The C.H.A.T September Issue 2019-20

THE C.H.C. STAFF Caroline Kadir Editor-in-Chief

Rebekah Jacob Managing Editors - Content & Layout Charter Daily News Ariana Ortiz Web Managing Editor Maxine Martinez Business Manager Mr. J. Foreman - Layout Mr. F. Fagen - Content Mr, J. Foreman - Video Advisors

Student Life: Pg.

Mr. P. Bayer Principal Alan Mathew News Editor Kiersten Warren Student Life Editor -Technology Editor -Clubs Editor Michael Muela Sports Editor Maxine Martinez Features Editor

Student Life Pines Charter is Reborn Charter Corner: “How Do We Feel About the Bahamas?”

Lifes Senior Survival Guide Down For

Sophia Cortes Entertainment Editor Brianna Butler Lifestyle Editor Rachel Rivera Voices Versus Violence Editor Nicole Llanes Community Outreach Andres Alfonso - The CHAT Nicholas Amad - Web Photo Editors Justin Pierce Graphics Editor CONTENT STAFF: Caroline Kadir, Rebekah Jacob, Nicole Llanes, Ariana Ortiz, Rachel Rivera, Mia Mateo, Samantha Miragliotta, Maxine Martinez, Kiersten Warren, Paula Lillquist-Rodriguez, Morgan Lind, Andres Alfonso, Alan Mathew, Sophia Cortez, Brianna Butler, Samantha Cruz, Michael Muela, Sebastian Alvarez, Gabriela Carvajal, Kimani Dodd, Joshua Lasarte, Mariana Riano

Features From Student to Star 20th Anniversary Profiles: Who’s Been Here for 20 Years?

Clu Best Key

LAYOUT STAFF: Caroline Kadir, Rebekah Jacob, Megan Ingram, Hailey Watson, Zeshan Zubair, Monica Lozada, Natalie Fernandez, Valerie Verga PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF: Andres Alfonso, Nicholas Amad, Bryan Lara, Natali Brito, Megan Ingram, Jeinily Bencon, Yoko Witkowski, Aijah Harper, Francesca Brito GRAPHICS STAFF: Justin Pierce, Henry Severe, Jasmin Bleus, Rosa Gomez, Carolina Othon, Matthew Morales-Galdamez, Dominick Zarcadoolas, Shane Wooden, Jaxen Wyborny CARTOONIST: Mariana Riano The C.H.A.T. is an official publication of the Pembroke Pines Charter High School (PPCHS). The content of out newspaper is not necessarily the opinions of our advisors and administration. The C.H.A.T. staff welcomes any comments to the editors and/or staff. The C.H.A.T. is a publication of C.H.C. (Charter High Communications) sponsored by the Communications and Technology Department of PPCHS. Pembroke Pines Charter High School 17189 Sheridan Street Pembroke Pines, FL 33331 Phone: 954-538-3700 Email: ppchsnewspaper@gmail.com Twitter: @ppchsnewspaper Instagram: @ppchsnewspaper The CHAT welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed.

The staff reserves the right to edit letters for poor taste, libel, and space. Drop off letters in room C113 or send an email to ppchsnewspaper@gmail.com.

Sports 20 Years, So Many Memories: The Best Records in PPCHS Sports History Preseason Football: New Equipment & First Games

Enterta

Lion King (2019):

Lion Marvelous Supe at SDCC

style to College Admissions Diced

ubs Buddies Club

inment

Technology Riding To The Future: Self-Driving Cars Why Give Hate A Home?

News The Broken Promises From The Government Jags Come Together To Support Bahamas After Dorian

Voices Versus Violence

: If Scar Had Won

erhero Announcements Editorial

Our Voices Vs. Violence

Student Life CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Chat’s Conversation Corner: “How Do We Feel About the Bahamas?”

MIA MATEO

“The hurricane hitting the Bahamas made me feel sad that so many people lost their homes and so many people’s lives are now devastated from this hurricane. If the hurricane hit here I would be very scared because I know that a lot of people weren’t prepared for the hurricane, so it probably would’ve been devastating us too if it hit us. To help the Bahamas we can donate food, water, and clothes to the drive because they need it more than we do right now.” -Logan Mastrosimone, 9th

STAFF WRITER

“I think it’s crazy, really sad, and unfortunate that “The hurricane hitting the Bahamas the entire island is essentially under water and how is very devastating and very sad and I hope that they can recover soon and get quickly and suddenly it happened, especially since the hurricane just sat on top of the Bahamas for all the resources they need. If the hurhours and just destroyed everything. If the hurriricane hit here I would be very scared cane hit here it would’ve been really scary considand not know what to do but I know with my family, friends, and communi- ering what happened in the Bahamas, thinking that, ty we could come together and get over that would happen to my own house. It’s crazy how houses were flooded all the way up to the second it. To help the Bahamas we can give story, so I’m thankful that it ended up being a close them the resources they need such as call but nothing ended up happening here.” -Kylie water and diapers. We could also help “I feel like the Bahamas was ill-prepared for the Fernandez, 12th them out by giving them comfort and hurricane seeing as a vast majority of the housing hospitality.” -Ryan Reyes, 9th and buildings were made of wood. The prime minister stated that they were supposedly built to withstand up to a category 3 hurricane but Dorian was “I feel devastated about the im“I think that what happened in the Bahama’s is going a category 5 so the outcome was unbearable. I feel mense amount of damage that to be extremely hard to recover from. Since the huras though many people are spreading awareness the Bahamas suffered, especially ricane was so strong when it hit it didn’t matter if they which is really helpful for the residents there and because many people lost parts of public figures like Tyler Perry have been contribut- their property and connection with were prepared or not; either way the end result was horrible. We all need to come together to help stabilize ing their own private efforts by escorting people family and friends. I would feel out of the Bahamas and shipping materials there. I sad since I wouldn’t want anyone, the Bahama’s again. I think it would’ve had a similar know a lot of people here in Florida have either do- especially people I know, to experi- impact because there is no way to prevent all of that nated money or supplies which is much needed due ence the extreme effects of a strong damage or be 100% prepared.” -Lily McCormick, 10th to the catastrophic effects of this natural disaster.” hurricane.” -Gabriel Ortiz, 11th Graphic By: Henry Severe -Melissa Lewis, 10th

Chat’s Conversation Corner: Senior Privilege A Blessing Or A Curse?

SAMANTHA MIRAGLIOTTA STAFF WRITER

“As a senior, I still have to come in early to school because of my siblings, but I think that the seniors should be allowed to get their Senior Privilege. After spending four years at charter I think that the senior privilege is a great way to recognize us for our hard work.”

-Alyssa Miragliotta (12th) “I think it's fair and justified they have been here for 4 years it’s time they get recognition as they are going to be graduating.”-Jessica Adan (11)

“I think it’s great that we have more time to get to school and be more mentally prepared for the day to come. I believe we can have more time to efficiently get to school now without a worry of being late.”-Constanza Jara (12th)

“I do mind that the fact that seniors get special privileges, because I don't like that seniors can skip homeroom. I think overall it break in the morning could prove to be beneficial, but on the other hand the time they miss could be of better use like studying and homework.”

-Francesca Dellostraloga (10th)

Photos By: Andres Alfonso

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Student Life

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Pines Charter is Reborn Pines charter has officially been open

for 20 years, and within these years have come change, knowledge, and growth.

However, the most recognizable changes would have to be our current school year, 2019-2020. Recent circumstances, such as the ongoing shootings and bomb threats, have not only raised questions in the county and the state, but our school privately.

Administration is constantly asking for ways to better the lives of our children, and help them reach their potential. Although the precautions being made are to better the lives and safety of the students, many have wavering outlooks on this upcoming school year.

The change that has impacted the students the most are schedules. The time in between classes was cut from 7 minutes to 6, and while it may seem small, it has brought on some difficulties. Many students have to run from U building to S, and with the current traffic in the hallways and stairways, many are late to class. However, homeroom was now moved to before first period, and students can now use this to their advantage. It now serves as a time to study, do any homework that was forgotten, or even take a nap. In addition, a new precaution was placed on homeroom.

Students now can’t leave class, except for the bathroom. These changes however, were made to have students in a set location, instead of roaming around in the halls if something were to happen. One student, the junior Sumedha Marri stated, “It’s too much, the fact that homeroom’s first period because we can’t do anything, we’re just stuck inside. It’s a random change, a waste of time and I don’t like it.” However, for seniors, this homeroom change is a godsend. They now have senior privilege and can come to school by 7:50, after homeroom ends. Rosa Gomez commented, “ Homeroom being first pe-

NICOLE LLANES STAFF WRITER

riod is amazing. Senior privilege lets me gets an extra hour of sleep without being marked late.” Although students have wavering emotions on homeroom being first period, it has caused immense safety.

Along with restrictions being added to homeroom, some have also been added to lunch. During lunch students were able to roam all around the school. Recently however, the only areas to go during lunch are the cafeteria, outside seating area, fountain, and breezeways in between. This change was made by administration to have everyone in one place. With faculty having everyone in one area, it makes it easier to maneuver them from one place to another, in an orderly fashion.

