Firebird NewsletterM A R C H 2 0 1 7

Anuar AlyEDITOR

BI-MONTHLY FIREBIRD FACULTY NEWSLETTER

It is undeniable that Doral Academy Pre-paratory is one of the best learning in-stitutions in the nation. From academics

to extracurricular opportunities to sports, Doral students seem to excel in all of their endeavours. In this issue of the newsletter, we will be taking a look at a few recent ac-complishments by Doral students, both in the classroom and on the field.Doral Academy is dedicated to providing students with a first-rate education and a prime example of this effort was dis-played Monday, February 27, when Firebird TV students got to meet and interact with world-famous Oscar winning Hollywood di-rector, Peter Bogdanovich.In sports news: the Firebird boys soccer team, better known as the “Boys in white”, made it all the way to state finals. Prior to this season, the boys had never made it this far and had not experienced success of this caliber . But this season, the boys in white dominated on the field, brutally beat-ing their opponents in most games. All the while being led by long-time Doral Soccer coach, Pamela McDonald. These stories are just a few of many that are showcased in this issue. Enjoy!

“This is the fourth consecu-tive year that Doral Academy has placed first in the county MATHCOUNTS.”

“Students from the Doral Performing Arts and Enter-tainment Academy got an exclusive visit from famed Hollywood Director Peter Bogdanovich.”

“The Boys Soccer team had the most impressive season in school history as they made their way to the State Finals.”

“Doral academy students con-tinue to prove thier strength in testing as they have sur-passed various other schools across Miami-Dade Coun-ty.”

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ACADEMIC SUCCESSMath students excell in recent competitions.

“The Posse Foundation is a renowned

college access and youth leadership

development program”

AT THE TOPDoral Academy has made great strides. Take a look!

POWER OF POSSEAlyssa Quintero awarded Posse scholarship.

PREVIEW

ALYSSA QUINTERO EARNS POSSE SCHOLARSHIPSTAR STUDENT ALYSSA QUINTERO COMPETED AGAINST OVER 1300 NOMINEES TO BECOME ONE OF 10 STUDENTS TO EARN THE SCHOLARSHIP. READ ABOUT HER JOURNEY HERE! Hello, my name is Alyssa Quintero and I am cur-rently a senior at Doral Academy Preparatory School. This past December, I was awarded the Posse Scholar-ship to Syracuse University. The Posse Foundation is a renowned college access and youth leadership develop-ment program in which 10 students are selected through an unorthodox interview process to identify extraor-dinary leaders who may go unnoticed by the traditional school setting. These 10 multicultural students are then trained for approximately eight months to attend college together as a support system, a ‘second family’ if you will. Also, it is a four-year full tu-ition paid scholarship. The Posse Foundation is located all around the nation, not only in Miami, but also in cities such as: New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, etc. Each location consists of different university partners; Posse Miami is partners with Syracuse, Franklin & Mar-shall, Hamilton, Davidson, Pomona, and Mount Holyoke. Sometime around April of 2016, my former teacher: Ms. Montenegro, informed me of the Posse Scholarship--explaining how she believed I was a per-fect candidate. I researched the scholarship further and was intrigued by one of the schools: Syracuse Universi-ty, because it is a top school in my major, forensic sci-ence. I was eventually nominated for the scholarship by Doral Academy. To start with, the Posse process first begins with the Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP). DAP one is a group interview where the 1300 Posse nominees are split up into about 100 per interview. I walked into that room and the competing students were definitely eager and ambi-tious. After a scrutinizing three hours of that group interview, I walked out of the Burger King Co. building feeling beaten and discouraged. To my surprise, I re-ceived an email about a month later congratulating me on my advancement to DAP two. Af-ter reading this email, I finally began to realize my own tal-ents and tenacity. Furthermore, at that point in the process, it was time for me to pick my top three schools so that Posse could match me to the school they thought best. That

