The first graduating class of Westland, Class of 2010, was required to complete 75 community hours and have a minimum 2.0 GPA in order to graduate. The second graduating class added mandatory FCAT tutoring sessions to those stu-dents who did not pass the FCAT. These have been the requirements for a few years now. West-land has recently enforced new rules stating that in order to participate in any senior activities each senior need to meet new demands. This includes 100 hours of community service in order to gradu-ate, due to Bright Futures increasing their obligations for the FSA scholarship, and par-ticipation in any given senior fundraiser.

Mrs. Solmaria Cohen, guidance counselor at Westland, explained that Westland is enforcing the 100 hours "to give students an equal opportu-nity to apply to the Florida Bright Futures Scholar-ship." Therefore, the more hours a senior accumu-lates, the more likely they are to be eligible for a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. On an-

other note, Driena Sixto said, "I believe that since Bright Futures requirements went up, we need to push it harder in order for us not to slack. It is a good idea since some people qualify for Bright Futures and because of their hours they haven't been able to get a scholarship. The school doesn't want to put a bur-den on us; they are trying to help us."

Additionally, Mrs. Lani Simon, our activities direc-tor, replied "It's a requirement to fund raise so we can reduce senior costs. For instance, the magazine subscription was a success, raising $3,600 in profit.” She also added, "Anything I can do to reduce the costs for prom, I will do." It is clear that Mrs. Simon has the senior's best interest at heart and is just try-ing to reduce costs for all of the major events com-ing up this school year.

In short, participating in senior activities has turned out to be a more difficult task than prior years. Knowing these helpful tips and complying with the deadlines on time can make your senior year more enjoyable, and memorable.

Senior Activities Senior Status Changes Westland

Written by: Yarim Caro, Beatriz Castro, Elizabeth Diaz and Martha Montoya

Class of the Future Written by: Cristian Bertrand, Amanda Blanco, Jillien Durand, Daniel Flores, Lazaro Gaston & Miguel Reynes

Westland Hialeah Senior High School

underwent many new changes through-

out the summer. One of these is Mrs.

Shen’s “Class of the Future”. Miami-Dade

County Public Schools and Best Buy’s

grant program chose two schools out of

the county to reward with a room full of

the latest technology. Superintendent,

Alberto M. Carvalho, chose Westland as

well as Booker T. Washington Senior

High, to participate in this program.

Two weeks before the school year be-

gan, Best Buy delivered a class set of Mo-

torola Xooms Tablets, an Insignia flat

screen TV, and an HD smart board with

surround sound. Mrs. Shen expresses

how much her teaching styles have

changed for the better. “I now have a

webpage and can assign a lot of projects

and assignments that the kids can com-

plete through the apps of the

Xoom.” She also explained

how teaching with all the new

technology gets the students

a lot more interested and in-

volved in the class work, espe-

cially for the students that are

visual and kinesthetic learners.

“The class is interesting and

full of fun facts every day, I am

so delighted of my teacher

and the learning environment

that surrounds me “, stated

Law Studies student, Roger

Chirino.

With all this technology,

there comes responsibility

and visits from key figures in

the community. On August

30th, Mrs. Shen unveiled her

classroom to the media,

board members, politicians,

Best Buy’s Geek Squad, and

the vice president of Best

Buy.

International Relations Guest Speaker Program 2

New Additions to Westland 2

Girl’s Volleyball 3

Boy’s Varsity Football 3

Wildcat Swim Team 3

College Corner 4

Community Service 4

Inside this issue:

Wil

dc

at

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ro

nic

les

WE

ST

LA

ND

H

IA

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GH

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Volume 4, Issue 1

Fall 2011

On Thursday, September 15th, Westland was host to an important guest, the Honor-able Louise Léger, consul to the United States’ northern neighbor, Canada. This was part of Mr. Jose Miranda’s international rela-tions program which promotes awareness of citizenship and international events.