Dress downs being called off is yet another change being made this year. Many other schools give their students the ability to dress in whatever they want, and the students at charter see this as an issue. Sophomore Nia Daniel expressed, “I believe dress downs shouldn’t be banned because it gives kids a chance to express themselves by wearing their own clothes instead of a uniform. I understand this is a security issue, but a more realistic solution would be to just have us wear our IDs on dress down days. In reality, schools like West Broward are able to wear whatever they want every day. It’s unfair.” However, uniforms serve as one of the easiest and quickest ways to identify outside threats. They allow administrators to see who is and isn’t a student, showing who may or may not be a threat. With students dressing down in whatever they choose to wear, it would be difficult to identify who truly attends Charter. This also highlights another recent addition: mandatory IDs. Many students are accustomed to wearing IDs on lanyards, and if they went to one of the middle school campuses, this

Senior Sunrise

was mandatory. In high school however, this rule wasn’t mandatory, it was only a rule to keep your ID in your backpack.

This year, wearing an ID around your neck is mandatory as a safety precaution and for more awareness of students and staff. Administration made a comment on the addition of mandatory IDs. Mrs. Wheeler, who works as attendance in the front office stated, “IDs are a great addition to the school. Everything is kept in order through them. Plus, students are much easier to identify and tell who’s who.” Also, the back of the IDs have a crisis text line in case students are dealing with anything and need someone to talk to. Samantha Lowe, a sophomore, stated, “The IDs do have resources in case you’re stressing out, or dealing with anything you don’t want to talk about.” Both IDs and uniforms allow students to be identified quicker, enable easier safety, and resources if they need help.

Along with the school’s new precautions and rules made, new additions were added to the school. Fences now line the student parking lot, along with the parking lot in between the field and outdoor basketball court. Freshman Jaylene Sarai stated, “The fences around our school takes away the feeling of being in school and makes it feel more like a prison.” This addition however, was added for safety purposes.

In the mornings last year, students would cut in front of the buses and cars. Cars unaware of the students could pull forward and accidently hit them. Now however, they must walk along the sidewalk to school. Although this may add to the walk, it adds to their safety. The last addition is the center of the school, one of the most well-known spots on campus, the fountain. Recently it was upgraded from cement to a glossier gray stone. This color

Photos Donated By: Kelsey St.Louis

Photos By: Yoko Witkowski change is major, since it has never happened in the 20 years it has been opened.

Within 20 years the school has been open, the school has certainly gone through many changes. Some of the most significant changes have been made apparent this upcoming school year. As society changes, PPCHS seems to change as well. While each change elicits a different reaction, the school is always looking out for our safety in the long run. Through all of these years, every school year has been successful, and we have no reason to think this year will go any different.

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Student Life

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Congratulations Class Of 2019

Photos By: Andres Alfonso

FEATURES

Where do you See Yourself

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

SAMANTHA CRUZ STAFF WRITER

20 Years?

”I want to be able to support myself financially so I don’t have to be indebted to anyone or any school or anything like that.

Also, if I make good money I want to pay it back to my parents for raising me and pushing me. I want to be like genuinely proud of my accomplishments and I want to be able to look back on the last 34 years of my life and be happy with how and who I spent them with.” - Freshman Rebecca Lim “In 20 years I hope to see myself having finished college with a high degree, afterwards, a successful career with good pay. I hope to be married with a few kids not many and a small dog. I hope to be happy and always be able to enjoy time with my family and friends.” - Freshman Jeylah Valdes “In 20 years I would’ve have already finished college and already started my career. The career I’m trying to get into is a nursing anesthetic. I hope I don’t have student loans if I do then I’ll pay those. I see myself having a nice simple life.

Saving lives is something I enjoy doing an anesthetics isn’t much but it’s something I would enjoy doing.” - Senior Andrew Sandoval

“How would I see myself? Possibly having a family two or three kids. Being part of a teaching or psychological career. Coming home to my family and being happy with the love of my life and playing videos games with my kids showing them Minecraft and Mario. I would see myself happy and satisfied with my life” - Sophomore Gabriel Guerrero-Cortes

“In 20 years, I see myself married with two kids. Hopefully, economically stable with two dogs. I hope I have traveled half of the world. I just want to be living my life to the fullest with a family of my own.”Sophomore Juliana Muñoz “In twenty years I see myself as a professional dancer. I’d love to be choreographing dances to students and touring around with a singer. It would be a dream to dance with Ariana Grande and her backup dancers Brian and Scott. And I hope one day I can start making some of my own music and touring around with back up dancers of my own.” Junior Kaylee Talbert

“I can’t really see myself 20 years into the future. In all honesty, I am the type of person who freaks out just thinking about it. But if I could choose my future though I would hope that I have a bachelor›s or master›s degree in computer analysis and or computer forensics and I am not in debt. Hopefully I have a stable job and am engaged or married with a child or two.” Senior Isabel Lara “I see myself in the first stages of starting a family with someone that I would do anything for. My wife and I would be in steady jobs with a comfortable income and trying to live life and enjoy everything it has to offer.

Maybe I’ll get a job as a voice actor because I’m told I have a good speaking voice. The idea is to have a family started, be able to not only support my family and myself, but be able to afford items that most would say make you privileged like a nice sports car, and lastly to help others and be loved by most for my heart and live an enjoyable life” - Junior Michael Rueda

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FEATURES CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

20 Years Later: Q&A With ALAN MATHEW NEWS EDITOR

Q. T

his being the obvious question, how many years have you been at Charter?

Kapela: Since the school opened in August of 2000. This is my 20th year.

Bayer: This is my 20th year.

HD: 20 years.

Vazquez: This is my 20th year teaching and 23rd year since I started my career.

Coach Luis: It’s been 20 years. I’ve been here since PPCHS opened, so this is my twentieth year.

Sarah Phelps: I’ve been here since PPCHS opened, so this is my twentieth year Graham: This is the start of my 20th year.

Q. W

hat was the first thought that went through your head when you realized it’s been 20 years?

Kapela: It doesn’t feel like it’s been 20 years, very surreal.

Bayer: I’ve been seeing it coming. It wasn’t a surprise actually. I was excited, it felt like a milestone, but it was a more of milestone last year, at 19 years, because I realized I’d been here longer than of the students had been alive. [20 years] is kind of a neat marker, though.

HD: Oh, wow, I’m old.

Vazquez: It does not feel like it at all. It’s gone by really fast. I remember my first year like it was just yesterday.

Coach Luis: Man, I’m old.

Graham: Where’s time gone?

Q. W

hat attracted you to the school in the first? And what’s kept you here?

Kapela: The small school feel compared to public county schools. [Also,] I feel I have made a niche for myself here at Charter, so why leave?

Bayer: My own children went K-12 at Charter, and my wife was actually an associate back in the day when [my children] were really little, so it’s always kind of been our family business- it’s been our whole lives revolving around this school for so long. And there have been so many positive things.

Photo By: Natali Brito

HD: I was looking for a better school

system than what was around me for my children. I stayed because this is my community, I believe in our mission, and [I] would not want my children anywhere else. My department co-workers are an extension of my family.

Vazquez: Well, it was a brand new school. And, when we were here with administration, it was very much a collaborative effort. It was all about working together, helping each other, really having students as a priority, and just figuring out new approaches to a positive educational environment. And all the mentoring and sharing too.

Coach Luis: I chose to be here because I knew there was going to be a club swim team that was going to be run out of here, so I wanted to be a part of that also. I think it’s been a learning experience for me as well as the kids. It’s been a really good experience. Of course, it gets tiring after a while, but that’s what the off-season is for: to rest and get back to work.

P: From the beginning, it’s felt like a family, and although faces have changed over the years, and I do miss people who have left us, it still feels like a family... like home. Teaching is an art in progress, not just a battery of regimented tests and systems, and while we do have to keep up with tests and systems, we still honor and prioritize lifelong learning, the art of teaching, and the value of human connection.

Sarah Phelps: From the beginning, it’s felt like a family, and although faces have changed over the years, and I do miss people who have left us, it still feels like a family... like home. Teaching is an art in progress, not just a battery of regimented tests and systems, and while we do have to keep up with tests and systems, we still honor and prioritize lifelong learning, the art of teaching, and the value of human connection.

Graham: Living in the city of Pembroke Pines, wanting better schools for our area.

For every home that was coming in place,

Photo By: Yoko Witkowski we needed more schools. We were overseen by Broward schools, and I worked for Broward Schools for 10 years when [I came to work here]. Smaller sizes --class sizes-- kept me here. Working for the city, not the county, too, because of the benefits.

Q. I

f you had to, in a sentence or less, what’s your favorite thing about the school?

Kapela: Having a strong history in one place, the fact I can look back and see how much has changed.

Bayer: The slushies- no, I’m kidding.

My favorite things about the school are the students and the staff because, you know, it’s a beautiful campus and it’s a really neat program, but the people are what make it work and make it special.

HD: I love the [community here and the] profession [overall] and hope that I can continue to guide students to learn about and appreciate science- and maybe go on to pursue a degree in science.

Vazquez: My favorite thing about the school is the culture- the sort of family culture that we have that isn’t just between students but [is also between] administration and teachers. Just that unified cultural feeling.

Coach Luis: [Mainly], I think they’re good kids- I like a lot of kids I have, kids that have been here; all of them have really, genuinely been good kids, and I can appreciate that.

P: I love the fact that I’m part of a supportive community -- that I work with people whom I trust, care about, and respect, and who are all unified in their efforts to connect with students, yet unique in the ways they create their own learning environments.

Sarah Phelps: I love the fact that I’m part of a supportive community -- that I work with people whom I trust, care about, and respect, and who are all unified in their efforts to connect with students, yet unique in the ways they create their own learning environments.

Photo By: Yoko Witkowski

Q. W

hen the school first started, what were some of the biggest challenges?

