School Scene: Project provides free SAT and ACT tutoring to high school juniors, seniors
Maria Mercado of St. Brendan High School formed the Educities Project in 2013 to help low-income Hispanic high school students and their parents prepare for the college application process. After reading Malala Yousafzai’s book I Am Malala, about her struggle to receive an education, Maria became motivated to find a way to help those students who are in school and want to go to college, but lack finances or support.
The Educities Project currently provides free SAT and ACT tutoring to high school juniors and seniors. English teachers from Miami-Dade County volunteer by donating their time to proof college essays. Free workshops are offered to parents in Spanish to teach them about the college admissions process and the importance of dual enrollment and advanced placement courses.
For information about the program, email infoeducities@gmail.com.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Megan Rico of the University of Miami has been chosen to receive the Writers Guild Initiative’s 2015 Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. The fellowship is awarded to a student who wants a career in screenwriting after completing undergraduate studies.
Rico will receive a $10,000 stipend to write a screenplay while being mentored by Pulitzer-winner playwright David Auburn. She will be presented with the fellowship at the 67th annual Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 14 in New York City, at the Edison Ballroom.
NORTH BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
More than two-dozen students at North Beach Elementary School earned the Jennifer Beth Turken Heart Award for the months of December 2014 and January 2015. These students have shown acts of kindness towards their peers and were given certificates and an ice cream party to celebrate.
The award recipients: Hannah Stringham, Manola Prat, Katarina Castaner, Danilo Carmona, Jacob Rubenstein, Viviana Blanco, Samantha Shestack, Giacomo Battiston, Flavia Hernandez, Lila Sarli, Tina Barrow, Anabella Perez, Penelope Heller, Nicolas Margarit, Gustavo Verite, Megan Madhosingh, Cinderella Kaynar, Pedro Morell, June Simms, Tucker Gumenick, Joaquin Heras, Zara Zolot-Martinez, Nicole Wrubel, Chiara Elbaz, Zayani Bello, Joseph Levy, Gavin Basner, Johnny Gaynor, Natalie Werthamer and Gabriel Mignard.
CORAL GABLES PREPARATORY ACADEMY
The Global Leaders Club from Coral Gables Preparatory Academy won second place in the state finals for the We the People competition. The competition is a mock congressional hearing that allows students to show mastery of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The Global Leaders Club included: Nicolle Anillo, Sophia Del Granado, Isabella Del Granado, Robin Garrido, Sophia Jarjour, Sebastian McGraw, Bryan Hehir, Sebastian Stiefel, Lucas Picciano, Katya Gutierrez, Kristen Sosa, Marisol Hernandez, Aiko Puerto, Justin Rodriguez, Kamil Segebre, Lucas Virgil and instructor Cristina Velasquez-Colon.
PALMER TRINITY SCHOOL
Stefani Tolchin, a junior at Palmer Trinity School, was awarded the Silver Key during the 2015 Scholastic Art Awards at the Rubell Family Collection in Wynwood.
Stefani was also selected to display her work in the Lowe Museum at the University of Miami after participating in the Beaux Arts Student Exhibition.
SCHOOL FOR ADVANCED STUDIES
Talia Lopez, a junior at the School for Advanced Studies, was accepted into the Business Leadership Academy at Mercy College in New York and will start the third week of June.
Talia will learn from business leaders, participate in team-building activities and visit Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman Sachs, MTV, Bloomberg and Ralph Lauren.
This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 3:29 PM with the headline "School Scene: Project provides free SAT and ACT tutoring to high school juniors, seniors."