Mrs. Léger received a warm welcome from the international relations’ class who gave her their unwavering attention as she cov-ered the geography, economy, and multicul-tural society of Canada. Students learned interesting facts about Canada, such as that it is the second largest country in the world with 33.2 million inhabitants and has an $8 billion two-way trade system with the United States. Canada maintains a different form of government, with the head of the state be-ing a prime minster as opposed to the United States’ president.

“The presentation on Canada was very informative; I learned things that I didn’t know about Canada like the northern area is

less populated than the lower regions. I think it’s important to join the Interna-tional Relations class because it’s impor-tant to learn about other countries, there are over 200 of them and we don’t know anything about them,” shared junior, Iván Diaz.

The presentation was the first of many to come as it is part of the Interna-tional Relations Foreign Guest Speaker Program at Westland. Each year these are made possible by Social Studies teacher, Mr. Miranda, who books 15 to 20 speakers. The number depends on the amount of consulates residing in Miami; there are 25 foreign consulates currently stationed here.

The presentations are directed towards Mr. Miranda’s International Relations Class with the purpose of merging funda-mental knowledge of a country with a much more enticing face to face experi-

ence. Although the presentations are exclusive to the class, 15 seats are open for the general student population. “The International Relations Foreign Guest Speaker Program is essential in promot-ing relations between nations. It adds a new perspective to the students when they come face to face with a govern-ment representative from a country,” stated Mr. Miranda.

Page 2

Foreign Consuls Promote International Awareness Written By: Rachel Aguiar, Amy Avendaño, Eric Corona, Brayan Diaz and Susanna Yepes

Old Cats New Tricks -New Additions To The Pack By: Jeodannys Cabrera, Dayamy Fernandez, Lauren Fuster, Maibel Gonzalez, Nerlys Marzo, Ana Sanchez, and Janesy Segui

Westland Hialeah Senior High has opened its doors to many new staff members this 2011-2012 school year. The new members of the Wildcat family are: Monique De Santana, Curtis Edwards, Janelle Santamarina, Karla Briceno, Gabriela De Francisco, Mayte Debogory, Jeff Eskridge, Claudio Picasso, Naidy Baltodano, and Yusimi Perez. Additionally, some teachers have been assigned to new positions in Westland, such as Irledia Martinez (Testing Chair), and Arlene Socorro (Journalism).

The biggest addition to the school has been the dance class which students were desperately awaiting. Of course, with a new dance class and a brand new dance room, comes a new dance teacher, Ms. Karla Briceno. Ms. Briceno came from Coral Gables Senior High at which she taught for five years and coached for ten. She began dancing when she was nine years old at Ballet Concerto Studios and obtained her B.A in dance at Florida International University. “I chose to teach dance, to share an art form with students so they know what it’s like to express themselves” said Ms. Briceno. Another change made, was the addition of the new band director, Mr. Curtis Edwards. Mr. Ed-wards has been teaching for 25 years and was previ-ously a teacher at Doral Middle School. He has many new ideas for this school year and plans to motivate students to learn and participate in marching band, jazz band, concert and symphonic band. “What I really want to do is the Festival of Bands”, said Mr. Edwards.

With the new school year, changes brought a new testing chair, Mrs. Martinez. She has worked at West-land for 5 years, as a journalism and English teacher, but has recently been promoted as the new testing chair. Martinez said, “It’s a challenge having this new job but eventually I expect it to get better. Her goal is for the school to score better in testing areas. Along with this change in position, her previous positions as a journal-ism teacher and yearbook teacher have been reas-signed. Ms. Arlene Socorro took over journalism and Ms. De Francisco as the new yearbook teacher.

In addition, to all the new Wildcats joining our family this year, we have a new media specialist, Mr. Claudio Picasso. "I came from Corporate Academy North, an al-ternative school that recently closed down along with five others", said Mr. Picasso. He enjoys his job because he generally loves to learn. He said he is hoping to make new changes throughout the school, such as bringing more classes, collaborating with more teachers, and placing more emphasis on technology education.

