Firebird Newsletter

S P R I N G I S S U EF E B R U A R Y E D I T I O N

Kevin SolerEDITOR

BI-MONTHLY FIREBIRD FACULTY NEWSLETTER

The year of 2018 has begun, and we are now a little more than halfway through the school year. For seniors, students are just a few steps away from graduating, and for Doral Academy, these past few months have been remarkably successful in the classroom, on the field, and more. Mu Al-pha Theta has absolutely crushed their opponents in three competitions over the past month. A few of our students have proven their social science smarts at the History Bowl and raked in even more accolades for Doral Academy. Our Future Busi-ness Leaders of America club had a majority of its members place in districts last month and are now headed to states. Our theater program was excel-lent in District 8 competition and now qualify for the Florida State Festival. Out on the field, our girls soccer team took home yet another distict cham-pionship this season and look to continue their postseason run. The boys basketball team has been on fire and is looking to repeat their district championship and take it one step further in the state championships The girls basletball team has also been tremendous and looks to do the same. Even our band and color guard won competitions this past month. Aside from accolades, senior events are in full swing as students enjoyed sen-ior breakfast last month, and Grad Bash is around the corner. Our school continues to evolve, as now with the rennovation of the baseball field has been completed. Despite an already long list of achieve-ments, Firebirds do not settle, and we will continue to strive for more in 2018.

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FBLA WINS BIGOur FBLA mem-bers proved their worth in districts> P4

SPORTS SUCCESS Firebird athletics dominate all year, spring teams show lots of promise> P10

MATH CLUB RUNS THE SHOWHard working students earn trophies> P2

PREVIEW

#“After this successful award season, we can expect

even more amazing things coming from our persistent

Math Club.”

MU ALPHA THETA KEEPS BRINGING HOME THE TROPHIES By: Caroline Prankevicius

On Feburary 3rd, Doral Academy placed 3rd overall at the Palmetto Ridge Mu Alpha The-ta Math Competition in Naples. 98 Doral Acad-emy students competed in total. All divisions won team awards as follows: 2nd place went to Pre-Calculus and Algebra II Middle School teams, 3rd place went to Algebra I and Statis-tics teams, 4th place went to Geometry Middle School and Calculus teams, and 5th place went to the High School Geometry and Algebra II teams. Moreover, individually is where the stu-dents really shined through–with 16 students

placing. Bin Zheng won first place in Statistics. In Pre-Calculus, Allan Dolago placed 2nd, Raul Valle 4th, Marc Marquez 5th, Logan Fontirroche 11th, Gabriel Gonzalez 12th, Dangely Canabal 13th, and Diana Bishop 14th. From the Middle School Algebra II team, Sofia Garcia placed 8th, Alberto Alvarez 10th, Steven Diaz 12th, Aman-da Miyares 14th. Tae Lee won 7th in the High School division. In Algebra I, Natalie Chung placed 4th, Noah Clough 10th, and Vaishnavi Kappagantula 15th. As the last stop on their winning streak, Doral Academy Charter placed 4th overall at the Mu Alpha Theta Regional Math Compe-tition held at FAU on January 20th. Over 1500 students participated. Doral had two first place awards–the Inter-school award, in which the whole school participated, and the individ-ual Precalculus award. Logan Fontirroche had the highest score out of the 273 Pre-calculus students taking this test from almost 60 dif-ferent schools. The breakdown goes as follows: the Pre-calculus team placed 2nd under Fon-tirroche, Allan DoLago, Raul Valle, Irena Lian. Valle placed 3rd, Marc Marquez placed 7th, and DoLago 11th on the individual test. The Geom-etry team from Doral’s Middle School placed 2nd with Kevin Rodriguez, Tony Wong, Veronica Alvarez, Samantha Cervone; Rodriguez placed 15th on the individual test. Manuel Rodriguez

CURRICULUM FAIR9:00am-11:00am at the school gym> January 24, 2018

SENIOR PANORAMIC PICTUREMake sure to wear a red polo and blue pants> February 1, 2018

CAFE AMORESupport our Doral singers> February 5, 2018

ACT TESTINGBe sure to arrive at test centers on time> February 10, 2018

DORAL COLLEGE LUNCHEONLuncheon at Flemings, come dressed in formal attire> February 15, 2018

