The Circuit

BY SABRINA GAGGIA

After a day of school filled with lectures and assignments, junior Dylan Lesieur comes home to complete homework and work on an online class.

With the current Florida rule requiring all students take at least one online class in order to graduate, Lesieur is now part of the norm. This rule applies to all freshmen who began high school this year.

Lesieur began English III online in the beginning of the school year.  He set a goal for himself to complete the course before the year ends and when finished, begin a different online course; he has not yet been able to complete English.

His day ends after seventh hour because he is enrolled in an online class. During eighth hour he said he either stays in school and works on online homework or goes home and works on it there.

“It’s so stressful because even though I have the benefit of leaving school early, I keep on getting threatened by my online teacher to get kicked out of the class because I don’t always turn some assignments in,” Lesieur said.

Freshman Baldwin Suen has previously taken three online classes. He is currently taking Pre-Calculus.

“Even though it is a hard thing to balance, I make time for it,” Suen said. “I know that it’s going to help me in the future so I try to keep that in mind.”

Sophomore Ana Malagon said she endured no troubles while achieving her goal to finish online Spanish I in two months.

“It really wasn’t hard to accomplish since I did most of it during summer,” Malagon said. “It’s probably so much more hard now during school because of the seven class schedule.”

She said taking her online class was an easy, quick and effective way for earning a credit. Malagon said she chose to take Spanish I in order to complete a graduation requirement and because she felt it would be the easiest and least stressful class for her.

Malagon said she didn’t mind the online course but would rather work on paper instead of having to log on and work off of a computer.

“It is so different to go from using paper in school all day to computer work when I work, but I think once you get used to it, it’s really not that bad,” Malagon said.

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BY RACHEL LESNIK

Whether waiting for a parent, talking to friends or preparing for sports practice, students are always milling about the courtyard after the last bell has rung.

Freshman Nick Orlando said he has developed friendships while waiting to be picked up. Orlando said he would rather wait for his mom to get off work than go on the bus home.

“My mom doesn’t get off work until 3:15 p.m., so I choose to wait for her to get me,” he said. “The bus is not fun.”

Similar to Orlando, sophomore Sammie Rodriguez said she likes to wait in the courtyard after school to avoid having to take the bus home.

“Instead of going on the bus, I choose to be with my friends,” she said. “We do homework and just talk.”

Orlando makes the most of his wait, also.

“My friend went to play basketball once and I met people there, so now I play with them whenever they’re out there,” Orlando said. “It’s usually about four of my friends and we play on the outdoor courts.”

Junior Natalie Perlwitz can be seen on campus after school because she is a member of the color guard. She said she spends her day at school from 7:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.

“I like to stay at school [until practice] versus going home in order to stay in practice mode,” she said. “There is a group of girls I have lunch with and do my homework with.”

Contrary to Perlwitz, sophomore Michael Turrisi said he enjoys sitting alone in the courtyard to enjoy the quiet.

“I like to stay out here, because there aren’t too many people. So it’s not that loud when I’m doing homework,” Turrisi said.

Perlwitz said she would definitely prefer to go home, but it is more beneficial to stay at school.

“While I’m here I don’t want to be at school,” she said, “but in the end it pays off.”

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BY BRITTANY ZEIDEL
PRINT COPY EDITOR

Romantic dates such as Valentine’s Day and New Year’s are times when some opt to create romantic milestones. Junior Tyler Worbington decided to ask sophomore Nicole Haines to be his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 2012.

“I chose Valentine’s Day because it’ a good holiday to ask and it made it special,” Worbington said.

Worbington had planned several events that involved Valentine’s Day to go along with holiday’s festivities. He brought a big bear, chocolates and told her friends to hold up a sign over the school’s catwalk that said, “Nicole, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Our one year anniversary is on Valentine’s Day this year,” Worbington said. “It’s the most romantic day of the year.”

As the T.V. showed the New Year’s ball dropping in New York City welcoming in 2013, senior Danny Mosier asked junior Shelby Graff to be his girlfriend at a party.

“We were at a New Year’s party and at midnight, when the New Year started, he asked me to be his girlfriend,” Graff said. “I thought it was really cute.”

Mosier said he chose New Year’s to ask Graff to be his girlfriend because of its significance.

“It was magical moment when the New Year’s ball dropped,” Mosier said. “I wanted to start the New Year off right.”

Graff said she liked how Mosier put thought into the way he asked her to be his girlfriend.

