, I ordered a very favorable Beef Carpaccio made with arugula, Parmigiano, lemon, drizzled in olive oil. This is one of m favorite dishes whenever I come to Le Zoo because the combination of flavors complement each other created something that I wouldn't mind eating over and over.

For my EntreĂŠ, I ordered what by far I believe is the best dish they could have in the entire restaurant, the Onion Soup GratinĂŠe. Going off on the name this is an onion

soup perfectly balanced meaning that the onions aren't very overpowering leaving a bad taste in our mouth. At the bottom of the soup is bread the is soaked in the soup and top it all is a layer of cheese that melts in your mouth.

But, even without the bread and the cheese the soup alone outshines any others that I've ever tried. And, for the record, I strongly dislike soup which means a lot if I like this one in particular.

There are other dishes, of course, that also stand out including the Pappardelle Bolognese a very popular pasta served with beef, pork, veal, and Parmigiano Reggiano. And, St. Tropez a "seaside salad selection featuring cucumbers and feta, chickpeas and couscous, lentils in mustard vinaigrette, and carrots with oil and lemon."(- Le Zoo official Site). Another dish that I recommend it the Niçoise a salad including confit tuna, red bliss potatoes, and often served with haricots verts. The Grande Aioli de Provence is a dish served with chilled shrimp, poached salmon,

mussels, and assorted vegetables.

But one of the dishes that they are most famous for is their Profiteroles praline, vanilla ice cream, and banana bittersweet chocolate. When they first place this in front of me my mouth watered with delight and even more so when they drizzled it with chocolate sauce melting the thin slice of chocolate plated on top of the Profiteroles.

Another arguable favorite is the Strawberry Parfait which is layers of fresh strawberries, vanilla custard, pound cake, and almond streusel in a glass cup.

Le Zoo is currently rated at four stars and a half which are a very good estimated and is marked number 4 of 15 restaurants in Bal Harbour. Though I disagree and believe it should be given a full five out of five rated for there quality of service as well as food and drinks. This is because I have eaten here so many time that it is one of my favorite restaurants to come to and eat with my family in a calming environment. I recommend Le Zoo to everyone who enjoys eating French cuisine or who wants to have fun with their friends and family.

Page 18

Sports Tennis team hits the court The 2019 MCDS tennis team has been starting well. The team looks good and hopefully will win more games as the season goes on. There are many new players, but also many have returned.

The head coach, Coach Haas, has been coaching at Miami Country Day for fourteen years. She said that many people have returned: exactly eight girls and three boys. There were twice as many girls on the team this year than boys which Coach Haas says is unusual. Nineteen new players, boys, and girls made the team out of the thirty-five who tried out. This year more students have tried out than last year. She said that it is tough to pick who will be on the team and since there is more this year it is even harder to choose. Coach Haas said that ?There is a large tennis community in this area.?

Above: Brooke K ovacs Below: Anthony Calfa The way that the coaches determine who is on the team and not is for two weeks they all play each other and whoever and how many matches they win is if they make it or not.

Gabrielle Bassette, a sixth-grader, is on the varsity tennis team. She said that she likes the team and she thinks that they placed her right. She said she feels that other

BY EL L A SM I TH

schools that she plays against are not too hard. She also explained how tournaments work. She said ?Only five players play in the tournaments. There are boys and girls separate.? In one game against Oxbridge Academy, they won six to one. Even though she is in varsity with a bunch of high schoolers, she still plays.

Water Polo on the rise

BY EL L A GREEN

The 2018-2019 MCDS water polo season is off to a great start.

Head Coach Eleni Pizanias said that the water polo team doesn't usually get a lot of returners. She said they have about seven returners this year.

First-time player, sixth-grader Leonardo Emperador said that he joined water polo this year because he wanted to try something new.

Oscar Bergier, a sixth-grader says he will keep on playing next year. He says he ?likes the team a lot because you can meet another Another first-time player, seventh-grader Heather Peroe explained that the reason she tried water polo group of friends that you would not during this year was that she is very interested in swimming. the day at school.

She added, "I think it will be really fun to do something that requires swimming."

