School Scene: St. Thomas the Apostle teacher earns Freddie G. Fellowship in New York City
Beatrice Balerdi, a teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Southwest Miami-Dade, was one of eight educators selected to work with Broadway legends during the sixth annual Freddie G. Fellowship in New York City.
The fellowship was a four-day event that honored instructors who aim to make a difference for their students and communities through staging theater productions at their respective schools. Educators participated in hands-on master classes with directors, producers, designers and choreographers including Jeff Calhoun; and attended a private dinner with Broadway stars Bernadette Peters and Brian d’Arcy James.
Each instructor received $5,000 from Freddie G. Gershon and Myrna Gershon, chairman and CEO of Musical Theatre International, to better their respective arts programs.
Archbishop Curley Notre Dame 6-12 prep
David Monaco, history instructor at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame 6-12 Prep, was awarded the 2015 James Madison Fellowship for the state of Florida.
The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation offers $24,000 in fellowships to those who want to teach the constitution to middle- and high-school students. The foundation offers one fellowship per state per year, or as funding permits.
Monaco attended a seminar this month at Amherst College, Massachusetts. and is taught by Joseph Ellis, a well-known historian on the Revolutionary Era.
Riviera Preparatory School
Alea Delmastro and Manuel Guerra of Riviera Preparatory School were selected to conduct research at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Miami’s School of Medicine for the summer. Both students worked with biologists and chemists to build their research on colon cancer and insulin-resistant diabetes.
Alea and Manuel presented their work to industry professionals, such as physicians, professors and their families. Instructors Elyssa Faulkner and Janet Mantecon congratulated their students on their success.
Both students have been invited to continue their research in hopes of, one day, getting published.
Westminster Christian School
Anthony Garcia of Westminster Christian School was selected as a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council for the city of Homestead. City Councilwoman Patricia Fairclough wrote an acceptance letter to Anthony honoring him for his excellence in both the classroom and the community.
Doral Academy Charter High School
The Math team of Doral Academy Charter High School placed 13 out of 50 schools in the Mu Alpha Theta National Math Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. The students were divided into teams and competed in various categories to earn their collective score and earn 13th place.
Felipe Contipelli, Mariam Cruz, Bradley Ramunas and Guillermo Loyola of the Alpha division placed eighth in both pre-calculus and the team round; Amanda Fernandez, Jason Bravo, Tiffany Leesang and Carolina Mora of the Theta School Bowl division placed ninth in algebra 2 and geometry. Daneila Hernandez and Camille Wang placed 15th in Theta Gemini; and in Alpha Gemini, Ana Guimaraes placed sixth; Jesus Nunez and Vivek Brahmatewari earned 10th place.
Mariam Cruz placed 14th in both analytic geometry and complex numbers; Amanda Fernandez placed 8th in both Chalk Talk and Logs and Exponents; Bradley Ramunas placed 12th in algorithms; Carolina Mora placed 13th and Jason Bravo placed 14th in Theta Applications; Felipe Contipelli earned 13 place in Equations and Inequalities; Mariam Cruz and Liliet Sosa placed seventh in scrapbook; and Luis Santa Cruz placed ninth in Sponsor Speed Math.
The team will participate in the math convention next year in St. Louis.
This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 3:28 PM with the headline "School Scene: St. Thomas the Apostle teacher earns Freddie G. Fellowship in New York City."