“Now our monthly anniversary is easier to remember since it’s the first of every month,” she said. “We get to look forward to the start of every month.”

Math teacher Jialian Li married her husband on the date Nov. 11, 2011, also known as 11/11/11. The date was chosen because they viewed this date as a lucky day.

“In my culture in China 11/11/11 represents one life forever so that made that day lucky,” Mrs. Li said.

Mrs. Li said after the marriage proposal, the first thing she and her husband chose was the date, because they both agreed upon the significance of the day.

“Our marriage is not based upon the day but we chose the specific date because it sounded lucky to us,” Mrs. Li said. “Technically our wedding date doesn’t change anything because our marriage is really based upon compromises, loving, respecting and appreciating each other.”

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BY AVERY ZAFFOS

PRINT COPY EDITOR

Looking through the lens of a camera and clicking the button to release the shutter captures more than just the moment behind the lens. The picture captures the perspective of how the photographer perceives the scene.

From iPhones to old-fashioned film cameras, students find a way to make pictures “artsy.” As junior Samantha Norman prepares to take her photos, she said she recognizes the elements of the scene that she has to tend to so the photograph appears the way she wants.

“In photography, composition is a big factor,” she said. “You can have different angles, manipulate the color and have interesting subject material in general. To make a picture unique is to manipulate any of those.”

With her 35m Canon Rebel by her side, Norman captures photographs from posed portraits to everyday candid life.

“I like portraits but they’re harder to get the way you like them to be because you’re dealing with people,” she said. “I also take pictures of friends, vacations and urban areas such as Miami and New York.”

As the camera quality on iPhones has progressed, a photograph can be taken with a phone and then edited later. Like Norman, junior Max Schwartz and senior Catherin Stadele love photography.

“I’ve always liked taking pictures and it’s just a spur of the moment kind of thing,” junior Max Schwartz said. “I usually use the app Camera+. It’s very simple and easy to use.”

(more…) «Clicking it from a new perspective»

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BY EMILY GITTEN

Fast trending online catalogue, Wanelo, is becoming an obsession for students, specifically teenage girls. Short for Want Need Love, Wanelo encompasses both the characteristics of a photo sharing website and an online store, providing consumers with a new shopping experience.

“I found out about Wanelo in Interior Design club,” sophomore Jocelyn Gordon said.  “It looked like such a unique website, so I made an account that night.”

Through a free account, members can post products for sale and like or save other members’ products.  Wanelo also sells items directly from online catalogues from stores like Urban Outfitters and Forever 21.

“The uniqueness of Wanelo compared to other sites like Amazon or eBay is that you don’t have to look through an entire website or every category on a site for one product, making it an easy shopping experience,” Gordon said.

Sophomore Gillian Couture found out about Wanelo through her friends and regularly shops on both the website and the app.

“Wanelo is like the concierge of shopping in the sense that they connect you to the seller and site that the product is being sold on,” Couture said.

Couture said that Wanelo has a collection of products from luxurious items to goofy gag gifts that are easily accessible to shoppers.

“Most of the products on Wanelo normally can’t be found in stores which makes the site special,” Couture said, “You can find anything from movie quote T-shirts to unique iPhone cases.”

However, junior Jordann Isbitts, a former Wanelo user, said she stopped using the site because she finds Wanelo to have a limited selection of items compared to similar sites.

“I feel like Wanelo is unorganized and just contains variations of the same things,” Isbitts said.

Isbitts said she prefers to shop on Esty.com, another online catalog similar to Wanelo and its top competitor, where she finds a greater selection of products.

“I use Etsy because the things I find on there are more unique and you can also get things that are handmade, vintage, or personalized,” Isbitts said.

While Isbitts dislikes it, Gordon said she prefers Wanelo to other shopping websites because she doesn’t have to look at every page on a website to find a specific product.

“The amount of products on Wanelo is endless and with the click of a button, it can instantly be yours,” Gordon said.

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BY PAULA MARTINS

Student Spotlight is a recurring segment that showcases a student every month who is selected randomly, in order to illustrate that every student has a story. Paula Martins, staff writer for The Circuit, was waiting inside of the cafeteria to question the third person that walked in. Martins interviewed his for this month’s profile.

When senior Luis Fernandez was 6 years old, he experienced the first of six school transfers that would continue while he was growing up due to family circumstances. Instead of viewing this negatively, Fernandez said he never let it interfere with his positive outlook on life.