ACT TESTINGAll Juniors will be taking the exam for free> February 27, 2018

VARSITY BOYS BASEBALL OPENING DAYGame vs. LaSalle @3:30pm> February 27, 2018

FIREBIRD TV FILM FESTIVALIn the school gym @7:00pm> March 2, 2018

VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL FINALCome support our team in our home gym @7:00pm> March 3, 2018

JUNIOR RING CEREMONYStudents should dress in business attire, please report to the cafe-teria @7:00pm> March 3, 2018

TEDTALK: ELEMENTS OF HUMANITYListen to our students speak on important topics @6:30pm> March 9, 2018

SAT TESTINGBe sure to arrive at your test centers on time> March 10, 2018

CHEERLEADING TRYOUTSBoth days are MANDATORY> March 13-14, 2018

GRADBASHSeniors please follow the dress code and make sure you are finan-cially cleared to participate in your activitiesAlso a teacher planning day, no school> April, 2018

^CALENDAR

from Doral’s High School placed 7th on the individual test. Our Algebra I team from Mid-dle School placed 3rd with the participation of Anna Sofia Arevalo, Natalie Chung, Vaishna-vi Kappagantula, Noah Clough; Chung placed 3rd, Kappagantula 7th, Arevalo 14th, and Mukul Vinod 15th in individuals. The Algebra II team from Doral’s Middle School placed 4th under Amanda Miyares, Alberto Alvarez, Sofia Garcia, Steven Diaz; Miyares placed 9th, Daniel Rodri-guez-Florido 10th, Alvarez 13th, and Garcia 14th on the individual test. The High School Alge-bra II team placed 5th with Tae Lee, Alejandro Almanzar, Maria Pelayo, Daniel Pita participat-ing; Lee placed 4th in individuals. Lastly, the Calculus team, Anirudh Rahul, Karanveer Sand-hu, Tomas Alvarez, Amanda Fernandez, placed 4th and the Statistics team, Carlos Estrada, Bin Zheng, Jose Romero, and Giovanni Ferioli, placed 5th. After this successful award season, we can expect even more amazing things coming from our persistent Math Club. When you put this many passionate students together with the resources and drive to succeed, you can expect nothing less from Doral Academy. Be sure to cheer on any students you see and congratulate them from all the hard work they

Firebird FBLA Club Sweeps Awards at DistrictsBy: Khristen Gutt

Future Business Leaders of America allows High school students to explore college and career opportunities through a number of co-curricular educational programs. Members take part in academic competitions, networking events with accomplished business professionals at confer-ences and community service projects. FBLA members also demonstrate their leadership skills through fundraising ac-tivities and chapter officer positions. FBLA’s National Awards Program, also called competitive events, give the students opportunities to compete against other top students in over 60 academic events covering technology, public speaking, business, finance, management and more. The top winners take home trophies, medals and even cash from sponsored events.This past month Doral Academy competed at Braddock High School in District Tournament Competition against other talented students from schools in Miami Dade County. Sen-ior, Valeria Leal says, “The best part of FBLA is seeing how your hard work pays off. Like a real world business, you might need to make some sacrifices and work extra hard for your competition, but through dedication you surprise yourself with how much you can achieve.” Our school took home over 35 awards in various business categories, surpassing last year’s total, and advancing several students to State Tourna-ment Competition in Orlando on March 16-19. This includes:Gabriel Soriano (1st place in Accounting) Loren Howard (3rd in Agribusiness)Sofia Vila (2nd in Agribusiness)Marcelo Zapata (3rd in Advertising)Christian Castellano, Lucia Fuego and Patricia Lopez (3rd in Banking and Financial Systems) Logan Fontirroche (1st in Business Calculations)Nivia Garcia and Valeria Ortiz (3rd in Business Communica-tions)