Scarlet Richards, an eighth-grader, is on her third year of the tennis team. She also likes Coach Eleni said that her expectations for her team are ?just for the players to have fun." Further explaining it a lot too. She says ?It?s fun because you get to play games? she added ? Even though her expectations, she said, ?It's a tough sport so just to see where they come from the beginning to the end. If you get to play games when we are at a we win games, we win games but just having them meet or tournament we have to focus. have fun."

They both think it?s been a remarkable season. Oscar said that our middle school is undefeated. Coach Haas and Gabriel also think so too. Coach Haas has hope in them this year, and she believes they can win the final tournament this year. Gaby said that she loves her team and would not want to be on the other side if she had a choice. She likes where she was placed and is thriving to be the best on her team.

Seventh-grader Jashan Singh said that his coaches had helped him by "being very inspirational and motivational during practices and games."

In conclusion, the team has had a great year and the five days a week pays off.

Hopefully, our tennis team will keep their winning steak and will win. During the championship, they play all the schools in their conference. There are five singles matches, and two doubles matches. Miami Country Day Schools tennis team usually does very well at these conferences. They mostly get in the top three or five. Two years ago the girls won, and most went to varsity. Coach Haas said that there is an excellent chance that the tennis team will win this year.

Hopefully, they win - Go Spartans!

Water polo is a challenging sport which is why many of the players have lots of challenges in playing this sport.

Seventh-grader Luci Pasqualin said that her coaches had helped her by, "teaching me how to play water polo since I was a newbie as soon as I started doing it."

Assistant Coach Steven Albritton explained how this season is going so far. He said, "It's okay. It could be better, the kids need a lot more conditioning, and they are not quite where they need to be yet."

Coach Steve said that the reason it is so hard is that "it's very physically demanding on you and there is a lot of resistance when it comes to the water alone."

Continued on next page

Page 19

Winter Sports Awards Winter Spor ts Awar ds? .Congratulations to

Defensive Player of the Year Award ? Marcos

Offensive Player of the Year Award ? Stefano

the award winners at the Winter Sports Awards

Mellado

Dumas

Ceremony:

Spartan Award ? Colin Freeman

Most Improved Player Award ? Avi Murphy

Most Improved Player Award ? Carson

Defensive Player of the Year Award ?

Goodman

Francesco Di Giuseppe

Boys M iddle School (Var sity) Basketball Most Valuable Player Award ? Max

Coaches Award ? Lucas Crespo

Ruskowski

Gir ls M iddle School Basketball

Most Improved Player Award ? Evan Hurwitz

Most Valuable Player Award ? Jada Johnson,

Gir ls M iddle School Soccer

Coaches Award ? Tristan Bradley

Ella Gilderman

Most Valuable Player Award ? Lauren White

Spartan Award ? Alex Mendelson

Most Improved Player Award ? Zoe Terry

Coaches Award ? Chaya Hazan Rookie of the Year Award ? Maria Lola Lopez

Boys M iddle School (JV) Basketball

Boys M iddle School Soccer

Defensive Player of the Year Award ? Logan

Offensive Player of the Year Award ? Nicolas

Most Valuable Player Award ? Agustin Kohen

Sennett

Margarit

Water Polo continued Heather said that her challenges are "catching the ball and keeping up with the other players."

Luci said that some of her challenges are "egg-beating because it's really hard to stay up for a long time."

Jashan said that one of the toughest parts about water polo is treading for a long time.

Coach Steve said that his star players are Edoardo Figari, Harry Florin, and Leonardo.

Coach Eleni described a typical practice by saying, "we start off with running for a warm-up, then we stretch." She added, "we will then do some swimming and bring out the goals."

Heather said that in a typical practice, she also does sprints to start off, then she does a scrimmage game towards the end.

Many of the water polo players play sports that help them prepare for the upcoming season.

Luci said that besides water polo, she plays basketball. She said, "It definitely helps me prepare because basketball is basically the same thing as water polo but in the water."

Heather said that she does swimming. She explains, "it helps me prepare for water polo because you are always in the water and you need to keep up with the players on the other team."

Coach Eleni said that her favorite part about coaching

water polo is, "Just seeing where the players come from, from the beginning to the end."

She added, "It always helps to jump in the water and help them out to show them the skills."

Coach Steve said that is favorite part is, "Helping the kids and seeing them enjoy and love the sport."