Kapela: When you start at a new school you adapt to the preexisting culture, but in 2000 the school did not have one, we were all starting from scratch.

Plus, we had a number of students that weren’t happy about being part of this new school; they rebelled.

Bayer: The first couple years it was educating people on what a Charter school even was and getting them to wear uniforms. I mean kids were angry about that.

You know, just creating a culture because there wasn’t any before.

HD: Before we had an interesting mix of students those first couple years. Getting everybody used to wearing uniforms so they wouldn’t complain about wearing them anymore was difficult.

Vazquez: All of it was new. We had kids that came from other schools that didn’t necessarily want to be here. Just kind of getting them on board in this particular new place was the challenge.

Coach Luis: My experience has always been, you know, a lot of kids that don’t know how to play the sport of water polo.

That’s the biggest challenge. To teach someone who knows nothing about the sport and has maybe not even seen it before, to teach them the fundamentals, starting with swimming.

Graham: Some of the biggest challenges we had were increasing our numbers each year, going through our lottery process,

Photo By: Andres Alfonso

FEATURES CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Charter’s Day 1 Jags which was established for our charter schools.

Q. D

o you feel like we’ve overcome them today?

Kapela: Definitely, Charter is a very unique community, and I feel students are proud of their school.

Bayer: This was pretty much a swamp, and so we had to create this culture out of nothing. But I do believe we’ve overcome that.

HD: Well before we didn’t have things like our feeder schools and what we’ve built today at Charter, so I do definitely think we’ve overcome those earlier issues.

Vazquez: Oh, absolutely. It’s not a challenge anymore. The behavior issues and the attitudes of young teenagers is just different. I think it’s just the longevity of the Charter system. Now that kids have been in [the K-12 system] for so many years in a row, I think they appreciate it and own it. Like: “This is our school.” They have a different attitude for the place, the people, how you treat things here.

Coach Luis: With sports, I think you have to take what you get and make the best of it. Like I said, most of these are really good kids, and they’re here for a reason, so they get along like everybody else.

Graham: It was to keep some of our class sizes to a minimum when some of the Broward county school’s numbers were outrageous.

Q. W

hat are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen over the years?

Kapela: With 20 years to look back on, it feels the changes were very evolutionary, one change naturally lead to another. The

Photo By: Andres Alfonso

best part is that it is always changing. But the biggest change has been forced upon us, and that is security. The profession of teaching will never be the same.

Bayer: Growth. I mean there was about 511 or 520 kids when we first opened, and we were eventually supposed to eventually get to a 1,000. Now, we’re at 2,132 kids I think, so we overshot that by a whole bunch.

HD: I think over the years we’ve [been able to perfect] everything: our course selection, our philosophy, our sports. We do seem to continue to experiment with homeroom- I hope we get it right this year.

Vazquez: I guess the rigor of the curriculum and just how much we expanded the AP [classes] and Cambridge. I feel like that’s pushed everything to a higher level. I would say that that’s an overall, overarching kind of change. In the beginning, we only had a handful of AP classes, but it’s certainly grown dramatically over the last 20 years. Even over the last 5, 10 years, we’ve added so many high level courses.

Coach Luis: Honestly, I feel I’ve more support over the amount of years I’ve been here. Support from the faculty, the students, from everybody. The longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve gotten. Last year, I got two assistant coaches, and that’s really awesome. I didn’t have that for many years. I finally got the courage to ask, and they gave me [two]. That may not have happened ten years ago. So it’s gotten better for me.

P: We’ve been through a lot of changes over the years that have helped us to grow, such as the expansion of our campus with the U building, River of Grass, and middle school; the incorporation of new clubs; and the extension of our class periods with the A/B block hybrid that allows us more sustained time with our students. There are other changes that I understand, but certainly don’t love -- changes that we’ve had to make out of necessity as we’ve watched new threats develop in the world around us.

Sarah Phelps: We’ve been through a lot

of changes over the years that have helped us to grow, such as the expansion of our campus with the U building, River of Grass, and middle school; the incorporation of new clubs; and the extension of our class periods with the A/B block hybrid that allows us more sustained time with our students. There are other changes that I understand, but certainly don’t love -- changes that we’ve had to make out of necessity as we’ve watched new threats develop in the world around us.

Graham: We’ve gotten more and more well experienced teachers in a lot of subjects, like math or science.

Q. I

f you had to pick a favorite change, what would it be?

Kapela: I am loving our new morning homeroom. Considering we have to start so early, it is nice to have a little morning downtime before the first class. It’s great for the students and teachers.

Bayer: I think it’s the culture and climate that we’ve come to. There’s so many things like ringing the bell and throwing your shirts in a tree. The traditions. The Jaguar Pride award. Those are things that other schools don’t do that are uniquely Charter.

HD: I like that although we have grown in numbers since we first opened, we are still a small school compared to other area high schools. There is more of a sense of belonging here.

Vazquez: For me, the whole arts that we have available, with Frank and Studio 18.

That expanding of the community environment.

P: I love those changes, as I loved the addition of my sister to our faculty (especially that I get to work across the hall from her), and as I love the new groups of students I am so fortunate to meet and interact with each changing year.

Sarah Phelps: I love those changes, as I loved the addition of my sister to our faculty (especially that I get to work across the hall from her), and as I love the new groups of students I am so fortunate to

Photo By: Nicholas Barcelo

meet and interact with each changing year.

Graham: Probably adding our middle school and increasing our numbers. We’re now grades 6-12. We started with 9 and 10, and 14 years later we added the middle school.

Q. A

nd in the coming years, are there any changes you’d still like to see?

Kapela: With the exception of AP and Cambridge, I would welcome a reduction in standardized testing.

Bayer: Maybe not changes but further evolutions, perhaps. I’d like to see more successes and [continuations] of that pattern, of that upward trend we have for the students and the staff.

HD: Maybe a big science wing, so we could expand even more. Maybe a bigger basketball stadium too.

Vazquez: I would like to see more opportunity for teachers to share and interact across departments. It would, I think, be beneficial for everyone to just see what different teachers and different departments are doing, [as well as] sharing our educational innovations. I think that helps us continue to stay progressive and stay on top of what’s really working and keeping students engaged.

Coach Luis: Honestly, because there’s a middle school that’s connected to the high school now, I’d really love to have some outreach to the middle school kids. I could figure out how to get middle school kids interested in the sport of water polo and swimming. [That way], when they’re here in high school, they have an idea what the sport is [and that might spark interest].

Graham: They need to bring back some of the vocational for some of the high school students because not everyone’s college bound or can’t go to college or don’t have the finances to go to college.

And we still need all these important people in the working world today.

Photo By: Andres Alfonso

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10 FEATURES

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

20 Years of CHATting MAXINE MARTINEZ & ARIANA ORTIZ

T

he CHAT has been part of PPCHS tradition since the beginning years of the school’s opening, each issue telling the story of what it has been like to be a student at Charter. The job of a newspaper is to capture the important events taking place at any given moment. If you put down different issues of a newspaper you can see how each individual story may evolve from one point in time to the next; simultaneously, one can see how the newspaper itself develops.

Perhaps one of the most obvious yet influential changes that the CHAT underwent came into play in 2010, which is when the newspaper transitioned from paper copies to digital. “It’s more efficient having it online because anybody can access it, whereas paper is bulkier and harmful to the environment,” expressed Molly Masson, a sophomore.

This alteration in how students and administrators can access the paper has subsequently transformed the contents of it as well. Stories often became outdated by the time the school received the print copies of the paper. Now, with the digital version, the CHAT is able to publish the paper as often as possible, keeping stories up to date with current events. For a few years, the CHAT was publishing both the print and the digital paper. Mr. Bayer commented that “I have been amazed at how far the layout, photo editing, and

FEATURES EDITOR & WEB MANGING EDITOR

even the writing have come over the past 20 years!” These evolvements can be accredited perhaps to some of the most popular forms of communication that have popped up in recent years.

21st-century news outlets have also turned to online publications, as a result, it seems that news has become bolder, brighter and more inclusive. The CHAT is no different. As Mr. Bayer mentioned, the school newspaper has made many changes in terms of our writing and layout. Now, more than ever do visuals play a major factor in the stories told. Scanning through the pages, eyes are drawn to the photos and graphics scattered around each page. Perfectly complementing the stories the writers spent so long working on. Junior Bradi Stewart says, “I think the CHAT sometimes resembles a magazine because it appeals to a younger audience and it is more expressive in ways that a newspaper is not.” Stories which are now more widespread, in terms of life outside of Charter.

In 2002, the CHAT was under the supervision of Mr. Hidalgo and Mr. Simon.

In 2003, the current advisor, Mr. Fagen, took over for Mr. Hidalgo and teamed up Mr. Simon as the backbone of the CHAT. The newspaper was running under the guidance of Mr.Fagen and Mr. Simon for many years until 2014 where the paper underwent a major change. Now a digital

paper, the newspaper photography and layout was taken over by Mr. Harris.

The most recent change in the CHAT’s advisors comes with the shift from Mr. Harrison to Mr. Foreman just this year.

Mr. Foreman now advises all layout and photos for the paper.