was when I began to recognize the feasibility of actually acquiring the scholarship. My whole life I believed I was going to stay in state to save money, but then I began to investigate these six schools across the nation. The idea kept becoming more realistic and it was actually ridicu-

lous to me how my life was taking such a drastic turn for the best. Moreover, DAP two was a one on one interview, the email stated that it was just to learn more about the student. I walked into the intimate interview confidently, knowing my strengths on a one on one basis. On a different end note, I left this interview exceedingly assured. Consequently, I received an

email about a week later congratulating me on my ad-vancement to DAP three and stating that I had been matched with my top choice of university: Syracuse Uni-versity. DAP three was the most nerve wrecking part, I walked into another intimate setting; that time there were 20 people I was competing against sitting in the room--along with the dean of Syracuse University, dean of financial aid, and dean of human resources (you can imagine the pressure). I left that room completely un-confident and I was told by other posse members that people were usually called the night of to be informed of whether or not they were awarded the scholarship, so the anxiety when I left was enormous. Fortunately,

I received a call that I was not expecting that night from the dean of financial aid asking me how I felt about wearing the color orange. I am currently in the next Posse phase: Pre-Colle-giate Training (PCT). I have met a variety of astounding, diverse students who are like-mind-ed and inspire me. The Posse Foundation began when one student who went to his coun-selor and said “I would have never dropped out of school if I would have had my Posse,” and the Posse that I was mixed in with are truly impeccable peo-ple. The foundation revolves around support and family and I genuinely encourage all jun-iors to look into the foundation, I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the Posse Foundation.

“THE POSSE FOUNDATION IS A

RENOWNED COLLEGE ACCESS AND

YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM”

Doral Academy Prep com-peted at the Meeting of

the Math Minds competition at Miami-Dade College-Kendall. Our students won all three top individu-al awards: Carolina Mora 1st place, Car-los Estrada 2nd place, Douglas Shu 3rd place. Our two teams came in first and sec-ond. In 1st place: Al-lan DoLago, Tomas Alvarez, Douglas Shu, and Carlos Estrada. In 2nd place: C.Mora, Bhavya Soni,

Raul Valle, and Camila Maneiro. The poster also won 1st place! We are very proud of our math club and their success!

FSA TESTINGGrades 6-10 & ESOL> February 27 until March 8, 2017

COLLEGE ESSAY INCUBATOR 2:30 PM In room 221A> Every Friday

EARLY RELEASEHigh School @ 11:30Middle School @ 12:30> March 16, 2017

DANCE DEPARTMENT SPRING SHOWCASE 7:00pm - 9:00pm in our Firebird Gym> March 16, 2017

GODSPELL - FIREBIRD PLAYERS 7:00pm - 9:00pm in our Middle School Dance Studio>March 21 - March 23

DANCE DEPARTMENT SPRING SHOWCASE 2 7:00pm - 9:00pm in our Firebird Gym> March 23, 2017

FSA RETAKES & TESTING> March 27 - May 5

SPRING BREAK> April 8 - April 16

SENIOR GRADBASHUniversal Studios> April 22, 2017

4TH ANNUAL URBAN ARTS SHOWFirebird Courtyard> April 28, 2017

AP EXAMS BEGIN> May 1, 2017

8TH GRADE PROMRenaissance Ballroom> May 5, 2017

^ CALENDAR

Doral Academy, first place winners at Miami Dade College Meeting of the Math Minds, display their winning poster: Alan DoLago, Raul Valle, Carolina Mora, Douglas Shu, Carlos Estrada, Tomas Alvarez, Camila Maneiro, Bhavya Soni.