Westland Hialeah is honored to have acquired such great new faculty members. We are all excited with the upcoming year that is sure to bring many more accom-plishments to our school.

Welcome to our Wildcat family!

Finishing the season last year with an 8-6 winning record, the Westland Lady Wild-cats volleyball team is even better. Al-though some of the girls left last year and there are new additions, the girls have not have been affected in a negative way.

“The girls have worked very hard this

summer and I’m very proud of what we have achieved so far,” stated Martha Santana.

The Wildcats began their season with a 4-1 record. The first match was held at home, with a triumphant outcome against their district rivals, the Norland Vikings, in three sets. They also defeated the Jack-

son Generals in four sets. However, the Wildcats ended their winning streak with their third game, in which they were de-feated by Mater Academy another dis-trict rival. The loss was very disappoint-ing, but the girls did-n’t let it get in the way. In the next two games, they defeated North- western and Home- stead both in three sets.

“The volleyball players want to be re-

spected and recognized amongst their peers and community”, said Amanda

Hatem, a setter of the Varsity team. The head coach, Mr. Alex Sosa, has

faith in his girls and says, “I’m very proud of the girls and what they are able to do against other schools with more experience and an established program. They manage to go out there, come together, and compete every sin-gle time.”

One thing is certain, the Lady Wildcats

won’t quit and they will do the best they can to represent their school in the best way possible.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Westland

Hialeah started their first official swim team.

When the head coach, Mrs. Nicole Kentis,

found out, she was ecstatic.

“I was so excited to hear about the swim

team. I used to be a competitive swimmer my-

self and I can share my knowledge with our

swimmers,” confided Mrs. Kentis.

The Wildcat swim team impressed many with

their first match, which was held Tuesday, Sep-

tember 6th. Overall, the boys and girls earned

38 points against Hialeah High and H.M.L.

Page 3

Westland’s Football Program Is Determined To Dominate Written by: Victor Chiong & Ivan Diaz

Bump, Set, Spike! Written by: Diana Alonso

Westland’s First Swim Team Has Arrived! Written by: Julio Fumero

The boys finished in 3rd place while the girls

came in 2nd. The first two boys to score for West-

land were Victor Perez and Christian Ynastrilla;

they came in 2nd and 3rd place respectively in the

50 yard free style. The first two girls were Mirian

Hernandez and Karina Camara, also receiving 2nd

and 3rd place. The MVPs were Yasmany Grand and

Marilee Quintana, contributing to the 38 points

earned. Mrs. Kentis feels that the kids have re-

sponded very well to the new team. “I’m proud of

them, it’s the first year and they’ve done very

well. The organization is difficult; but they find a

way and manage to get rides to their practices in

order to improve,” she commented.

The 2011-2012 school years commenced a prosperous season for the Wildcat foot-ball team as they defeated Mi-

ami Springs Hawks in the first game of the sea-son. The score was 34-21, leaving the Hawks with no chance of catching up in the last quar-ter. Quarterback, Alexi Campoverde , was on fire as he led his teammates towards their first victory.

Although the Wildcats lost the second game to Barbara Goleman, the match was a close call with a margin of 18-12. The Wildcats did not go

The Wildcats quickly recovered from this loss in the third game, defeating Coral Park, 20-17. “Our experience has improved, our mental and physical toughness has improved, but our lack of depth is a major area of concern. The next couple of weeks will tell the character of our team. Beating our two rivals has set the tone for the season,” commented Head Coach, Michael Manasco.

The Wildcats finished the 2011 season 4-6, with high hopes for the upcoming spring training sea-son!

school year are, but not limited to, Toys for Tots, and a canned food drive.

Therefore, Wildcats this infor-mation can help you complete all community service hours. Students, don’t let this oppor-tunity pass you by!