When the paper first began, the only sections included were Student Life, Features, Entertainment, News, and Editorials. As the climate of writing and our society has changed, the CHAT has transitioned along with it. The Technology section was introduced in 2010 as our society became geared towards a tech world. Now, our technology section features a number of stories every issue about the latest and greatest technology in the modern world. Another section added only in 2018, is called Voices Versus Violence and focuses on giving students a voice in the midst of a society, seems to be filled with hate. After the shooting so close to home at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the CHAT staff knew that we had to combat the violence the best way we know-how. VVV covers tragic events such as school shootings but also works with the student body to voice their opinion on recent events. It also looks within the community and around the country for what people are doing to tackle violence. The Lifestyle section was added in 2013 to relate to student’s every-

day teenage life. Lifestyle talks about everything from recipes, exercise plans, mental health, and fashion.

Although the CHAT has evolved over time, the heart and soul of the newspaper has remained the same. From the beginning, the CHAT has been about the students and what they want to know.

Every Issue the CHAT is working on including as many students as possible and writing stories that are geared towards the students and their everyday lives. Mr. Fagen, the CHAT advisor commented, “ We’ve realized that if we try and report on something that’s breaking news, it’s going to be old by the time it comes out, so we’re really focused on writing stories that are really compelling and full of detail and that make people stop and think. That’s really the challenge with our class, to write those types of stories rather than stories that people already know everything about.” The newspaper has consistently strived to write captivating stories and will always be looking for the next best idea.

The CHAT has told about 20 years’ worth of PPCHS history, but at the end of the day, the newspaper itself is one gigantic story. From its change in appearance to its type of content, the CHAT has continuously adapted to the times, and will continue to do so for at least another 20 years to come.

Photo By: Andres Alfonso

FEATURES CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

From Student to Star

Ms. Alongi

KIMANI DODD STAFF WRITER

I

n 2009, Ms. Alongi graduated from PPCHS, a couple of years and degrees later she once again is back roaming the halls of Charter, this time as a history teacher.

Every person has their reason or inspiration for choosing their profession. For Ms. Alongi, PPCHS played an immense role in her decision to become a teacher. She looked to her teachers for inspiration: Ms. Sunshine Phelps, Mrs. Sarah Phelps, Mrs. Santiago, Mrs. Hernandez-Davis, Ms. Schmidt, Ms. Yanez and Mr. Kapela. Now she has joined the ranks of people helping

to mold the minds of younger generations.

“The biggest difference is the relationship with administration and the teachers. Another change is the addition of the AICE classes and the increased amount of students taking them. It truly shows how difficult it has become to get into college,” she expressed. The education she received from PPCHS helped to shape her undergraduate and her graduate school experience. Thanks to her time at Charter, she has found a career that has made her story a success.

MORGAN LIND

David X. Rodriguez

In

STAFF WRITER

2007, David X Rodriguez graduated from Pembroke Pines Charter High School, and now has a growing business and brewery near Wynwood. After graduating, David moved on to FIU, studying mass communications and journalism.

Throughout his time at FIU, he wrote for the school newspaper called, “The Beacon,” but he quickly figured out that journalism was not something he was particularly interested in. He then entered into the industry of management, and volunteered

at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, which ended up giving him the idea for his now successful company, “Wynwood Brewing”. Volunteering and trying different things is what allowed him to create big ideas and execute them into becoming a reality. Rodriguez stated, “Be active in clubs, meet new people… [and] there’s a good chance that they can help you progress in your future career.” Since Charter, David has worked hard to get to where he is now, and his hard work has paid off.

Dani Norton

NICOLE LLANES

C

STAFF WRITER

harter opened in 2000 with its first freshman class, then in 2004 had its first graduating class of seniors. In this graduating class stood Daniele Jane Norton, who has always had a love and passion for dance. She came back to her roots and started teaching at Charter. She was known as Ms. Norton to the staff, but as a role model to all her students. She embodied compassion, charisma, and most importantly determination. Today she’s

dancing alongside Maluma, a Latin superstar, in his 11/11 world tour. She’s also been featured in countless music videos.

When asked what her philosophy in life was she stated, “To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful… This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” This quote she lives by comes from Agnes De Mille. Ms. Norton has a legacy at Charter that has outshined her time here.

Domonique Worship

PAULA RODRIGUEZ-LILLQUIST STAFF WRITER

D

omonique Worship, a 2007 Charter alumni, has set high expectations for Charter students. After high school, she attended UF where she majored in political science. Upon graduating in 2011, she attended Harvard University where she studied law until 2014. In 2012, she worked as an intern in Brazil where she created legal strategies for cases brought to the Interamerican Court of Human Rights about prison abuse. In 2017, she started working as an attorney for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Looking back on her career, she says, “PPCHS set a strong foundation for [her] career by helping [her] establish good working hab-

its.” Her rigorous high school schedule has taught her discipline and has helped her build networking experiences that she will have for life. For future graduates she “.. encourage[s] students to give yourself the freedom to explore your interests; you don’t have to have it all figured out at this stage. Your interests will evolve over time, and that’s okay! Just work hard, seek good mentors, and pursue opportunities in your areas of interest (including internships, student organizations, classes, and volunteering), and everything will come together as it should.” Worship’s hard work undoubtedly inspires PPCHS students to venture out their passions.

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FEATURES CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

The school opened with 600 students and only had 9th and 10th grade. The school’s first principal, Ms. Pomerantz, rung the bell for the first time during the grand opening of charter.

2000

SCHOOL OPENED

20 CHAT STAFF

YEARS

2003

FIRST GRADUATING CLASS

Senior square had its grand opening.

2005 2008

FIRST ANNUAL FASHION SHOW

INDIAN DANCE CLUB

2012

students dress patriotic for 9/11

Jags established the first ever Indian Dance Club

2015

2018

softball team goes to states

haanif cheatham commits to dream school

Cheatham committed to Marquette University in basketball

2019

Softball team went to states and won

Troupe 6153 won states

20 OF

Drama Club won states

YEARS

Photos Donated By: Yearbook

Club Kick-off

Best Buddies

Key Club

CLUBS CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Photos By: Jeinily Bencon

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SPORTS CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

20 Years, So Many Memories: The Best Records in PPCHS Sports History SEBASTIAN ALVAREZ

After 20 years of greatness from teams

and individuals practicing to create history at their own school, it would also mark their name in banners hung up in the school gymnasium. From the football team going 7-4, to the girls’ softball team winning the state title, blood and sweat has truly paid off for the Jaguars. But first, the most popular sport with the best attendance in our school: the football team.

In 2011, the football team went on to win 7 games, the most in school history. The team was then coached by now Athletic Director, Coach Steven Bruns. The team’s strength was rushing without a doubt. With a total of 2,828 rushing yards, the school led the district in rushing yards by a large margin. Donaldson Jermey led the team in rushing (1127 rushing yards) in total for the season. The #1 running back in the depth chart had 6 games with at least 130 yards or more of rushing yards; his most being up against West Broward where he went on to rush for 173 yards. This would help the team go 7-4, 3-1 in District 15.

2011-2012 was just exciting and full of adrenaline, Coach Steven Bruns stated, “That season was fun, I mean going to Miami-Dade to face a team that continues to dominate in Miami Central in Regional playoffs that was fun. Every year they dominate, that year we had the privilege to go up against some great competition as they had D1 commits on the team.” And yes, indeed the Jags went to the Playoffs but in the Regional Quarterfinals, lost 71-0 to Miami Central. 8 years later, dif-

STAFF WRITER

ferent team and different result.

The boys’ basketball team made it to Regional Quarterfinals, and they also hosted the game! PPCHS has never hosted a playoff game until the 18-19 season.

The boys’ basketball team made it to the playoffs with Miami Central High visiting. Throughout the season, the Jags went on to go 11-15 overall and 5-3 in their district, a good enough record to boost them into the playoffs. After a long regular season, the Jaguars would first go up against the Stingrays from Miami High, they went on to win that game by a final score of 69-58; this allowed them to advance into the next round vs North Miami.

The big game was full of Jaguar fans who were cheering on for the team, screaming every time their team hit a 3 pointer, and when they would go wild after a fast break score, it was just electrifying! Sophomore Geoffrey Sprouse, Jr. who played for the team, described the atmosphere as “Intense, fans were great, a lot of movement in the crowd, hopefully we do it again this year.” PPCHS wishes the same as Geoffrey, they want another chance to host a playoff game. Freshmen Luis Azar states, “I entered high school visioning a loud atmosphere of a crowd, and boy do I want to be a part of it, so the basketball team better do it again.” A memorable season with players who play with an orange ball would then transfer to a rolling black and white ball.

21-5, the best season for the men’s soccer team in PPCHS. Senior Ashton Coo-

per was part of it and he’ll never forget the season. That year (17/18) carried them all the way to a playoff appearance. The team never lost a game at home, going 12-0 at home. “Home sweet home” was a reality for them. This would lead to a Regional Quarterfinals appearance vs the Jackson Generals from Miami Jackson Senior High School. That game took a lot of sweat and tears out of the players, as the Jags did have a 4-1 lead at first, but blew their lead as the opposing team tied it up at 4. Senior Ashton Cooper said, “We weren’t in the game, and once overtime came around, that’s when our energy dropped.” Both teams couldn’t win in regulation, so a classic penalty-shootout would determine the winner. The Generals won the match. But with a brand new district this year, Ashton hopes to replay the 17-18 season, and go further than they did, even to states. A state championship?

Well, there was a tough team that accomplished that.

The girls varsity softball team was ranked 23rd in the nation and 2nd statewide. If the girls had a choice, they’d obviously make themselves number 1 in the state. Undefeated in their district (4-0) and 26-5 overall, the Jags clinched a spot in the 2018 FHSAA Softball Championship.