Waterpolo is a fantastic sport for the players, coaches, and Spartans.

Page 20

Sports Baseball takes a swing

BY I SABEL L A POSSI N

This years baseball team has been working hard and playing well. So many coaches and players are inspirations that drive this team forward.

Seventh-grader Anthony Haderer explained, ?I have played baseball since I was three years old so I enjoyed it as a kid growing up.?

Mr. Joseph Hernandez, the baseball coach, ?I have actually played the sport since I was four years old all the way through graduation for high school and it?s always been a sport I?ve enjoyed playing, so I just continued coaching.?

Mr. Sennett, another coach of the baseball team, said, ?I have played baseball in my young life and played at Barry University. It?s a sport I've always loved, always loved coaching, and playing.?

Noah Perazzo, an eighth-grade player, said, ?A bunch of my friends was doing it, and I wanted to do something inside of the school.?

strategy. It?s a hard sport to play. It takes so many qualities to be a baseball player. ?You have to have a good memory for the strategic part because it requires strategy and you have to be fast,? said Elias.

Tanner said, ?You have to be aware of your surroundings and know what you have to do for the next play.?

Mr. Sennett said, ?We are looking for athletes, people who are willing to work, people who have a good work ethic or are interested in developing a good work ethic, someone willing to learn how to hit, run bases and learn how to be a team player.?

Anthony added, ?For players that are tough with good hand-eye coordination and good work ethic.?

Every team has leaders also known as team captains.

Every coach and player knows what it takes to be a captain.

Anthony said, ?If they can be a leader and work with younger kids with developing their skills.?

Tanner Sennett, a seventh-grade player, said, ?I started playing the sport when I was really little, and I have loved it ever since.?

Joseph said, ?A captain has to be vocal. There are a lot of leaders that are quiet and lead by example, but there has to be a balance of a leader that leads by example but also gets everybody to jump on board and be able to get them on the same page.?

Elias Rodriguez, an eighth-grade player, said, ?When I was younger me, and my dad used to watch baseball on the tv and then one day I started playing toss, and then I joined a team.?

Tanner, ?I think it takes being there every day and doing what you're supposed to do and being a leader and showing everyone else what to do.?

There are so many reasons to love baseball.

Noah said, ?You need to be somebody that the team looks up to and will listen to.?

Noah said, ?I like baseball because It?s an interesting game to play and it very strategic.?

Tanner said, ?I like baseball because it is a sport that I can excel at because I?m not the most athletic because it matters on IQ.?

Elias said, ?You have to be able to do the right thing in baseball and always be there for your team and be there to cheer them on.?

Mr. Sennett said, ?I like it because it?s more than hitting and catching a ball, but there's a lot of strategy involved.?

Tanner, ?I think that we will win 4 or 5 games because we have been playing really hard teams.?

Elias said, ?I love it; it?s really fun.?

Noah said, ?I think that our team will win if we keep practice and working together.?

To play baseball takes talent and lots of

Elias said, ?Our team is the best team out, so I think we are going to win.?

The supporters are sure they can win too!

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8th Grade Trips Students visit Fairchild Gardens

BY TAL I A K URL ANDSK I

This year was the first year that the 8th graders went to Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens is an 83-acre botanic garden in Coral Gables with extensive collections of rare tropical plants.

Now that you know what Fairchild Botanical Garden is, let's explore the opinions of eighth graders and their experiences and the teachers that organized the Fairchild trip.

Nicolas De La Cadena an eighth-grader said he got to tour the garden and just enjoy nature. He also said, ?I saw exotic plants and cool wildlife.? He really enjoyed the trip especially learning about the million orchid project.

Nicolas added, ?I really enjoyed learning about the million orchid project. It was the highlight of the trip, and I would definitely like to learn more about this project in saving orchids.? So overall Nicolas really enjoyed the trip, he recommends it to others and wants to take his friends and family there.

Amy Bhakta, another eighth-grader, said she liked looking at the different types of butterflies and extraordinary plants. She also mentioned that her favorite part of the trip was planting orchids and learning about the Million Orchid Project. Amy explained, ?My favorite part of this trip was planting orchids because it was a new experience and I liked learning about the Million Orchid Project because I like learning about different projects people are doing to help animals, plants, people, etc."

