The Circuit

BY LISA BURGOA

After four years of wrangling with grade point averages, 56 seniors representing the top 5 percent of the Class of 2013 were honored at the annual dinner at Jacaranda Country Club on April 25.

“It’s great to be recognized by Cypress Bay for my hard work,” said Andrew Pearl, who was recognized at the ceremony. “Being in a select group of kids who are going to some of the best

colleges in the country was truly rewarding.”

Having coordinated the dinner for the past 11 years, BRACE adviser Shari Bush said the level of achievement present at the dinner was unprecedented.

“Not a single one of them is under a 5.0,” she said. “What’s so great about them is that they’re so well-rounded. They’ve been involved in sports. There were runners, there were wrestlers, there were swimmers and there were kids who have been involved with math and science and won all these competitions. It’s a super talented group of kids.”

Despite incorporating new elements into the dinner, Ms. Bush said she mostly maintained its traditional format of seven or eight teachers each addressing students individually onstage and awarding each student a medal to sport on graduation.

“What I did differently this year is that I put together a slide show of everyone, where we had them under the age of five morphed into their senior picture, and it was so cute,” she said. “But the highlight was when one by one the teacher talks about the memories they have of each kid. It’s incredibly moving, and you can hear a pin drop because everyone’s so in awe and enraptured.”

Prior to the dinner, principal Scott Neely delivered a speech congratulating the top 5 percent students and their parents. Though he said he wishes he could expand the event to include more students, Mr. Neely said the event celebrated the highest caliber students not just at the Bay but also in Broward County.

Read the full story

BY NATALIE BEDELL

BUSINESS MANAGER

On top of having end-of-course (EOC) exam tutoring on weekdays after school, sessions are held every Saturday for additional tutoring from 9 to 11:15 a.m. Biology, Reading, Algebra and Geometry tutoring are all available up until the week of each respective subject’s exam.

Math department head Lisa Herron said each subject’s department head coordinated the tutoring sessions, which aim for the students to leave with improved skills and techniques.

“We all want the students to pass their EOC exams,” Ms. Herron said. “We want them to feel more confident and for their skills to improve.”

Freshman Jennifer Vargas, who has attended Saturday tutoring for Algebra and Reading, said she feels the tutoring has helped her prepare for the EOC exams.

“The tutoring has helped me a lot for my EOCs,” Vargas said. “I’ve always struggled in reading and Algebra, but going to the tutoring makes me feel a lot more confident for both tests.”

Math teacher James Sandmire, who tutors Geometry on Saturdays, said the students who attend are grateful for the extra help.

“They’re nice kids,” Mr. Sandmire said. “Seeing things taught in a different way than their teachers taught it allows them to understand the material better and they’re glad to receive more help.”

Vargas said she prefers the Saturday tutoring instead of the sessions held after school.

“I’m tired after the school day, so I didn’t like going to the tutoring afterwards,” Vargas said. “I decided to go Saturdays, and I liked it much better. I’m a lot more focused and motivated to do well.”

Locations for Saturday tutoring can be found in Student Affairs and on the Cypress Bay website.

Read the full story

BY SABRINA GONZALEZ

Model UN won best small delegation out of 22 schools and 12 individual awards at a conference on March 8and 9 at the Florida International University Model UN (FIUMUN). There were 15 out 35 members who participated in the conference.

“Our delegates represented the countries of Costa Rica, China, Dominican Republic, Australia, Palestine Authority, Belize and Iraq. I was so proud of them,” club adviser Rosalia Sachs said.

Individual awards were given to 12 of the members for first, second or third place in their committee. Senior Angelo Gomez received first place for Best Position Paper; junior Sarah Dia and freshman Kendra Brandon got third place for Asian Nations; junior Noah Slade got third place and sophomore Francisco Delgado fourth place for Disarmament and International Security Council.

“I would recommend [Model UN] to people that like politics, international relations and are up to date with current events and all that. You have to join the club and go to a competition because it’s just plain awesome,” Gomez said.

Model UN competed in committees, an assembly of several nations that represent different countries about different topics.

“In my case, it was the Euro crisis so we had to represent that nation’s perspective regarding the Euro crisis and provide for solutions like be diplomatic, look for an agreement between the two sides and interest of all the nations and then come to a solution,” said Gomez, who represented France in the Economics committee.