Katiouska Scovino (2nd in Business Communications)Andres Morejon (3rd in Business Law)Nathaniel Mizzell (2nd in Bussiness Law)Thomas Sovatoski (1st in Computer Application)Steven Suarez (2nd in Computer application)Francisco Zwanzger (4th in Cyber Security)Kevin Busto (2nd in Cyber Security)Valeria Leal (2nd in Economics)Claudia Echezabal and Britney Revan (2nd in Emerging Business Issuses)Austin Ford, Mateo Caro and German Fernandez (3rd in Global Business)Marcos Garcia, Juan Laguado and Ariel Garcia (2nd in Entrepreneurship 2nd)Dylan Vento (2nd in Health Care Administration)Karla and Karen Viera and Lexie Beiro (2nd in Hospitality)Javiera De Andraca, Lis Delvalle and Roxanna Cabrera (1st in Hospitality)Gabriella Pannefleck (3rd in Insurance and Risk Manage-ment)Carlos Diaz (2nd in Insurance and Risk Management)Bhavya Soni (1st in Intro to Business Communications)Norman Godinez (3rd in Intro to business procedures)Susana Hoyos (3rd in Journalism)Alexander Puga and Matthew Lorenzana (2nd in Journal-ism)Khristen Gutt (2nd in Management and Decision making)Sebastian Valencia (2nd in Organizational Leadership)Karen Meza (1st in Personal Finance)Santiago Galarraga (2nd in Security and Investments)Carolina Mora (1st in Security and Investments)Miguel Valbuena, Raúl Pérez, Joshua Aguirre (2nd in Sports Management)Lucas Avila, Luismel Ramirez and Eduardo Moreno (1st in

STUDENT ATHLETES COLLEGE BOUND

Congratulations to our Fire-bird senior athletes on

signing with their respective universities they have com-mitted to after our signing day on Wednesday afternoon. We wish them the best in your collegiate athletic careers on

FIREBIRDS CONQUER HISTORY BOWLBy: Alexis Brotons

Doral Academy’s History Bowl Team attended the National History Bowl and Bee com-petition with their sponsor/coach Ms. Jacquelyn Garcia and achieved big wins! Both Junior Varsity and Varsity journeyed into the compe-tition ready as Jiho “Sarah” Shin, Co-Captain of the club, said the team has prepared by receiving extensive help from Ms. Garcia, whilst also strategically using AP prep books, watching documen-taries. The vast amount of knowledge these students acquired was intense and critical due to them needing to know “a variety of topics and events that have occurred

throughout human civiliza-tion,” as stated by the club’s Captain, Cesar Muir. All this preparation contributed to 6 students qualifying for National Bowl, another 3 qualifying for National Bee, and a special 2 qualifying for National US History Bee. Not only did team thrive and score these wins but their Co-Captain Sarah Shin made it to finals for Geog-raphy Bee, for National Bee, and astonishingly qualified for the International Bee in Berlin, Germany! Our Fire-bird Historians are already hard at work to do well at upcoming Nationals.

FIREBIRD COLOR GUARD AND BAND TAKE ON BIG COMPETITION

On January 27th, 2018, Doral Acade-my’s Indoor Band and Color Guard took the floor against many schools statewide, at the Florida Federation of Colorguard Circuit (FFCC). The premise of this particular com-petition is unlike anything else as overall each team partakes in 4 shows to then be eligible to perform in FFCC’s Championships. Both Color Guard and Band were success-ful on their premiere, earning high scores and representing the school very well. Though our Firebirds in Band have per-formed in this exact competition before, being led again by Edward Ercilla, An-dres Casariego, Jack Bernard, Alejandro Guardia, and Micheal Delgado, they were just as excited as first-timers Color Guard was. Senior, Mario Gonzalez, shared the atmosphere surrounding the family that is our Doral Band: “It’s great being apart of a bunch of dedicated musicians who are getting together and using their precious afterschool time to try and not only better themselves, but establish a culture in Doral Academy which will be passed down through all generations of students as we are making Doral history.”

Many of other Band members spoke about how “thrilling” and “remarkable” the opportunity of performing was and how it wouldn’t have been the same without all the work each musician puts in. They walked into premiere with only 1 minute and 30 seconds prepared and walked out with third place. Color Guard journeyed into their first FFCC performance dedicated and set as having practiced everyday for months on end. The Firebirdettes show, Color Theory,“is a visual rendition of the effects due to our current dependency on technology and how it might alter our creative state.” as Guard-Direc-tor Daniela Aguilera explained. Team member Daniela Gonzalez said “As we prepared to go onstage the nerves did kick in, but we got set in our places, looked at each other, smiled and the moment the music started playing all our worries disappeared as we poured our hearts out on that stage doing what we love most.” Practice and faith were the biggest motivators for the Color Guard. We can’t wait to hear of the new details after the next upcoming com-petition, and we know the Firebirds will fight to be on top.