There, they would beat TERRA Environmental, Doral Academy, South Fork, and then Fort Myers High, which lead them into the State Championship game. For the whole team, it would be the most memorable game they have ever been a part of.

Eliza Gonazalez, who graduated and was a junior at the time, was named the starting pitcher - and for a reason - coach needed her to throw a complete game since she was the best pitcher they had on the roster. And she did exactly that, with only 1 earned run against a 2nd-seeded team in Niceville High, and with the help of her offense, now led by senior Erika Andal, she secured the win and clinched the State Championship. Junior Stephanie Gonzalez, who is the sister of Eliza, got to see it all, as her big sister threw a complete game. “We both work out together and it paid off as we won a state title. I felt really good seeing her throw the complete game because I was on the team too, I was so proud of her and her performance was needed since it was the state title game.”

The Jags came home with a trophy and most of all, a reputation that they were the best team in Florida.

With this being the 20th anniversary of PPCHS, every sports team wishes to accomplish a lot this year. Lacrosse and golf will be 2 sports the school must keep their eyes on. The Jags should definitely see what our powerful athletes have in store for us. As a matter of fact, the school might have more state titles waiting for them in the 25th anniversary.

State titles that have been marked on banners by individuals and by a whole team have been: Nicole Briceno Tennis (2005), Marc Rojas Swim (2010) Softball state champions (2012, 2014, and 2018).

Graphic By: Rosa Gomez

Preseason Football: New Equipment & First Games After a poor 2-9 season last year, the

football team hopes to bounce back and have a better season. Over the summer, the jags football team received new helmets that complement their new uniforms. The new helmet is matte black with a chrome jaguar on the side of it. These are not just for looks though, they are also safer than the old helmets the football team had.

With all the controversy the NFL has had about concussions and CTE, more football teams are implementing newer, safer helmets to better protect players.

With their new helmets, the jags have also received new jerseys that are white with maroon shoulders and maroon going down their sides. In their first preseason game, the Pines Charter Jaguars defeated Marco Island Academy by a score of 37-8.

Freshman Dylan Escobar believes, “The football team will do amazing this year because we got a bunch of new kids capable of doing everything and anything.”

If this shows anything that is to come, the Pines Charter football team should have a great season this year.

The football team had their first regular season non-conference away game on August 22, facing the North Broward Prep Eagles. Before this game, the Jaguars

JOSHUA LASARTE STAFF WRITER

were ranked 505th in the state, while the Eagles were ranked 251st in the state. The Pines Charter team also has higher expectations for this year because of their new schedule, which is supposedly easier than years prior. The Pembroke Pines Charter Jaguars won their first regular season game with a score of 14-12 over the North Broward Prep Eagles. Joshua Evans was a standout star last night with over 200 hundred yards of total offense and one touchdown.

After scoring his first touchdown of the new season, Joshua Evans - a senior running back - was asked about what was going through his head. Evans stated, “Dylan brought me down the field and I just punched it in.” The Charter defense also had a standout star in Junior Masen Marcellus, who had two sacks in the first half alone. Masen stated, “The first sack was my favorite because it was the biggest hit.” Hopefully these two stars can keep it up all year to not only help Pines Charter get to the playoffs, but also get them into college.

Even though Charter won, it didn’t come easy. The Jags won in very dramatic fashion. With Charter up 14-6, North Broward Prep had one chance to drive down

the field and tie up the game to send it to overtime. The Eagles scored a touchdown on a long pass, cutting the deficit down to two. As North Broward was running out of time, they knew that they had to score on the two point conversion in order to tie.

The Charter defense stepped up and was able to stop the Eagles, securing the win.

With the first game in the books, the Jags are now looking to keep winning and keep working, so that they can reach the high expectations they set for themselves.

Sophomore Diego McClaskey, a middle linebacker, stated, “Working hard so that we can win and keep on winning, our goal was set higher this year and we’re not going to give up until we achieve it.”

The next game for the Jaguars is on Friday September 20, against Coral Springs Charter at home at 7:00 pm.

Photos By: Nico Amad

SPORTS CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

15

The First Meet CHRISTOPHER CASTILLO

Fear. A racing heartbeat, dizziness, a

faint scent of chemicals, a desperate leap, and with the impact, it fades to black. At least, that's how it was for Genesis Hernandez, during her first swim meet in freshman year. As her body entered the water, all those nerves, all that pent up fear, they vanished, and victory was the only thing on her mind. This is the very same experience that the new swimmers of PPCHS’ swim team will go through during the very first Charter swim meet of the year.

Genesis, the nerves never really go away, and every time she steps on that diving board she still gets that lingering sense of vertigo and nervousness, but as someone who has been on the team since their freshman year, she’ll give you a winning smile and say “just shake it out, as soon as you hit the water, you're only thinking of swimming”.

The “pre-meet-jitters” however are absent in the case of swimmer, Anthony Fernandez, who in his own words, has no nerves at all for the upcoming meet, and is more excited than anything else. Anthony

FEATURED WRITER

has been swimming since he was six years old, on and off, and has been to “too many meets to remember them all” however he did not always possess such a confident demeanor towards a meet.

When he was six years old at his very first meet, he was so nervous his teeth were chattering before he even entered the frigid water, and when did manage to dive in, he hit the water with an audible slap, face planting on the pools liquid surface, and on top of it all, his pants fell off!

He laughs at this now, as a reminder of how much he has grown since that point, and advises new swimmers that, when it comes to a meet, try to have fun with it, and too keep pushing their limits, and this is a paragon of the idea that, every pro has to start somewhere.

A prime example as growth is Rafael Roudriguez, who is one of, if not the best, swimmer on the team. Rafael has been swimming for 10 years, and has been to, “way too many meets”, and as anyone who watches him swim can tell, his best stroke is the butterfly. His butterfly is in fact, so fluid, it’s almost hypnotizing to

watch, but this wasn't always the case.

For about a six month period of time, every time he swam the 100m butterfly, he would get disqualified for various reasons, being that his hands didn't enter the water at the same time, or maybe because he didn't finish his stroke the right way. An ordinary swimmer would just give up on this stroke at this point, as there was no overlying factor to tackle, but instead multiple problems, that seemed to boil down to bad luck.

This would be the end of that stroke for any ordinary swimmer, but you don’t become the best at butterfly by being simply ordinary. In order to assure he wouldn't make a simple mistake that would cost him a race again, he focused on every single area of butterfly and tried to perfect the stroke to the best of his ability. In other words, he used his defeats as fuel, in order to become the swimmer he is today.

Every beginner at their first meet feels nerves, and every swimmer faces challenges, but the spirit of a new swimmer is best conveyed in the story of Jenna Legaspi’s first meet. Jenna has been swimming

competitively since age eight, and much like the other more experienced swimmers, can’t wait to get back into the water.

However, if you were to rewind a couple years back, you see a little girl who was so scared she could barely lift her head out of the water. She blacked out, she was so nervous, she didn’t think she was going to do well in the slightest. But as it turns out, according to her father, she did really well, definitely much better than she thought she would.

As it turns out, even the best swimmers had a hard time starting out their first meet, and not one of them thought they were going to ace their first meet, and some of them even carry this feeling of nervousness with them to meets today.

Granted some of the first meet stories are almost comical, but most of them turned out significantly better than expected.

Either way, the first meet for new swimmers, is always unforgettable, and full of surprises.

Photo Donated By: Christopher Castillo

16 ENTERTAINMENT

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

The Lion King (2019): If Scar Had Won MARIANA RIANO CARTOONIST

The Lion King (2019) feels like a fever

dream at worst and a painful reminder of your wasted fifteen dollars at best. At its core, this movie is an attempt to show off how much money Disney can spend.

From expensive but boring visuals to an all-star voice acting cast giving a halfasleep performance, it packs a real “Did I leave my house for this?” punch.

The trend nowadays in animated movies is realism means good - a fad that would make Tom and Jerry hug each other in tears. Though the CGI leaves much to

be desired, the main complaint amongst moviegoers is the lack of facial expressions. Even real lions emote more than Simba did seeing his dad post-stampede.

When you’re not trying to figure out what the characters feel, you’re trying to figure out where they are. The earthy tones of the savannah and its harsh lighting could’ve been used more to make up for the lack of color live action movies have in comparison to 2D animation— but this never happens. Watching “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (2019) is a chore; keeping up with Simba and Nala

as they run through yellow and… even more yellow… is exhausting. It’s upsetting to think about the original, with its explosions of rich reds and deep purples contrasting with Simba’s warm, golden color. In 2012, Disney laid off several 2D animators, including several industry veterans, citing that they were moving towards 3D animation due to the box office success of movies like Bolt and Tangled.

It is blood-boiling to think all of these lost jobs were leading up to a movie with a cost 2.4 times higher than the original with 0.5 of the heart.

Maybe a powerful vocal performance could have made up for the limits of photorealism. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case either. Timon (Billy Eichner) brings just about the only energy in the whole movie, with a mellow excitement that does the little meerkat justice. Easily the best part of the film, he jumps at the opportunity to give Timon a sassy flair, making him both true to the original movie and new in his own right. In contrast, Childish Gambino as older Simba had less of a convincing performance. It’s unfortunate, considering how talented he is, but voice acting isn’t live acting. In many ways, it’s more difficult, especially for someone without experience in it.