Senior and president Kristen Zavislak said the conferences are run in many different ways but at FIUMUN, students assume roles of UN ambassadors from member states and go debate current issues.

“Because I am the president of the club and have competed many different times before I felt confident when talking and was able to easily assume a leadership position,” she said.

In order for participants to be prepared and enter into the conference, students have to research on their country and topic for around a month when they are given the committee’s country.

“I thought it was going to be more formal, more honest, but like politics you have to backstab and that happened a lot,” Gomez said. “I saw people switching sides between the two sides that were formed in the committee.”

Out of the 15 club members that attended the conference, 11 of them were new members who had never participated in a conference before.

“Even though it was my first time and I didn’t know about the motions and how the debate was going to flow, I actually got to enjoy it because I got to pick it up fast,” Gomez said.

Read the full story

Read the full story

B Y DIEGO CLAVIJO

The Fashion Club hosted its annual fashion show on Feb. 16 in the auditorium. Vice president Anabela Bello said the show allowed students to express themselves through fashion and design to the best of their ability.

Club sponsor Anthony Maniglia said the show was a fundraiser and all the money would go to UNICEF.

“We raised around $2,000,” Mr. Maniglia said. “It was a great turnout for the club.”

Bello and president Isabella Duplat had a busy day before the show.

“The day of the show I was actually running on 40 minutes of sleep,” Bello said. “I was with Isabella all night finishing up little things that needed to get done.”

Freshman Simon Santurian was an audience member at the show.

“I had a good time seeing all my friends and was impressed with the models on their performance,” Santurian said.

Bello said the show is much more preparation than picking models who practice twice a week.

“We have to go to malls and find sponsors to lend us clothes or money for the show,” Bello said.” Of course in exchange for promotion.”

Sophomore Jose Ramirez, who was selected as a model, said the show itself took a lot of work to complete.

“We put all our effort in it day in and day out,” he said. “We practiced more than enough times until the day of the show, staying after school a lot for many hours.”

The club bought decorations such as masks, Christmas lights, and curtains and on the day of the event, members spent time preparing the stage and doing a practice run of the show.

“The models are in the salon getting their hair and makeup done and at around 4 o’clock we do a practice run,” Bello said. “By 7 all the volunteers should be ready and the show will start.”

Ramirez said the experience of this year’s show exceeded his expectations.

“With time, the fashion show kept on getting better and better,” he said. ”Although I was nervous through the whole runway.”

As Santurian watched the models throughout the night, he said the show gained momentum.

“My friends told me to go support them,” he said. “It was a different experience but I enjoyed it.”

Ramirez said the event went great for him and he can’t wait to do it again in his junior year.

“It really comes together when we’re up on stage,” Ramirez said.

Read the full story

BY LISA BURGOA

Over 70 students showcased their artwork in the Art and Photo Exposition hosted by the Photography Club and Art Honor Society on Feb. 27. Featuring upwards of 200 individual entries ranging from sculptures to digital photography, the event included music and refreshments donated from Ale House and Chipotle.

Although all submissions were displayed, five judges from Young at Art, the Art Institute of Weston and Cypress Bay’s faculty awarded artwork first, second and third place ribbons in six separate categories, said Photography Club president Conrad Kane.

The students who took home first place blue ribbons included senior Adele Morar for Display and Sculpture, senior Odra William for Mixed Media, senior Jared Lewin for Drawing, freshman Tatiana Mosquera for Painting, senior Isabella Duplat for Dark Room Photography, sophomore Samuel Weinkle for Digital Photography and sophomore Antonia Cuevas for People’s Choice, which was determined by voters at the event.

“The outcome was really good,” said Kane, a senior. ”There were a lot of really talented artists this year. We tried a new presentation with the art strung like flags and the exhibits formatted in mazes, and it was really festive with the music and food. It really came together well.”

Kane said the event implemented some new elements, and he hopes it will continue to evolve in future years.

“For the first time this year, we had a photo transfer activity for people to complete after they were done viewing the event,” he said. “This is my last year here, but I really hope that in the future the Art Expo can reach out to the community and attract people beyond Cypress Bay. I also really want the winners to be able to get some monetary prize besides the ribbons.”