MEETING OF THE MATH MINDSMIAMI DADE, FEB. 25, 2017

Students from the Doral Performing Arts and Entertainment Academy got an exclusive visit from famed Hollywood Director

Peter Bogdanovich. Just one day after the 89th annual Acade-my awards. The group of aspiring filmmakers and journalists had the rare opportunity to ask questions and receive tips about his experience in the film industry. Bogdanovich is best known for directing Oscar winning films such as The Last Picture Show and What’s up Doc. He has worked with actors such as Barbara Strei-sand and Jeff Bridges. The television production program at Doral Performing Arts and Entertainment Academy offers High School students the opportunity to gain real life experience through courses related to Television Production and Broadcast Journal-ism.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITYH

MATH-COUNTSMIAMI DADE, FEB. 26, 2017MATHCOUNTS Chapter Compe-

tition was held at the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College on Sunday, February 26. The team from Doral Academy Charter Mid-dle School placed first in team and first in ciphering. Four stu-dents earned individual awards: Jaedon Whyte placed first; Marc Marquez 5th; Ian Formica 6th; and Amanda Miyares 9th. These four students along with Diana Bishop, who was on the first place team, will travel to Ponte Vedra Beach to compete at the MATHCOUNTS State Competition on March 24.

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This is the fourth consecutive year

that Doral Academy has placed first in the county MATHCOUNTS.

ABOVE AND BEYOND DORAL ACADEMY STUDENTS CONTINUE TO PROVE THIER STRENGTH IN TESTING AS THEY HAVE SURPASSED VARIOUS OTHER SCHOOLS ACROSS MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. ADDITIONALLY, DORAL ACADEMY WAS RECOGNIZED IN 2014 AND 2015 AS A NATIONAL BLUE RIBBION SCHOOL. ALSO, DORAL WAS NAMED THE #1 SCHOOL IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA BY FLORIDA TREND MAGAZINE. FINALLY, DORAL ACADEMY HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A TOP SCHOOL IN THE NATION IN VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS NEWSWEEK, US NEWS AND WORLD REPORTS, THE WASHINGTON POST, AND THE DAILY BEAST.

The Visual Arts and Photography programs are happy to have so many winners at this year’s Scholastics Art & Writ-ing Com-petition: Ariana Bendana, VisArts, Gold and Silver Keys for her expressive and rep-resentational paintings. Haniel Rosello, VisArts, Gold and Silver Keys for his mellow but high-

ly technical drawings. Ramon Mesa, VisArts, Silver Key for his mixed media drawing. An-

nabelle Ambrogi, VisArts, Honorable Mention for her experi-

mental artwork. Evelyn Trujillo, Photo, for her introspective self-por-trait picture. Karen Viera, Photo, Silver Key for her high contrast, evocative portraiture.

Photography senior, Jennifer Morera, is very pas-sionate about exploring how imagery and nar-

rative are interrelated. For the Beaux Arts Student Showcase, a yearly outdoor arts festival, she was awarded 1st place for the High School Photogra-phy category. She showcased her “Unveiled” pho-tograph to a crowd of over 800 art-lovers during the weekend fair. Congrats to Jennifer, keep up the good work.

BREEDING CREATIVITY

Visual Arts Senior Awarded the Isaiah

ScholarshipA very big congratulations to Ariana Bendana, Visual Arts program senior, for be-ing awarded the Isaiah Fund Scholarship from the Fund 4 Design & Art Education. Out of over a hundred entries, only 20 students were se-lected based on their artistic merit, their writing skills, and a recommendation from a teacher. Ariana will partic-ipate in the Art Awards and have the opportunity to sell her work during the Silent Auction at the Alper Jewish Community Center on Sun-day, May 21st, 2017.

Photography Senior Takes Top Prize in the Beaux Arts Student Showcase

ROAD TO STATESOur Firebird Indoor March-ing Winds ensemble com-pleted their second round of the FFCC competition at Seminole Ridge HS in Lox-ahatchee Florida. Our kids have achieved first place standing in the Scholastic A decision in both its Prelimi-nary and Finals round in the competition! Consequently,

our students now qualified to participate in FFCC State Championships to be held in Daytona Beach April 1. What started as a “trial” year for our first year Indoor Marching Winds group to learn the ins and outs of the indoor march-ing world has turned out to be a year of contention to

go to State Championships and possibly win it all. This is truly unprecedented and amazing. Students have now set their sights on trying to bring home the Florida Fed-eration of Color Guard Cuir-cuit Championship trophy to Doral Academy!