Overall Amy enjoyed the experience of learning about plants and animals and would go there again to learn more about the Million Orchid Project.

Lucas Crespo an eighth grader said he saw many varieties of plants he had never seen before. Lucas also mentioned that he learned interesting facts, but the most interesting one was that plants breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. ? It was a good experience, but my favorite part was exploring nature with my friends.? He also said that he learned native orchids were in danger so he would like to learn more about the Million Orchid Project. ? I would go there again,? he said.

Mrs. AbreuGrondin an eighth-grade advisor and the organizer of this trip said, ?I

believe this was a great trip for it taught the students about environmental awareness."

She added, "I think Fairchild Botanical Gardens is a good place to get all of that. I enjoyed learning about studies of leaves and about the Million Orchid Project because I found it fascinating that Fairchild was trying to plant orchids everywhere, and I would like it if we could get some orchids on our campus. ?

Overall Mrs. Abreu- Grondin thinks that this trip worked out very well and that the school will most probably do this trip again.

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8th Grade Trips moringa but also about the living conditions of the astronauts. She said, "I really did enjoy this project, from making the poster to jumping up when we heard our names called for first place.?

Fairchild Cont'd Sydney Brown, an eighth-grader and a Fairchild Challenge participant, explained that she and her group did the project called Green Cuisine. "For this project, my partner, Anna Knyshova and I made an Aquafaba mousse madness," she said. "What that is, is a healthy version of chocolate mousse, what makes this healthy is the Aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid that you usually throw out in the can of garbanzo beans." She explained, "This is very convenient especially because this adds protein to the dish. We combined groups with Daniella Judge who made a matcha moringa cake."

In both dishes was moringa, moringa is a superfood which was very convenient because the main part of the project was to make food that would be good to send to space. Since it contains moringa, astronauts would not have to bring many items up to space. They did win first place out of the middle school teams that were there. She said, "I actually learned so many things. Before this project, I did not know what moringa was, in general, our school decided that it would be a good experience."

The project taught them not only about

Nathaniel Giovannucci, an eighth-grader, said, ? We walked around and looked at all of the plants. We saw all these types of colorful plants that I had never seen before, and we saw hundreds of butterflies in the butterfly garden."

He added, "My favorite part was definitely the butterfly garden. One of my friends was afraid of all of the butterflies and it was really funny."

Nate said, "I think just the overall amount of plants they have there is incredible and any of those would be awesome to learn about."

The class learned about many species of endangered plants.

He said he would go there again and would recommend it to others.?

He also talked about a project they have called the million orchid project. He said, ?They have a project called the Million Orchid project where since orchids are endangered, they are trying to plant 1 million orchids. I thought that was really cool."

Exploring Miami This year, 2019, the eighth-grade got to go on a field trip of a day experiencing Miami?s subcultures in many different activities.

This year was the second year of the eighth-grade taking this field trip, ever since 2014 when after that year many of the field trips had to be cut off.

The Class of 2023 was very opportune to be able to be in one of the few years they took the field trip because it really was a fantastic educational experience to go to sites and try things they may have never thought about.

From left: Anna K nyshova, Sydney Brown, and M r s. Abreu-Grondin

?It was really a breathtaking experience,? said Nate.

Overall all the students and teachers enjoyed the trip and are going to continue doing it in future years.

BY A L EXI S K APL AN

?I felt like a lot of kids at Country Day don?t really know about the city that they live in. Our eighth-grade theme is immigration and civil rights, so I wanted them to experience some major subcultures in Miami, so it would be the Cuban-American and Haitian-American culture which is what we explored,? said Ms. Mahoney, the coordinator of the Miami Cultural trip.

The students were introduced to the Haitian-American culture by a presentation from two Haitian high schoolers, Abigail Cherenfant, and Alexii Bassette.

The two told the students all about what Haiti is like, and the students even got to learn a bit of the language of Creole. ?I learned that not all of Haiti is poor and bad, but some parts are rich and thriving. I learned

that Haiti completed the first successful slave rebellion,? said Jaimie Walsh. ?I learned about the Haiti festivity,? said Daniella Judge,.