Sophomore Antonia Cuevas, whose self-portrait entitled “Me” was voted first place for People’s Choice, said she believes winning the competition opened up opportunities in artistic fields.

“This was the very first competition I have ever won. I think it’s a really good way to get my name out there and a way to motivate myself into entering more competitions in the future,” Cuevas said. “There was even a lady there who asked me for my autograph because she said she saw potential in me, and that was honestly just the best feeling.”

Based off a photograph of Cuevas her friend took at Biscayne Bayne, Cuevas said she spent more than three months finishing her portrait. Cuevas said her hard work and that of others was evident in the presentation.

“There was truly gorgeous stuff people were capable of,” she said. “Everybody put a lot of effort in preparing for the event, and I wish more people had come to appreciate it.”

Junior Olivia Aleguas said she attended the event because she had heard of the talent pervasive in the school, and she said she was pleasantly surprised when her Mixed Media project “Epiphany” procured a second-place red ribbon.

“Over the summer I just compiled a bunch of clippings of good memories into a collage, and I thought I’d submit it just for the fun of it,” she said. “I came in expecting to just have fun looking at photos and I walked out winning a prize.”

Elizabeth Jenkins, the adviser for Photo Club and Art Honor Society, said behind the scenes the event required effort and cooperation all across the board.

 “I think the Expo reflects what went on planning the events, calling for food donations, looking at and judging the submissions and finally presenting them in a fun and memorable way,” Ms. Jenkins said. “Some of the new features enhanced the event and helped put our school’s talent out there.”

Read the full story

BY MORGAN MARTIN

Fifty-three debate students traveled to Harvard University on Feb. 16-18 and earned the team a 10^th place overall finish in the national tournament hosted by the Ivy League school, with senior Jeremy

Gutner reaching the top spot of champion in the Congressional Debate event.

Debate teacher Megan West said it was a great performance.

“This was one of our best performances ever,” Mrs. West said. “There were over 4,000 students from 350 schools, 39 states and three countries.”

Gutner said he worked very hard to win.

“It’s exactly the results I wanted and worked for so I was very happy with how I did,” he said.

Gutner has been involved with the debate team since sophomore year, and this was is sixth bid in the Tournament of Champions.

Junior Megan Hirsh said she and her partner junior Ben Sandler put a lot of work into preparing for this tournament.

“We finished top eight in the preliminary rounds out of 300 schools,” Hirsh said.

Junior Isabella Paretti received fourth place in Extemporaneous Speaking. She said she was expecting a difficult tournament and was happy with her results.

“I had to stay focused in order to do well,” Paretti said.  “I was pretty surprised with my results.”

Sophomore Ratana Fraihat said although she didn’t make it to final rounds, she learned a lot from this tournament.

“I learned ways to improve as a debater by picking up on speaking styles and formats of people from all over the country,” she said.

Read the full story

BY RACHEL LESNIK

Spanish Honor Society hosted its annual Expresate Café on Feb. 15 in the media center. They were able to raise over $400, which will go toward buying the members T-shirts and food for their club meetings.

Fundraising manager Bianka Ukleja, a junior, said that the club had different committees who were in charge of putting the night together. The committees included a fundraising committee that sold tickets, a decoration committee and a committee to actually set up the event.

“The Expresate Café is kind of like our take on the Coffee House, except we celebrate Hispanic culture and food,” she said. “Songs and poems were performed in Spanish.”

Ukleja said she basically oversaw everything going on and made sure everything ran smoothly.

“I basically hopped from one job to another helping everyone,” she said. “I acted as a kind of on the spot DJ and introduced the acts that performed.”

Advisor Ester Calderon said that each act was unique and performed beautifully.

“My favorite act was the flute played by Jonas Braun,” she said. “It was awesome.”

Junior Jonas Braun said he wanted to show his talent by performing at the Expresate Café.

“I thought it would be fun since I had performed with the flute choir last year and had a blast,” he said. “It’s not only a good way to get recognized, but I’ve also found that it really makes people happy.”

Braun said he chose to play a typical Brazilian chorinho, which is a type of traditional music.