By: Alexis Brotons

SENIORS CELEBRATE THEIR YEAR AT THE RUSTY PELICAN The smell of warm french toast with scrambled eggs and fried potatoes, eating at a very unique location with a spectacular view, and most importantly, hanging out with your friends and fellow classmates is all what Senior Break-fast at Doral Academy is all about. Class of 2018 was anticipating this “Around the World” themed breakfast on January 19th at the Rusty Peli-can. The salon was filled with excitement as the senior class got to celebrate all of their achieve-ments so far in High School. From beginning to end, the atmosphere was filled with great music and even better company to share the moment with. From a grand buffet that served everything from french toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, and muffins, to endless hours of dancing and entertaining party games, each Firebird found themselves wrapped up in different ac-tivities that promotes unity among the Class of 2018. Dance offs and toilet paper dress mak-ing were only some of the games that allowed seniors the chance of winning a free gradbash or prom ticket, all thanks to the class sponsor, Janet Sardina. “It was a lot fun and the food was

By: Heydy Chamizo

amazing” said Kathryn Pupo. Marilyn Tenoco expressed her morning at senior breakfast “the view was spectacular and had a lot of fun hanging out with my closest friend.”They also had a photo booth filled with deco-rative props which was at the seniors dispos-al to capture their unforgettable morning as memories. The seniors were also given custom cups that matched this year’s theme. The overall event was an unforgettable one, marked for the books.

TROUPE 6358 COMPETES IN DISTRICTS; ADVANCES TO STATES Our Firebird Player have always been an extremely successful cast, comprised of a knowledgeable teacher and impassioned students. Aside from re-creating beautiful presentations of famous plays, like Godspell and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troupe #6358 has had a victorious streak in state competitions in recent years. In the 2016-2017 school year, under the tutelage of Mr. Gon-zalez, they participated in the District 8 One Act Theatre Festival, the District 8 Individual Event, and the Florida State Thespian Festival. These competitions are rated with a scale that goes from superior to excellent to good. That year they won a total of 16 individual and one overall play superiors, 8 excellents, and no goods. Students, like Gian Arellano, also won awards like, “All Star Cast Member”. This year starts off strong with Ms. To-ledo, as they took part in the Florida Thespian District 8 Individual Event again. The contest was divided between two days, December 2nd and 16th, and featured proud Firebird players like Alexis Phelps and Antonio Cortes. The Individual competitions involve small group pieces and/or individual solos. They are judged on acting or singing techniques and stage presence. After many months of practic-

ing, they were triumphant with eight superi-ors, six excellents, and one good! This was an amazing experience especially for the novice students to gain insight into the hard work and payoff that comes from competitions. Now, Troupe #6358 is eligible to enter in the Florida State Festival with at most six individ-ual events. Now they go back to the stage to practice in order to bring in even more awards next competition!

By: Caroline Prankevicius

FIREBIRDS BASEBALL GETS HOME FIELD RENNOVATED

Starting the 2017-2018 year, we were no-tified that Doral Academy’s excellent baseball team was getting there very own turf baseball field. Once hearing about this, the baseball team was instantly inspired and the entire school was on the edge of their toes for the new reveal. Not much later after word of the new of the field, was the field ready. Looking from the top floors on the C building, one can see every beautiful, vibrant color on that field. The Firebird in the middle of the field accentu-ates Firebird pride and keep the school spirit with the team present at all times. The field wouldn’t have happened without our very own administrators being mindful about strength-ening facilities designated to our baseball team. As Daniel Gonzalez, Doral Academy’s Assistant principle, shared, “We felt that our first class students needed first class facili-

ties.” It is clear that the schools administrative team looks out for the students best interests and what they do, don’t go unappreciated by any athlete. Robert Levia, 1st baseman on the team, was eager to share with us his ex-citement over the new field. “The new turf baseball field has been a huge help to our team as we can practice much harder now do to the field always being ready for use.” said Levia when asked about practices now on the field. Levia spoke on behalf of the team and mentioned the gratitude over the field, “The baseball team enjoys it very much and we are thankful the administration could provide us with such a wonderful facility to play on.” The implementation of the new Doral Academy turf baseball field has been a big plus to our school all around. It keeps us big competi-tors against neighboring teams and on school leader boards.