Students are always running late when it comes to doing their commu-nity hours. Either they don’t have enough hours or they haven’t started acquiring them. The most common reason is that it’s difficult to find a non profit organization. Well, the wait is over! Here are some locations to accomplish your required hours to satisfy that graduation requirement.

Furthermore , if time is of the es-sence, why not volunteer at school? Westland clubs offer something dif-ferent for everyone. A popular choice is Key Club, sponsored by Mrs. Cor-dova. Key Club offers community ser-vice hours throughout the year. Some

of the activities planned for this

Having Fun While Satisfying Graduation Requirements! By: Laura Gomez & Abraham Zaldivar

C O L L E G E C O R N E R . . . M A K I N G T H E R I G H T C H O I C E S ! B Y : G A B R I E L A R A N G O , D I A N E L Y S C A M P O S , A S H L E Y H E R R I N G , Y E N I F F E R N U N E Z

Do you have a desire to attend a great university once you have finished your high school career? Our inter-view with the CAP advisor, Mrs. Myrna Bromfield will enlighten you on your fun road to a post-secondary school career as she answers questions in the follow-ing Q & A .

What are the requirements ?

“At least ‘B’ average is needed in order for a univer-sity to consider taking you in. ACT and SAT scores are also important, scores like a 1300 SAT and 29 ACT . Community hours are needed as well, the required amount of hours is 100.”

How much does an application usually cost? How can I have this price reduce? “It is around 30-70 dollars per application. Neverthe-less if you have free or reduced lunch you can have the price removed completely by a waiver. Kids can always pick up a waiver in my office.”

If you are not sure where you are going to attend a college or university here are some choices for you. If you wish to stay within the state, see the table for all requirements to Florida’s top schools.

San Lazaro Catholic Church 4400 W 18th Ave Hialeah, FL 33012 Person to Contact: Sister Olga Vilar Telephone No.: (305) 556-1717

JFK Library 190 West 49th Street Hialeah, FL 33012 Email: jfklib@hialeahahfl.gov Telephone No.: (305)821-2700

EPI (Early Prevention & Intervention Youth Program) Person to Contact: William Sanchez Telephone No.: (305)6872650

Hialeah Middle School YMCA 6027 East 7th Avenue, Hialeah, FL 33013 Telephone No. :(305) 681-3527

Here are some opportunities within the community to obtain service hours

How much does a four year college usually cost? “Tuition alone is about $5,500 dollars in a public school, $30,000 in a private. Scholarships are given to students with good merits (outstanding GPA, good test scores) and financial aid is given to students with financial needs. Simply tell them your parent’s or guardian’s income and if it is relatively low, then you might qual-ify for it.”

Is it true that you send seniors e-mails which give them tips of on how to do all these things properly? If so, how can students get these e-mails?

“Yes, this is correct. All they have to do is send me their e-mail at Bromfield@dadeschools.net and I will send them every-thing they need.”

After reading up on certain college aspects, you might feel more interested in college. You can always get more information on this topic at the college club. For more details , you can see Mrs. Cordova in room 228 or Mrs. Rodriguez in the activities of-fice.

Universities UM FAU USF FIU FSU UF

Deadline November 1st February 15th November 1st December 1st November 1st November 1st

GPA summer

fall

3.5 3.03

3.23

3.28

3.64

3.20,

3.40

3.4

3.7

3.9

4.1

SAT (all three sec-tions) plus writing

1360 -2100 1420-1570 1520-1720 1450-1530 1670-18710 1670-1960

Financial aid deadline February

1st

March

1st

March

1st

March

1st

March

1st

March 15th

Honors program re-quirements

1360 SAT ; ranked top 5% of your graduating class

3.8 GPA;

1800 SAT (all 3 sections)

or 27 ACT

3.8 GPA;

1300 SAT

29 ACT

3.5 GPA;

1850 SAT,28 ACT

4.2 GPA;

1970 SAT,29 ACT

4.0 GPA;

2070 SAT or 33 ACT