“The song is called “Andrew de Sapato Novo,” he said. I personally love the piece since it’s so high energy and had to do with the theme of the Expresate Café, to express yourself and your cultural background.”

Ukleja said that the most memorable part of the night was seeing all of the acts perform.

“I liked listening to all the acts perform because I think it’s really beautiful to celebrate the culture of the language through popular avenues like media and songs,” she said. “It is something that we can sing along with and relate to which is a lot of fun.”

Ukleja said that in order to get a true Spanish vibe, the food provided was Spanish cuisine.

“There were pastilles and all types of local Spanish pastries,” she said.

Mrs. Calderon said that although the event was hosted on a long weekend, it still turned out to be a success.

“One of the problems was that it was scheduled on the long weekend so a lot of people were traveling, which hurt the attendance, but other than that everything went well,” she said. “We were able to expose students to the Spanish culture through song, dance and poetry.”

Braun said that he believes attending Expresate Café not only guaranteed a fun night, but also allowed one to become an active citizen.

“Expresate Café is definitely an important event to attend,” he said. “It’s an event where you can hang out with your friends, enjoy an eclectic show, eat, perform, and bask in the cultural spirit of everyone there.”

Junior Lauren Kasten said that she went to Expresate Café to meet new people.

“Being a new student, I decided to attend the event as a fun way to make new friends,” she said. “Not only did I meet new people, but I was able to learn all about the Spanish culture.”

Read the full story

BY DIEGO CLAVIJO

The annual Relay for Life hosted by the American Cancer Society will be held on April 27 on the Bay’s track. The event is a fundraiser to help the American Cancer Society raise money and “race for the cure.”

“Relay for Life is a celebration of life in honor of those touched by cancer,” 2013 Weston Relay for Life event chair Anita Mohan said. “We raise funds for the American Cancer Society.”

The theme for this year’s relay is American Carnival. Ms. Mohan said with a carnival theme she hopes to see a lot of games, activities and good food.

“Teams camp out if they’d like and decorate their tents based on the theme,” she said.” We are planning on having vendors with cotton candy, a DJ, and an opening ceremony remembering everyone who has passed away.”

Ms. Mohan said the event will last 18 hours overnight.

“It is a fun community event, organized by teams where people of all ages come together,” she said. “We walk, jog or run and participate in fun activities.”

Junior Fernando Garrido said the experience is transcendent and very moving.

“It’s a lot of fun, helping out and all,” he said.” Raising money and awareness is the goal. Staying up all night and playing football at 4 in the morning is just extra.”

The Weston Relay is currently ranked No. 1 in Broward County and fourth in the state.

“We are very excited to be fourth in the state and the No. 1 relay in Broward,” Ms. Mohan said. ”We want to hopefully even move up in ranks because everyone wants to be No. 1.”

Last year’s Weston Relay was also held on the Bay’s track with an impressive turnout.

“We had a huge turnout of Cypress students last year,” Ms. Mohan said. “We’ve been trying to get the word out more and promoting the event and getting more teams to sign up. Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer.”

Sophomore Emily Friefeld attended the event last year.

“It was an amazing experience and I had fun with my friends camping out,” Friefeld said. “I plan on going again this year.”

Read the full story

BY MORGAN MARTIN

Best Buddies Club held its fourth annual Valentine’s Dance on Feb. 15 in the Bay Café. Buddies and members from other Broward County schools also attended the dance. The event went on from 6-9 p.m. and all members and buddies were invited to the dance.

Club Sponsor Dr. Bonnie Finfer said this was one of the biggest events yet.

“We had 250 people at the dance,” Dr. Finfer said. “We were so happy with the turnout.”

Each member was required to bring two soda bottles and a bag of candy for the buddies as an entry free.

Students were also asked to donate canned food.

“We brought at least 300 cans to the soup kitchen the next day,” Dr. Finfer said.

Pure Energy DJ Company performed at the dance.

“Pure energy donated their time,” Dr. Finfer said. “There was a DJ and a motivational dancer.”

Secretary Lauren White said there were a lot of people at the dance and all were on their feet dancing.

“In my opinion, the dance was a huge success,” she said. “It was probably the best event of the year.”

Read the full story