“FIREBIRDS ARE EXCELLING IN

VISUAL ARTS FIELDS”

Visual Arts and Photography Students Awarded Gold & Silver Keys in the Scholastics

NATIONAL MERIT FINALISTS

“The Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards is one of the nation’s most highly regarded student awards programs. The purpose of

this Awards pro- gram is to recog-nize outstanding students who have not only maintained good grades but have also unselfishly applied their special knowl-

edge and talents to contribute significant service to their schools and communities.” -Miami Herald

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

DORAL ACADEMY IS BREEDING STUDENTS THAT HOLD THEMSELVES TO A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE THAT IS SECOND TO NONE. BECOMING A NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST OR A SILVER KNIGHT NOMINEE ARE PROOF OF THEIR ACADEMIC AND EXTRACURRICULAR STRENGTHS AS WELL AS THEIR MORAL VALUES AND WORK ETHIC.

“You become a semifinalist based on your PSAT score. Then you write an essay and take your SAT and submit a letter of recommendation. If they like you, you become a finalist. Finalists are award-ed 2500 dollars and most schools offer scholarships specifically for finalists, especially those that you declare as your first choice.” - Kat DeJesus

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recog-nition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organization based in Evanston, Illinois. The program began in 1955.

NMSC conducts two annual competitions for recog-nition and scholarships: the National Merit Schol-arship Program, which is open to all students who meet entry requirements, and the National Achieve-ment Scholarship Program. The highest-achieving students in the National Merit Scholarship Program are designated as National Merit Scholars. Finalists and semi-finalists are also given recognition for their academic and extracurricular achievements.

About 1.5 million students in some 22,000 high schools enter the National Merit Scholarship com-petition annually when they take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). This serves to screen program entrants, measuring critical reading ability, mathe-matics problem-solving ability, and writing ability, rather than existing knowledge. Semifinalists are designated on a state representational basis, con-tingent on the total number of entrants and in pro-portion to each state’s percentage of the nation’s

high school graduating seniors. Semifi-nalists are the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represent the top 0.5% percent of the state’s senior students.-en.wikipedia.org

Congratulations to our National Merit Finalists! Pictured from left to right:Armani Arellano, Felipe Contipelli, Katherine Dejesus, Adriana Arcia and Carlos Ferralls

“The Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards is one of the nation’s most highly regarded student awards programs. The purpose of

this Awards pro- gram is to recog-nize outstanding students who have not only maintained good grades but have also unselfishly applied their special knowl-

edge and talents to contribute significant service to their schools and communities.” -Miami Herald

SILVER KNIGHT AWARD

The Boys Soccer team had the most impressive season in school histo-ry as they made their way to the State Finals. With a 24-3-1 record, the team faced various challenges in their tough-er district this year. The team had to face top teams this year, including Belen Jesuit, Ronald Reagan, and St. Thomas Aquinas throughout the regular season. They were undefeated in district play, but lost in the District Semifinal to Ronald Reagan in penalties. How-ever, the ‘boys in white’ still qualified for the playoffs and came for redemp-tion. After beating South Broward 2-1, the Firebirds faced Ronald Reagan one more time, and beat them handedly 3-1 in the Regional Semifinal, as the speedy Owen Green defended and counterat-tacked to help out Captain Felipe Ospi-na direct the ball to his strikers. For the Regional Final, the Fire-birds took on the Fort Lauderdale Fly-ing L’s, and forced them into submis-sion early in the game. The Firebirds maintained possession for most of the game and took advantage of mistakes by the Fort Lauderdale defense. The