By: Hugo Gonzalez

As our winter sports temas wrap up their seasons, we take a look back to see some of the re-sults and accomplishments that they have achieved. Our men’s basketball team is currently 23-2, having al-ready secured a spot in the district playoff where they look to advance to the state playoffs and win what would be their first ever state championship. The boys already have experience in the post-season from last year in which they won a district title, and that could help them push through the tough competition they will face in the playoffs, Their first playoff game is Tuesday the 13th and the opponent is yet to be determined. The Lady Firebirds are also kill-ing the competition on the court, and making history as they do so. Junior Daniel-la Barrios became the first

player in school history to score 1000 points and now holds the scoring record. The boys’ soccer team had yet another successful sea-son but unfortunately came short of their expectations. After qualifying for the playoffs and advancing to the district semifinals, they went down to a gritty Belen team in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. On the other side of the pitch, the girls’ soccer team once again took home the district title after going undefeated in the district. Unfortunately, they lost in the regional quarterfinals to Archbishop McCarthy 0-1. Our Cheerleading team once again had a phenome-nal year which culminated in being State Runner-ups for a second year in a row. Al-though they would’ve loved to win first place, Second best in the state isn’t a bad consolation prize.

firebird Athletes look to keep the momentum Rolling

By: Nestor Serret

TEAM SCHEDULESBASEBALL SOFTBALL

TRACK AND FIELD TENNIS

Feb 13th, @South Miami, 3:30 pmFeb 15th, @Hialeah, 7:00 pmFeb 19th, St. Thomas Aquainas TournamentFeb 27th, vs.Lasalle, 3:30 pmFeb 28th, vs. Belen, 3:30 pmMar 5th, @Terra, 3:30 pmMar 9th, vs. IMG, 4:00 pmMar 14th, Doral at Sunset, 3:30 pmMar 15th, @South Broward, 6:30 pmMar 16th, vs. IMater, 3:30 pmMar 20th, vs. Pace, 4:00 pmMar 22nd, @Belen, 3:30 pmMar 26th-29th, IMG National ClassicApr 5th, vs. Varela, 4:00 pmApr 6th, vs. American Heritage, 4;00 pmApr 9th, vs. Sage Mont, 4:00 pmApr 12th, vs. Terra, 3:30 pmApr 13th, vs. West Minister, 4:00 pmApr 17th, vs. Sunset, 3:30 pmApr 19th, @Reagan, 4:00 pmApr 20th, vs. Varela, 4:00 pmApr 24th, vs. Key West, 4:00 pmApr 26th, vs. Gulliver, 4:00 pmApr 30th-May 3rd, DistrictsMay 8th, Regional QuarterfinalsMay 15th, Regional Semi-finalsMay 22nd, Regional Finals

Feb 6th, MWCS Pre-Season, 7:00 pm at Palmetto BayFeb 7th, MWCS Pre-Season, 7:00 pm at Palmetto Bayvs. Mater Lakes, date and time TBDFeb 20th, vs. Oxbridge Academy, 6:30 pmFeb 23rd, vs. Coral Reef, 6:30 pmFeb 28th, vs. Terra, 7:00 pm Mar 2nd, @Lourdes, 4:00 pmMar 9th, vs. Archbishop McCarthy, 7:00 pmMar 15th-17th, Slamfest Tournament at Palmetto BayMar 20th, vs. Gulliver, 6:30 pmMar 22nd-24th, Speed-Ball Tournament at Silver LakesApril 3rd, @American Heritage, 7:00 pmApr 6th-7th, @Longshore Naples, time TBDApr 9th, Pace, 3:30 pmApr 11th, @Terra, 3:30 pmApr 12th, @Westland, 4:00 pmApr 17th, @Westminister, 7:00 pmApr 18th, Ferguson (Senior Night), 7:00 pmApr 25th, Districts, 7:00 pm at Indian Hammocks