?Haitians can be all different colors, they are not all black; Haitian is an ethnicity, not a race,? said Gianna Murdocco,.

Throughout the rest of the day, the students got to hear all sorts of stories that gave them a better understanding of the special meaning of culture, and they also got to learn so much factual information about the two subcultures.

They went on a beautiful boat tour around the Brickell area of Miami. The boat passed by many spots of architecture in Miami where students got to learn about the culture behind them. They were fortunate to have tour guides explaining things to them for a better understanding. The tour guide also had a lot of experience himself with culture and coming to America and being separated from his loved ones.

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Miami Trip cont'd Luis Rincon said the boat ride was excellent, and Logan Traband enjoyed hearing new facts on the boat ride; particularly hearing about the population growth fascinated him.

It was terrific, however, some students saw room for improvement in it. ?Being able to go on the full boat tour instead of having to stop at the bridge would?ve made the trip better,? said Sydney Brown. ?What could be better is the boat tour. The guy who was speaking wasn?t very exciting,? said Jaydy Hammond.

Ms. Mahoney explained, ?The boat trip was supposed to be up the Miami River so I was upset with the boat company, so that part changed right on the slot, but that being said I was happy that each one of the historians was able to sort of think on their feet and still provide us interesting information.?

The students also got to get a taste of the Cuban-American culture at Versailles, the iconic Cuban restaurant. The students got to pick one from a wide range of Cuban dishes, from arroz con pollo to picadillo. ?I loved going to Versailles and trying the food,? said Edgar Terran. ?I would have liked to try some Haitian food,? said Logan.

from their families,? said Edgar.

The students took so much to heart from hearing all the personal background on the field trip. ?I love some of the questions students thought to ask, they were excellent, and I loved watching them learning,? said Ms. Mahoney.

In Little Haiti, the students got to do all sorts of engaging activities. They went to the Cultural Center and looked at vibrant arts, and went to all kinds of rooms with a different purpose for Haitian-American culture. ?The cultural center was fun because there were many different activities to do,? said Natalya. ?I liked going to all the rooms in the center and especially seeing all the art,? said Daniella.

What many said was the most enjoyable, fun part of the day, was going to a drum circle and getting to learn traditional Haitian songs and dances. ?I liked the dancing and drumming,? said Jaydy. ?I learned a song, ?Zimbo Zimbaa.?? ?I loved learning about the culture of Little Haiti and their traditions,? said Jaimie.

even been to and learning about them,? said Gianna. ?I enjoyed learning about the place I live, Miami. I loved seeing places I?ve been but from a different perspective,? said Hailey Asseus.

?I learned it can be difficult to adapt to new places,? said Natalya Neal.

The Miami Cultural Field Trip was a success and a first adventure for many. The eighth-graders had a lot of fun and got to take so many things away from this field trip. Ms. Mahoney came up with some profound ideas for this trip, and hopefully, the Class of 2022 can do the same to learn all about the significance of culture.

?I learned thousands of people were separated

?I liked seeing parts of Miami I have never

Ms. Avalos, the previous middle-school guidance counselor, joined the students at Versailles and shared her experience coming to America from Cuba in her youth. ?Coming to America is a very long and hard process,? said Sydney.

?Miami is Miami because it has so many interesting and diverse people and that?s why I love this city.? finishes coordinator of it all, Ms. Mahoney.

Students prepare for danger The orange glove drill shows students and teachers how to respond to an active shooter.

In my opinion, I agree with the concept of the orange glove. I agree with the concept because nobody takes the drills seriously, and people need to know what to do.

During past drills, students would just goof around. With the orange glove drill, students took it seriously.

For example, in fire drills, students walk outside and sit on the field, but they sit and talk. When the orange glove drill happened I was in PE. From my perspective the teachers knew what they were doing. When my classmates and I got into the gym, it was like an experience I?ve never had before.

Everybody was silent and the gym was pitch black. As we waited we heard somebody trying to get in and then everybody got really quiet and it got quite scary.

Sixth grader Leni Zennati said, ?When the orange glove drill happened my English class and I went to the left of the window so the man with the orange glove could not see us.?

Leni commented that ?I think they should have gone with something a little more realistic like a toy gun.?