There were much livelier performances from other black voice actors on the case,

such as Eric Andre as Azizi, the less bright of the hyenas. He was an absolute blast. As a comedian, he has a lot of experience in changing up his voice for effect, so he arguably would’ve made a better Simba than Gambino did. Yet another example of Disney wasting potential, and only for the sake of having a big name on the movie poster to impress the audience.

Many have argued that the movie should be judged on its own merits. CGI and 2D are two completely different animation styles. Voice-acting isn’t live acting. The list goes on. But this is a remake - one of a critically acclaimed and beloved movie.

I recognize the movie had opportunities to do something interesting, but it took the safest option at every juncture. If the medium or cast couldn’t live up to (let alone build upon) the original, maybe it shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

Hollywood doesn’t seem to understand that spice doesn’t make a dish. The Lion King (2019) either adds too little or dumps the whole shaker in. In the end, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Graphic By: Carolina Othon justjust leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Marvelous Superhero Announcements at SDCC EDITORIAL SOPHIA CORTES

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ts hard to deny that the 2010’s have been Marvel Studio’s decade. With box office hit after box office hit, a worldwide cult following, and officially beating Avatar in being the highest grossing movie of all time with Avengers: Endgame this past summer, it would be much of a surprise to anyone if even the casual movie goer would be nervous about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s previously unforeseen future. After the soul crushing weight from the ending of Endgame slightly lifted off the shoulders of fans, all were left with the one thought that had been in the back of their minds since they sobbingly exited the theater. Now what? Endgame was the culmination of 11 years of not only hard work and dedication from all the creative minds that went into the movies, but also the culmination of many people’s childhoods.

Sure everyone’s favorite neighborhood teen superhero was meant to swing back into theaters with Spider-Man: Far From Home in July, but after that the future of the MCU seemed hazy and unclear, and there was no Doctor Strange in sight to tell fans if they even had one chance of 11 more years of superhero movies.

Many fans were desperately clutching onto hope as they looked forward to the one week all geeks, nerds, and in between look forward to: San Diego Comic Con. SDCC is the world’s largest pop culture convention, and while all eyes and ears

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

are trained on San Diego for just a few days, movie studios and TV producers take the chance to announce their upcoming projects to get the hype rolling. If there was ever a time when fans doubted the future of Marvel, this surely wasn’t it,

of the fans all overjoyed to spend more time with their favorite Russian assassin turned Avenger. Black Widow wasn’t the only film that made fans go crazy - The appearance of the fourth Thor film, Thor: Love and Thunder, made fans get out

as the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige announced out 11 new projects the company was working on. One of the most anticipated announcements, the stand alone Black Widow film, was finally officially announced as Scarlett Johanson herself appeared on stage. The Avengers theme boomed amid the roar

of their seats with cheers, but this time it wasn’t the beautiful blue-eyed god of thunder that made them swoon; he’s back with an old friend. Beloved actress Natalie Portman returns again as Jane Foster, but not as Thor’s scientist love interest this time. In a move that made both comic and movie lovers lose their minds

with happiness, Portman wields Thor’s magical hammer mjölnir, signifying her character’s other persona as Lady Thor finally making a jump from the comic book pages to the big screen. Along with the film announcements, Marvel also released official information on all new Disney+ exclusive shows. Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie return as fan favorites as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, while Tom Hiddleston had the crowd chanting “Loki! Loki!” for a full minute straight after announcing his Disney+ show by the same name.

San Diego Comic Con wasn’t the only event this summer that had heads turning with superhero news. Disney’s D23 Expo featured a plethora of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel announcements.

Along with updates on the alreadyannounced future projects, Marvel also confirmed Black Panther 2, with fans losing their minds once more with excitement, and additional Disney+ shows centered on comic book favorites like Ms. Marvel, She Hulk, and Moon Knight.

Graphic By: Henry Severe

ENTERTAINMENT CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

2000 VS. 2020: Pop Culture PAULA RODRIGUEZ-LILLQUIST STAFF WRITER

y l r a E s ’ 0 0 0 2

Now

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CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Senior Survival Guide to College Admissions ARIANA ORTIZ WEB MANGING EDITOR

T

rying to get all your college applications in order can be super stressful and confusing. It can get super overwhelming when looking at all the different application methods, essay requirements, and recommendation needs. No need to fear! This survival guide is here to address and solve all your college application concerns!

Early Decision vs. Early Action Each senior looking to enroll in an undergraduate pro-

gram must choose if they want to go for early decision or early action. You may be thinking: I have never heard these words in my life, what do I choose? Senior Dylan Toledo says “I really need help figuring out where to start with my applications, and how to go about applying.”

Early decision is a binding admission. You will choose one school and apply early (by November). This school has to be your first choice college because if you decide to go with early decision you must attend that school.

Early decision application will receive an admission decision usually by December, which is much earlier than all other decisions. The only time the contract can be broken is when the student is not given an adequate financial aid package. If the student chooses to apply to other colleges, they must withdraw all other applications if accepted for early decision. Early Action is a lot less restrictive. With Early Action students will also apply early and receive their admission decisions early in the year (January or February). Senior Valerie Samosky says “I probably won’t apply for either ED or EA because I still don’t know exactly what college I want go to for sure, so I am keeping my options open.” What separates EA from ED is that students are able to consider their acceptances and choose the college they wish to attend by May 1. If you are set on which college you wish to attend, early decision could be for you. If you are conflicted and want to keep your options open, you may want to go with early action.

Which app do I choose?

I

f you have researched colleges at all, you will know that there are two main ways that makes applying to college a breeze: Common Application and Coalition Application. Both apps have the same intent, to make applying to college easy and accessible for all students.

These apps will gather all the data you need to apply for the schools you select and make the application process ten times easier by eliminating the need to separately compile applications for each school. While both have the same goal, Common App offers a wider selection of colleges with almost 900 institutions offered. The instate colleges the Common App offers are University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, and many more. Senior Victor Acevedo says “I am going to use Common App for my applications because it has all my top colleges like FSU and UCF. It seems to be super easy to apply.” The Common App also keeps track of deadlines and helps students from having to enter the same basic information for every application. Coalition offers more than 90 institutions that are dedicated to offering affordable college experiences. Coalition school often have their own set of requirements that are needed in addition to the Coalition requirements. In-state schools that use Coalition include University of South Florida, University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Tampa, and Stetson University. Coalition also offers all of the Ivy League schools as well. It is important to choose the app that has all the schools that you wish to attend to save you stress and confusion. For a full list of all the schools offered on both platforms visit www.commonapp.org or coalitionforcollegeaccess.org.

What Next?

O

ne of the biggest parts of college applications is scholarships and financial aid. FAFSA opens on October 1 and remains open up until June 30. Get your application in sooner rather than later! If looking for scholarship opportunities one of the best resources is here at our school! Mrs. Fernandez is here to answer all of your scholarship and college admission questions and even sends out a number of scholarship opportunities each month on Jupiter.

Even though applying for colleges can be hectic, hopefully this guide will help you on your journey to college!

Grpahic By: Dominick Zarcadoolas

Down for Diced SAMANTHA CRUZ

T

een health has been a large concern for many in this generation. From what exactly you should be eating to how it’s made are all concerns people share over time. But a new restaurant in our area has opened up named Diced. Originating in Miami, this franchise has branched over to Pembroke Pines to share its message about health and wellness.

When you first enter the restaurant, you are surrounded by a nice rustic modern interior and a variety of options to choose from. There is definitely something for everyone at Diced. “Diced is very welcoming. As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by the friendly workers. I love eating there because the food tastes super fresh every time I go! I definitely recommend trying it out!” Said Madison Hurtado, senior. All meats are raised hormone free and all natural, and they even offer vegan options for consumers.

They also have a unique menu item called Forbidden Rice. Also known as Emperors Rice, this grain contains many health benefits. Its high in fiber and protein and non GMO and is priced $2 extra.

Allison Butler, freshman says “The food

STAFF WRITER

at Diced is very healthy and filling. There were many different meats and vegetables to choose from! Overall, it’s a nice environment with good food.” It seems like more customers are beginning to watch their health and the leading contributor to a better life is a well-balanced meal.

Everything is customizable, from the meals to even the smoothies.

Bradi Stewart, Junior, says “Ever since I tried it, I have been hooked. I’ve already been there 2 more times in the past week. It reminds me of Chipotle but better.

I’m in love with their spinach wrap with the three sauces I just think it gives a dif-

ferent taste.” Speaking of sauces, you can choose from three specialty sauces: Spicy Guava, Tomato Basil, and Garlic Cilantro.

Or if you are feeling confident, you can choose the Mix 3 option, which combines them all.

Many seem to enjoy the sauces so much that they wish to take them home. The demand is so high that Diced sells jars of each of the sauces for $3.50.

Along each of the booths, there is a charging port and USB plug to charge any devices that may have low battery. When you make your way to the bathroom, there is a long hall with a mirror in the end. If you ever take

a picture, the employees encourage you to tag them on Instagram. You may even be featured on the story. Their Instagram platform is @dicedfoods. The number one thing about this company is the customer service. Everyone is welcome to go up to one of the many on duty workers if you have any questions or would like any extra sauces with your meals. They take online, over the phone, and Uber Eats orders.

The unique environment and high customer service helps blend this Miami based restaurant into the Pembroke Pines area. They are teen friendly and help to promote a good message to the youth.

“Despite not going, I really want to go to Diced! My friends have recommended it to me and even showed me pictures. I have read the reviews online and it seems like a really cool, healthy place to go out to eat” states Astrid Villarroel, sophomore. The rising youth culture is defining this generation style and it’s nice to see a place that seems to accept it and benefit from its stylish platform.