“My last switch to Cypress junior year was definitely the best,” he said.

Fernandez has attended two elementary schools, one middle school and three high schools, all in Florida.

“After spending my freshman year at Western High School, switching to virtual school as a sophomore was by far the worst because I felt so cut off from my friends and the world,” he said.

Fernandez said he had a tough time adjusting to the pros and cons of virtual school.

“The only good thing about Virtual School was the flexible hours,” Fernandez said. “I might get annoyed by having to wake up early every day for public school, but I’d pick having the company of some good, funny teachers and friends instead of taking my classes in isolation every day.”

Although he was not able to see his friends often, he said it was not difficult for him to keep in touch with them through the use of social networking sites and sporadic social gatherings.

“Even though I didn’t stay close with all of my friends from the past, I managed to maintain some great friendships,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said his personality played a big role in the way he coped with each new school.

“Starting over at each school wasn’t too difficult,” Fernandez said. “Considering that I can get along with pretty much anyone, it was easy making new friends and keeping ones from my previous years in other schools.”

As Fernandez approaches graduation and adulthood, he is thankful for his experience throughout the years.

“I learned about the importance of social interaction and getting my priorities straight, two essential elements I will use in my life,” he said.

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BY DANIELA MARIN AND SARA GAGGIA

With the ultimate purpose of engaging, involving and connecting the Bay’s diverse community, The Circuit has launched an ongoing multimedia project that highlights the individual stories of students, teachers and staff through still photography and personal narration.

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BY ILANA SPERLING

PRINT FEATURES EDITOR

Living in the Amazon, backpacking across Europe and playing professional rugby are just some of the things head of security Larry Silverman’s children have experienced. Prior to working at the Bay, Silverman spent 27 years in the Israeli army and lived on a farm in Jerusalem. His four children were born on the farm and have all served in the Israeli army.

“One of the things I am very proud about is that my kids have been able to travel the world,” he said.

“The army was a way of life, it’s a job, and this is what we do,” he said.  “I worry more about you guys when you drive on I-75 because I have no control over that.”

After living on the farm for 31 years, Mr. Silverman said he came to the Bay because of his wife, who was a teacher.

“I left the army and was working for the government when I met my future wife on a blind date that neither one of us wanted to go on,” Mr. Silverman said. “She brought me to the Bay and Mr. Neely welcomed me with open arms.”

Mr. Silverman said his move from serving in the army to working at a school was smooth, but the two jobs are diverse.

“It was a natural transition. Here there is just different security,” he said

BRACE adviser Shari Bush said she has formed a close friendship with Mr. Silverman and has met his children when they come to visit.

“When I first started at Cypress Bay 11 years ago, Larry was my first friend, he was the first person to reach out to me,” she said. “We talk a lot, and whenever you talk to him for more than two minutes inevitably a story is going to come up about his kids. It’s pretty clear that his kids are the most important thing to him.”

Mr. Silverman’s oldest daughter Yamit was a combat operations officer in the army. After her army service, she lived in Australia for a year, lived in India for a year and backpacked through Europe.

“For the past eight years she has been living in Brazil and has a hotel in a village in the rainforest,” Mr. Silverman said.

Mr. Silverman’s son Sagi was a combat medic in the army and a professional rugby player. He is now living back on the farm in Jerusalem.

“He was a ‘recognized athlete’ on the national Israel rugby team, so as not to lose his sports talents, he was allowed to play and do army service,” Mr. Silverman said. “ Sixty- four days were added to his army service to make up for time spent out of the country for international tournaments.”

Mr. Silverman’s daughter Shani is a doctor of naturopathic medicine who, like Sagi, was a combat medic in the army.

“She went with UNICEF to Angola after the army, and now lives in Tel Aviv,” Mr. Silverman said.

Mrs. Bush said she tried to get in touch with Mr. Silverman’s daughter when she was in Israel.

“I called her but the way my trip worked, our schedules just didn’t coincide,” she said.

Mr. Silverman’s youngest son Mati was a commander in mechanized engineering. He backpacked around Israel for three years, and is back living on the farm.

“The farm has 400 milking cows, a hatchery with 200,000 egg-laying chickens, an apple orchard that yields 360 tons of apples a year, avocados, vineyards and cotton fields,” Mr. Silverman said.

Mr. Silverman said whenever students or teachers travel to Israel, he tells them to spend time with his children.

“Everybody calls my kids to meet up with them in Israel, and they have been here at least 10 times each, so they know the school just as well,” he said.