Patrick Soares commented that he also thinks it should have been something like a toy gun.

Bruno Garcia said, ?I was very calm because I knew it was a drill and I was in English class,

BY DAVI D BEJAR

but we heard people try to come into the class next to me. I was next to a bookshelf so I grabbed a book in case a person came in.

Everyone in my classroom was laughing and whispering and everyone was relaxed.?

Bruno thinks they should do it much more often and without telling us.

Federico Simoni said that he was in his math class and everybody was really loud, and one of the kids said that they would rather be in their animation class because it would be quieter. The teacher did not really get mad at us because he too knew it was a drill.?

MCDSWelcomes students from China

BY EL L A GREEN

On the week of January 28, middle school students from Shanghai, China, most of whom haven't been to the United States before, came to MCDS as part of the GATEway program.

Zero explained the main difference between American and Chinese schools. He said, "In our school, we learn everything the same way, but we don't change classes."

In each 7th-grade advisory, there was one student who was chosen to be the host of one of the Chinese Students.

Chinese student, Kero, the shadow of 7th grader Gabriel Daiberl, said, "In China, there is a lot of homework, and I am busy all the time."

Mr. Turf, Director of Global Studies and International Programs, said that part of the reason why the Chinese students came to our school was that "a group that's based out of Boston were receiving the students as part of their program and they were coming down to Florida." He added, "They were coming to South Florida, and they wanted to add a visit to a school in their program."

Mr. Turf believes the Chinese students benefited our school. He said, "I think they bring a really different cultural understanding to our school, and for our students to see what their culture is like. " He added, "I even observe different eating customs with the teachers I ate with."

7th grader, Julia Marquevich, host of Chinese student, Cindy, said that she feels that this was a very cool experience. She added, "I have never had an opportunity like this before."

7th grader Jessica Levy, the host of Chinese student, Zero, said, "It was cool to learn what China is like and what their culture is like."

Model UN CONTI NUED FROM

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?My partner, Felipe Bautista, and I researched our topic and came prepared with a resolution,? said Dylan Meyer.

On March 2, 2019, the date of the competition, two delegations won awards. ?For each committee, there are three awards: Best Position Paper, Best Delegation, and Honorable Mention. Our delegates won honorable mention," said Mrs. Holcman Felipe Bautista and Dylan Meyer won for China in the Security Council, and Miguel Escobar and Isaac Brown won for Saudi Arabia in the General Assembly. ?During (mostly unmoderated caucuses) the entirety of the 8 hours I spent at Miami Dade College, Miguel and I worked to form

Chinese student, Cindy, said that her favorite part about Miami Country Day School was getting to know her host, Julia.

Zero said that his favorite part about Miami Country Day School was P.E .class.

Julia said that she learned many things from her shadow, Cindy. She added, "I learned how different things are taught in China."

connections and alliances, get to useful partner countries early on, and show initiative in proposing our resolutions to them," said Isaac.

"We built new friendships and strengthened bonds with each other in our shared goals. To see all of our efforts pay off was one of the best moments of the Model UN experience.

Our resolution included methods of not only dealing with underpopulation and overpopulation through migration stabilization but the offer of dual citizenship for countries in the EU. We offered means of educating migrants so that they could build stable lives, bring them into countries which were religiously tolerant of them, and allow a controlled flow of migration that suited both the migrants' and the countries' needs. Our resolution was specific and efficient, and that appealed to many countries in the General Assembly.?

Dylan believes they won because he spoke in

Jessica Levy said many things were challenging for her. She said, "The main thing that was challenging was trying to communicate with them."

Mr. Turf announced we will continue to have students from other countries come to experience Miami Country Day. He said, "The Brazilian students that we had last November will be coming again at the end of October next year." He added, "I would never do a homestay with a middle school student. I think you need to be at least 15 in order to do that.

Mr. Turf also said that the first time we had students from out of the country come to shadow our school was "3 years ago back in 2016, we had a group of students from Argentina come and spend a little over a week with us." They were from the city of Cordoba.

Many of the Chinese students loved Miami Country Day School and if they had the opportunity to come back, they would.

detail and he and Felipe worked well not only together but against the other teams. ?The students won because of their hard work during the year and their preparation for the meet,? said Ms. Holcman.

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