Photo By: Natali Brito

LIFESTYLE

The 2000s Baller Comeback

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

SOPHIA CORTES & KIERSTEN WARREN

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR & STUDENT LIFE EDITOR

These past few years have seen a re-

surgence in fashion from as recent as the 1990s to as “vintage” as the 1970s; however, on the eve of a new decade, there has been rumblings of an era of couture that is slowly, but surely making a comeback.

Yup that’s right, it’s Britney sis. The decade that many of us grew up in is back and better than ever with your classic large hoop earrings gracing the ears of almost every girl in sight to the ever-sofamous “Chunky Sneakers,” also known as “Spice Girl Shoes,” walking the hallways of high school once more. “I think it’s really cool that stuff from the 2000s is coming back,” says senior Samantha Cover, “even though I’m more of a fan of the 70’s and 80’s styles, I still like the retro vibe the current trend holds!” Take a look at any awards show from the 2000s or an old photo album and you’ll see memorable trends popping up again. “I really liked the many funky patterns that were popular back then,” states sophomore Forrest Davies, “it’s nice to see fun stuff like that coming back!” Hair clips have always been important for keeping hairdos in place, but fashion icons like Lizzie McGuire’s Hilary Duff or the ever-so-on point Olsen Twins made it a staple for teens everywhere as a cute and colorful

way to keep pesky hairs out of the face.

While hair clips have never truly been out of style, they’ve made quite the resurgence thanks to the online fashion trend of the “e-girl,” a subculture that is a cocktail of skater, cutesy, and traditional edgy styles from every era of fashion.

Walk into any Target or Ross and you’ll see bucket hats lining the clothing isle in an array of patterns and designs, high rise “mom” jeans in any size or style you can wish for, and yellow or red tinted sunglasses, all must haves for anyone who’s “all that.” However, it’s not only the popular crowd’s fashion that is making its way back into the closets of today’s teens, recently the emo and scene subcultures have been brought back from the dead in all their smudged eyeliner glory.

Iconic emo statement pieces such as the tripp pants have made their way back into the limelight due to the growing subgenre, emo rap, a mix of modern rap beats with traditionally emotional lyrics that were often found in alternative bands from the 2000s. Extravagant makeup made popular

by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way and Panic! At the Disco’s Ryan Ross have also made their way back onto the faces of young teens everywhere with many goth and emo inspired Instagram models taking inspiration from album covers, on stage

looks, or photoshoots. In fact, music sensation Billie Eilish has recently been seen sporting bright neon green roots, a look that calls to mind Gerard Way’s trendsetting teal, and then red, dyed roots.

As queen bees of the 2000s, Beyoncé, Michelle, and Kelly, also known as Destiny’s Child, made sure to never disappoint with their music, and their outfits. In fact, every look matched the other two members. From Beyoncé’s crop tops, Kelly’s cropped jeans, and Michelle’s belts and boots, this girl group gave the 2000s its distinct fashion trends. Alongside Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears was also a historic part of 2000›s pop culture. Not only does she have multiple hits, but she also was known for her sense of style. Known as the queen of cargo pants and crop tops, Spears helped define the entire decade.

Junior Zoe Mutombo says, “I think 2000s fashion was super cute, and the good thing is that it›s coming back. I feel like Britney and Destiny’s Child were the most iconic fashion influencers back then.” With PPCHS turning 20 this year, students can now think back to what dress down days would’ve been like when the school first opened.

Along with fashion, the 2000s also had characteristic dances, similar to the pres-

ent day “woah” or the “thotiana.” In fact, some are even still in danced, like the chacha slide, made in 2000, or the “single ladies” move invented in Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies.” The dances of the 2000s included: the “superman”, “walk it out”, “stanky leg” and the “dougie.” Each with their respective artists, you couldn’t find any party without any of these songs playing. In fact, most of these 2000s dances are making a comeback at parties, known as “throwback songs.” The crowd goes ecstatic dancing to songs that shaped their childhood. Freshman Elisa Ortuzar says, “I feel like 2000s fashion and dances coming back is really cool. I think trends back then were iconic, and it’s crazy to think that what our parents used to wear and do when they were younger is coming back.

It’s kind of cool.” Many PPCHS students alike find 2000s trends appealing, just like Elisa.

Fashion is all about cycles. Whether if it’s taking influences from the past or a cyberpunk future, teens will always find a fun new way to bring back trends of old.

And who knows, maybe 20 years from now our own kids will be wearing Thrasher shirts and doing their edges, claiming it to be “vintage.”

Graphic By: Rosa Gomez

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20 TECHNOLOGY

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Riding to the Future: Self-Driving Cars BRIANNA BUTLER LIFESTYLE EDITOR

As technology continues to advance,

fantasies or abstract concepts are becoming reality. One of the most prominent examples are self-driving cars, which plan to lower CO2 emissions and reduce congestion. Their main purpose is to prevent accidents from occurring, as a large majority of crashes are due to human error. Tesla, one of the most popular brands with autonomous vehicles, has large plans to unravel with their new Smart Summon feature. This option has been delayed a few weeks, and will come out around September or October. It is meant to enhance the Summon feature, previously used by owners to move their cars a few feet in driveways. With the updated version, people will be able to “summon” their Tesla vehicles from a distance further away, and the cars will navigate through more complex parking environments (Electrek). “I’m a bit disappointed that things keep getting delayed,” states freshman Jeylah Valdez.

“There were a lot of unfulfilled promises Elon Musk has made. But I’m still hopeful that progress is still being made, even if it’s not fitting the deadlines he created.” Musk states Teslas will have “full self-driving” capability by the end of 2020.With this advancing technology comes concerns from the general public. “They take away the human reaction and capability to analyze what will be the best option in case of an emergency,” states sophomore Carolina Calonge. “There’s also the cyber security

of the car itself. If we were to start allowing everyone access to self-driving cars, there needs to be a foolproof way of preventing hackers from taking control and executing commands.” Many are worried about the possibilities that come with new technology, but companies are working hard to ensure they prepare for all instances and prioritize safety over all. Waymo, a project originating from Google, is another self-driving company. They are testing their cars in Florida for the next few weeks, observing how the rainy season affects their sensors. Heavy rain can create a lot of noise and wet roads also may result in other road users behaving differently (Engadget).

“I’m glad Waymo’s focus is on different situations that could happen,” begins senior Alisa Chavez. “The fact they are willing to conduct trials for two to three months will definitely prove to be helpful for improving their technology.” Waymo

is testing their cars in unique weather conditions to better understand how rain affects people’s vehicle movements and if it may hinder the technology. The company also states that they are not concerned as to when autonomous vehicles will become a reality, but more where and how they will be created. Uber has recently announced the third generation of its selfdriving car, developed with partnership of Volvo.

While the car will still have a steering wheel and pedals, its main purpose is to function without a human.

However, there are numerous backups for possible problems concerning steering, breaking, and running out of battery power. They also plan on making the car immediately stop if any of the primary systems were to malfunction. Uber will start testing the self-driving car on public roads in 2020. It shows how much preparation each company is putting to

ensure these cars will be as safe as possible. Self-driving cars have brought out numerous reactions. Excitement is prominent, and many are hopeful to see these concepts become reality. “I think it’s definitely a cool idea that would work out well on our roads but obviously technology like that can have its drawbacks and safety issues,” states junior Arvin Saji. “However, if manufacturers keep renovating and reinventing with them, then we’d definitely have safer roads because technology can be much less flawed than human beings driving. I personally think that if they’re more normalized in the future, it would be in the best interest, convenience, and safety of everyone.” While nothing is certain, there is a high possibility that self-driving cars will become the future for everyone. Self-driving cars are becoming more and more popular for the numerous amount of benefits they have. Their main purpose is to significantly reduce crash rates, but they also aid in reducing traffic congestion and improving the fuel economy. Despite concerns surrounding new technology, many believe self-driving cars are a segue into the future and test the boundaries that have been previously set. With advancements being made every day, it shows how far we have come to transcend the limits and push for a more technology-filled future. Self-driving cars are just the beginning of what’s to come, and shows that abstract concepts or dreams can truly become a reality.

Graphic By: Justin Pierce

Why Give Hate a Home?

ALAN MATHEW NEWS EDITOR

For almost as long as the internet’s

existed, hate has always carved a space out for itself on the web. That’s the nature of the internet in the first place: it’s a forum for public opinion, an electronic bridge that connects the world, and a tool to share, spread, and disseminate information. And in both principle and practice, this forum has brought humanity into a new age, allowing everything from the sciences to the arts reach new and exciting heights. But these advances don’t come without their drawbacks. Because within the terabytes and terabytes that fly down the information superhighway on a daily basis, there are dark corners and hidden, growing niches.

Hatred of all kinds, from neo-Nazi propaganda to extremist newsletters, traverses the world in the space of a heartbeat. And in recent years, the real dangers of allowing this computerized transmission of hate has become all-too obvious. Websites like the Daily Stormer and 8chan are just a few that come to mind when one considers exactly where some of the most abhorrent content to be found online is housed. See, the problem is simple, but the execution is anything from tricky to unconstitutional depending on who you talk to. The First Amendment, after all, does in fact protect

free speech. It’s a fact that’s touted by judges and criminals alike. Setting limits on that free speech sets precedents and raises serious legal questions-and possibly moral ones too.