game management by midfielders An-doni Garrogerricaecheberria and Juan Castano also helped reinforce the at-tacking style of Hector Henriquez and Christian Ramirez. The Firebirds won 4-1 and took home the Regional Cham-pionship, making their way to the state semifinal. The Boys Soccer team played Venice, and used accurate passing and tough defense to reach to the State Final, as Venice was no match for the Firebirds from the start, and lost to the Firebirds 6-1. Doral this year was a Se-nior heavy team, with 10 seniors all us-ing their leadership and humility to bring the best approach possible to the game. They made history by reaching the State Final, and are now State Run-ner-Ups, a feat never accomplished by any Soccer team in Doral Academy. And to Seniors Felipe Ospina, Owen Green, Josue Roldan, Luis Perey, Andre Zabala, Hector Henriquez, Brian Lasseter, Felix Marchena, Nicolas Ramirez and Juan Castano, we thank you for all your hard work in this program. You will forever be remembered as champions.

A season unlike any other... Ever. The “Boys in white” conquered the field this year, making history.

SPORTS

Doral Academy’s sports pro-grams are making history as many of the programs are reaching new heights.

SPORTSSPORTS

“The boys in white”

“You will forever be remembered as champions.”

Girls Soccer The Girls soccer team continued to prog-ress throughout the year, as the ‘girls in white’ had to bounce back and find new leadership after los-ing many Senior starters the previous year. Mid-fielders Manuela Lopez and Gabriella Obregon were vital in the process of adding leadership, as well as setting up the strikers to score. Signifi-cant strides were made this year as the girls had another winning season and ended up as District Runner-Ups, with wins over rivals Ronald Reagan and Mater Academy.

Boys Basketball In Boys Basketball, the team reached anoth-er level under the coach-ing of Jorge Fernandez and Michael Hunt. Their focus on quality allowed the team to have a 26-5 record, with no losses in District Play. The Dis-trict Championship was in large part due to the speedy blend of twins Kobbie and Reggie Perez, along with big man Yosni-er Cobas and star player “Jojo Nunez”. Three-point specialist Kenneth Santos also added a new ele-ment for the coaches to use to their advantage. This allowed the team to make a run in the FHSAA Playoffs, beating teams like Carol City and Belen Jesuit on their way to the Regional Final.

Wrestling The Doral Wres-tling team worked count-less hours to assure opti-mal performance on the mat. Their efforts have led to a significant amount of success for the wrestling team. Six Firebird wres-tlers qualified for Region-als, including Eighth grad-er Dylan Mira and Senior Kevin Martinez. Martinez is predicted to reach the State finals for his weight class.

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vSpring sports outlookUpcoming Spring Sports are Tennis, Baseball, Softball and Track. The Baseball team is one of South Florida’s finest, with three Division I commits and a strong supporting roster. The team is predicted to make a run in the FHSAA Playoffs and possibly win a State Championship. Softball has dominated their district the past four years, and is pre-dicted to do so again despite the younger and more inexperienced squad. Tennis also has a lot of returning under-classmen, and will be led by Seniors Felipe Hidalgo and Leonardo Porcella who are expected to qualify for Regionals and States. Doral Academy’s Track and Field team brings in a lot of newcomers this year that have high potential, and they are expected to place in the 4x400 and open 400 in Districts, as Seniors Diego Moreno and Jorge Mirabal lead the pack of Firebirds this year.

Girls Basketball The Lady Firebirds dominated their district this past basketball season. The dynamic duo up front with Point Guard Yari Mar-tinez and Shooting Guard Daniela Barrios forced teams to spread their de-fenses around the perim-eter to defend long range shots, which allowed 6’5 Center Samantha Del Rio to dominate the boards. The girls were undefeated in District play for the sec-ond year in a row, finish-ing with their third straight District Championship. After districts the team faced tougher competi-tion as they made a run in the FHSAA Playoffs and reached the Regional Fi-nal.

Cheerleading In Cheerleading, the girls came back with some silverware once again, coming in second place in the State Finals and 2nd in Nationals. Doral Academy is now deemed as one of the most impressive cheer-leading programs in the nation, and their focus on detail and precision has al-lowed these accomplish-ments to occur. This is the second year that the cheerleading team finish in the top two in the state.