Feb 16th-17th, Louie Bing Classic @Trace Powell Stadium, Fri 10:00 am & Sat 4:00 pmFeb 19th, FR. Luis Ripoll S.J. Relays @ Belen, 9:30 amFeb 24th, Falcon Invite @John A. Ferguson, 8:15 amMar 2nd-3rd, Sam Burley Hall of Fame Invitational @Tropical Park, Fri 12:45 pm Sat 9:00 amMar 17th, Dade County Youth Fair @Tropical Park, 8:30 amMar 28th-Apr 1st, Florida Relays @UF, Fri 1:00 pmMar 29th, Dade Christian Last Chance Invitational @Dade Christian School, 2:00 pmApr 13th, Districts: 3A District 16, time and loca-tion TBDApr 26th, Regionals: 3A Region 4, time and loca-tion TBDMay 3rd-6th, State Championships @UNF, time TBD

Feb 12th, Doral Classic @Divine Savior, 4:00 pmFeb 13th, vs. Ferguson @Ferguson, 3:00 pmFeb 15th, vs. Miami Beach @Tropical Park, 2:30 pmFeb 20th, vs. Ronald Reagan @Godlet, 2:30 pmFeb 27th, vs. Boca Raton @Boca Raton, 3:45 pmFeb 28th, vs. Belen Jesuit @Tropical Park, 7:30 pmMar 1st, vs. Somerset Academy @Sunset Lakes, 5:00 pmMar 6th, vs. Coral Gables @The Biltmore, 2:00 pm Mar 7th, vs. Miami Springs @Miami Springs, 5:00 pm Mar 12th, vs. Miami Country Day @Tropical Park, 2:30 pmMar 14th, vs. Terra Institute @Kendalltown, 3:30 pmMar 19th, vs. Mourning @Tropical Park, 2:30 pmApr 4th, vs. Gulliver @Gulliver Academy, 3:00 pmApr 10th, Rivera Prep @Dave & Mary Alper JCC, 3:30 pmApr 16th-21st, DistrictsApr 24th & 26th, RegionalsApr 30th-May 4th, States

Baseball In 2018, our boy’s baseball team is looking to have another Home-Run of a season not only by winning the district championship, but also by sending players to college to continue their playing ca-reers. Luckily for us, our team is led by the very successful Ralph Suarez. Under Suarez’s leadership, his teams have won a plethora of tittles and championships. Coach Suarez was even named Collegiate National Baseball Coach of the Year in 2001 and has had 23 players drafted into the Majors. The team kicks off its season February 14th against Goleman at Alex Fernandez field.

Softball The lady’s softball team began their preseason on Tuesday, tying 6-6 and then winning 13-3 on Wednesday. The team is coached by the dynamic duo of Mr. Viruet and Ms. Picon. Their first official game is February 16th. Sec-ond basement and outfielder Laila Garcia said “With this up-coming year you can expect a lot from us. I have never met a group of people so dedicat-ed to their jobs as athletes, we started conditioning long be-fore other teams; we want to be the best and we strive to make it far.”

vSpring Sports Outlook We are halfway through the school year so far and our athletes have already accomplished plenty for achievements, but they are not done yet. The baseball team is looking to get their offense up and land a state title this season. The softball team is looking to build on last year’s tremendous run and cap it off with a championship this year. The track and field squad will be looking to prove themselves as both individuals and as a team. The tennis team is most definitely not done putting their name in the school history books, as they look to build their legacy this year with a championship crown at the end of this year. At the end of this year, Doral Academy may have most of its sports teams reaching the post season, and possibly a large number of state titles.

Tennis As the Doral Clas-sic on February 12 quick-ly approaches, our boys and girls tennis teams are refining their strategies and perfecting their game with “The Voice of Doral” Coach Puppo. A week af-ter the Doral Classic, the teams will be competing for the Mayor’s cup on February 20th against our rivals Ronald Reagan Senior High School where they look to come out with a victory. Coach Puppo is entering his fifth year as the coach of the Firebirds. In the past, he has led them to the state finals multiple times and the teams have always been fierce com-petitors in district compe-titions.

Track and Field The Firebird track runners led by Coach Da-vis and coach P are look-ing to build on the suc-cessful year they had in 2017 with another strong season hopefully culmi-nating in awards for many of the runners. The team has their first meet the weekend of February 16 through the 17th where top runners Alejandro, Vic-toria, and Sofia and many others will look to secure a first place victory.