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BY SABRINA GAGGIA

Health Science teacher Laura Clarke found a way to text all of her students at once with the help of website www.remind101.com.

“I was having trouble getting class information and HOSA club information to everybody, so I did a little bit of research on the Internet and saw that there is a website that allows me to send out messages to large groups of people,” Ms. Clarke said.

Students must text a number given by the website in order to be automatically subscribed to the list. The text must include a keyword, also given by the website, in order to receive texts from Ms. Clarke or Carol Warnock, another Health Science teacher.

“It’s been really amazing for our club as well because there are so many times where we’ll go over something during a meeting, and maybe either everyone is not there or they don’t hear it. And this just helps give out updates without everyone being in the same place at once,” Ms. Clarke said.

Even though it’s the first time Ms. Clarke did this with her classes as well as HOSA, she said she plans to continue this because it has helped her communicate with her students.

Ms. Clarke said any teacher can use this free website to communicate with classes, students or clubs. There is no limit to the amount of people who can subscribe.

“This has helped me so much because I am able to send out reminders the night before,” Ms. Clarke said. “It’s more effective than email because I originally tried email and it didn’t work since people don’t always check it on time. But they always have their phones with them.”

Sophomore Maria Rodriguez said she is very glad Ms. Clarke takes the time to send her students texts.

“It’s been so helpful because sometimes I forget to write my homework down and do some assignments. Her texts reassure me and always remind me of things I need to get done,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully more teachers will start to do this because it’s made my life so much easier.”

Math teacher Jessica Flint is another who uses this website in order to communicate with her students as well as their parents.

“This is the first time I have I have tried this resource during a school year. I tried it last summer during a field trip with Mu Alpha Theta and it worked beautifully, so I decided to use it with my six classes and its worked really well,” Ms. Flint said.

Ms. Flint said she got the idea from another teacher at a math competition she attended. Email hasn’t really worked for Ms. Flint and her students so she decided to try a new method of communication.

Ms. Flint and Ms. Clarke both use the same website to send out messages. This website allows its users to program certain date and times for specific messages to be sent.

“I love it. It works beautifully,” Ms. Flint said. “I use it a lot when I’m absent. I’ll send out reminders like ‘don’t forget to print this worksheet so you have something to work on in class for the substitute tomorrow’.”

Ms. Flint said that since students don’t check their email every day but are constantly attached to their phones, it’s the best way to get in touch with them.

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BY CHLOE LIPKIN

Shorter weeks and longer weekends: that’s what holidays such as Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day and Memorial Day have come to represent to students, including sophomore Justin Morfa. He said he appreciates the holidays because of the extra time to relax.

“I don’t do anything special for those holidays. I usually don’t even remember them,” Morfa said. “But I’m thankful for the fact that we get time off.”

Morfa said he usually spends these extra days sleeping in, catching up on homework or getting together with friends.

“I don’t really care about what the holidays represent because they don’t affect me,” he said.

AP U.S. History teacher Steven Andrews said the holidays off from school should be a motivator for students to reflect on the accomplishments of the people that laid the foundation of our nation today.

“Reflection is important. As we gain more knowledge of these historical occurrences, it will hopefully cause us to keep them alive for future generations,” Mr. Andrews said.

Mr. Andrews said although society currently values these holidays as important, they might not always be viewed this way. Therefore, it’s important that schools take off and try to maintain the spirit of every holiday

“When I attended school – no, it was not before the Civil War – we were off on Columbus Day and Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays,” he said. “So these days off serve as a reflection of what our society values at this present time.”

Similar to Morfa, freshman Jonathan Nudelman said he spent Monday Jan. 21 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) playing videogames and finishing up his homework.

“Even though I don’t spend my holidays off remembering the people they honor, they’re important because it gives students a time to step back and take a breather from school,” Nudelman said.

Junior Rebecca Marcus said holidays like Presidents Day or Martin Luther King Day should still be remembered for their importance and not just because it is another day off school.

“I think it’s important to remember what the holidays represent and acknowledge that without people like Martin Luther King Jr. or any of our presidents, our country wouldn’t be where it is today,” Marcus said.

Marcus said she likes to spend the holidays when she gets excused from school catching up on schoolwork, but also saves time to do something special. She said she likes to go to the Presidents Day Fair or watch segments on television pertaining to the holiday.

“The days off are a great way for students to reflect on history while at the same time enjoying a little break from school,” she said.

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