If a parent company removes or bans someone from a social media platform for expressing their thoughts - no matter how vile - is that company infringing on the Constitution? Or on a larger scale: If a hosting corporation decides to remove a hateful website altogether, would that be reaching too far on intrinsic rights? Or even more worrisome: If a powerful organization decides which content to restrict now, doesn’t that raise the issue of potential mass censorship in the future? But in all the questions and all the diversions, well meaning or

otherwise, the real point gets lost.

Hate exists on the internet, and not just cyberbullying either.

The El Paso shooter, before he killed 22 innocent people in cold blood on August 3rd, posted his manifesto online only a short while before he tore a permanent hole in a community f o r e v e r.

The internet, as wonderful a technological marvel as it is, is also more than capable of fostering dangerous ideologies in isolated chat rooms and backwards message boards. It’s a culture that can offer support to school shooters, domestic terrorists, and others besides. And it can’t continue unchecked. Deplatforming raises serious

questions about the First Amendment and freedom of speech, yes. But simply raising those arguments every time the conversation comes up isn’t just doing no good, it’s actively enabling those who would do outright harm.

When a white supremacist cries foul at his tweets getting taken down, wringing your hands at the complexity of the situation doesn’t actually do anything. Action must be taken now that it’s become clear a whole new generation of susceptible adolescents and teens are finding their way deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole-with no guides to educate them but those who are already down there. Deplatforming hateful and racist websites does make it harder to monitor their activity; after all, once something’s on the internet, it’s never going away. But when it comes to that unimaginably large superhighway, deplatforming does make it that much harder for new and impressionable visitors to reach those horrible destinations.

Graphic By: Henry Severe

VVV “So lately all the violence going on in America has just seemed crazy to me. All the gun violence going around just makes me incredibly sad that people just go out and do stuff like that. It honestly just makes me worry about the direction our country is going in. I’m really hoping that, for the better, something changes soon because the current state of our country needs much improvement.” -Freshman, Chelsea Ugwuozor I think most schools gave counteracted violence in the world by employing law enforcement. They ask them for help in how to engage and respond to dangerous situations at school.

However, some schools in order to prevent these situations from arising might become too assertive when applying these safety regulations for students and staff. Society has counteracted violence through peaceful protest and keeping an open mind to new ideas. -Junior, Amaya John “Gun Violence is an unfortunate manner that we as teenagers must deal with more today than ever before. The fact that we, students, and society can not figure out a solution is surprising since we all know this is a serious problem leaving innocent dead. What the school systems should enhance is inclusion. Most of the time people act out if their not getting attention or there are life events impacting them severely. Maybe as a school body we could have activities to sort of distract the mind and enjoy a more carefree lifestyle. The fact that the newspaper has this section is nice; it enables students to voice out their concerns and mindsets on this matter, since this not only affects adults, but children and teenagers alike.” -Freshman, Waleed Pannini “It’s difficult because everyone has become so desensitized to gun violence and shootings, and slowly has merged into a not-so-big issue. Having a couple close friends who were a part of the MSD shooting really opened my eyes to the drastic measures that are imperative to take to fix these sort of situations.” -Sophomore, Evangeline Rajeev “Gun owners should consider the lives of those who could be effected by it. It’s important that we ban guns to save lives and prevent meaningless spiteful crimes of violence.”

-Senior, Kelsey St.Louis

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Our Voices Vs. Violence CHAT STAFF

“Gun violence itself is probably one of the worst forms of violence. I mean, it’s something that now a days, especially in America, so many people can get there hands on firearms and it’s really unsafe for a lot of people. There are no regulations and anyone can get there hands on guns. We see things like Margorie Stoman Douglas and you start to think, if we had stricter gun laws maybe that wouldn’t have happened. If we had people going through psychological tests maybe we wouldn’t have problems like that. Unfortunately, gun violence has become a norm in America and it is common to see these types of things happening on the news every week. Another this is that it’s very difficult to defend oneself against a gun, if you are being held at gunpoint there is very little you can do to escape a situation like that, making it extremely dangerous. It’s such a hard debate because, in our Bill of Rights we have the right to bear arms. How far does that take us? Because yea we have the right to bear arms but if that right is used to inflict harm on innocent people then is it really necessary.”-Junior, Romina Torchia “Seeing news stories on all the different shootings happening around us makes me a little queasy just thinking about it. Great action surely needs to be taken to cover these matters because it’s become more and more normal nowadays.” -Senior, Vince Charles “I don’t agree with the statement that violence is increasing in our country. In fact, I feel like it’s been the same for years. The only thing that has changed is people’s awareness of it. Social media, like Twitter, and news outlets constantly spew out negative events which makes it seems like violence is increasing. But the truth is, it’s just that they are leaving out the good that is happening and just highlighting everything bad.”

-Sophomore, Paul McFarlane “The current violent epidemic plaguing our country often feels like an issue that’s out of our hands. The problem won’t see any progress until all government corruption through the NRA is aired out which doesn’t seem plausible in the near future. The media specifically greatly impacts the amount of gun violence. By naming these murderers, the news gives these people a sense of empowerment, encouraging more incidents. Students especially have lived through these events throughout their lives. Living in an age where code red drills are rarely taken seriously shows just how kids are becoming used to being targets.” -Senior, Chiamaka Osakwe

“School shootings is a very weird subject because there’s so much to say on them. First, school shootings absolutely should not be happening because there should be better gun control laws in the first place. There’s no way a sixteen-yearold, or a mentally unstable person, should have possession of a gun. It doesn’t matter what type, it should not be in their hands, period. And then there’s the matter of the actual shooter. What people don’t realize is that shooters don’t just wake up and think “I’m mad, I’m gonna shoot up a school”, those feelings obviously develop overtime. In NO way am I defending school shooters, because they are disgusting and should be ashamed (it doesn’t matter who they are). But as I said, they’re not born that way. So it goes to show that everyone should always be kind to others and show everyone--even strangers--respect because it can really cheer someone up and make their day.

To be quite frank, I don’t care who has to change the gun control laws, but they need to fix it and fix it now, because I should not be afraid to attend my own school.” -Junior, Hailey Crenshaw

“The violence in schools doesn't really affect me, it just makes me more cautious. I believe that we should change gun laws and start offering more mental health screenings.” -Sophomore, Owen Galvin “I like the idea of the section, and I think its [relevance] is great. Opening it up to the [student body] is good for getting a variety of opinions but pieces written by the student union may not be within the views and writing expertise of those in the newspaper.. In terms of me talking about violence, I don’t really think it’s my place because I have never really been exposed to it and I don’t want to detract from those who have. I do like [the idea of a student directed section] and some people don’t have the qualms I do when it comes to speaking on topics that don’t directly relate to them. I also think it would be a way to spark discussion and could help get kids with something to say motivated to say it.”

-Senior Robert Hershey I think that the government should do something to improve gun laws and how easily it is for people to get guns, this could be a way to prevent shootings. They should run stricter background checks or personality background checks because just because someone has never committed a crime doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to do something terrible.

-Freshman, Logan Mastrosimone

Personally, I feel like the added security measures being taken every single year, and piling on top of each other is just becoming suffocating. I understand the reasoning behind it, and the fear is justified, but the measures being taken is just INCREASING the fear among students and teachers, and I’d say it’s more inconveniencing than anything -Senior, Giovanni Vazquez “I feel like there has been way too much gun violence recently and it’s been incredibly worrying, especially since the people in power take one look at it and act as if nothing is going wrong. It’s impacted my family and friends in many ways: my big sister’s roomate’s little sister was in the MSD shooting and is still alive by pure luck; it worried my sister to see her close friend in such a panicked state when it happened.” -Senior, Maegan Jomsky “I think (in schools particularly) that students should have ways to express anger like talking to a counselor or therapist, meditating/praying, whatever it is they need to do to have emotional release so their anger doesn’t become violence and they don’t end up hurting anyone. Especially for young students, they’re going through a lot of changes like puberty and hormonal stuff while also being under a lot of stress from school so it’s especially important for us.” -Freshman, Rebecca Lim

“I think [VVV] is a pretty good platform to have to have an outlet but also critically interrogate the causality of these different forms of violence. Kids don't really have a way to process these overwhelming sentiments so it seems like it'd be a positive way to channel nervous energy. Opening it up to others on specific topics is also a good idea as it fosters a community of critical thinkers and opens the conversation to a wide range of perspectives.” -Junior, Mariana Colicchio “The world’s just been changing so much, especially the society. Everyone’s morals and values just seem to have disappeared. How can someone just walk into a school, a place they grew up, a place where there’s familiar faces, and just want to kill? I personally don’t think it’s right that students have to wake up every morning and wonder what school has in store for them today. Will they be safe? Will a crazy man with a gun walk in? We see things like this happening all over the news in supermarkets, concerts, just anywhere now. We shouldn’t have to go to school in constant fear if we’ll make it out or not.” -Freshman, Laisha Laracuente “I feel sad in a sense. People are being shot at everyday and there is nothing being done about it. There are still guns on the streets, there’s ak-47s being sold at Walmart. Everything is still very public, not private. I feel like they have to ban guns, increase security, and better educate as well. So like if you see someone say something, don’t ignore suspicious behavior.” -Senior, Sebastian Metellus I think particularly in schools we are pretty fortunate that we are able to come from a school where I don't think very much violence happens. You don’t really see too many fights or anything that severe happening at our school. I know a lot of other public schools in the area, sometimes fights can get pretty brutal--it looks like they’ve been getting a little bit worse over the years. Especially now with everything happening at schools--we all know what happened at MSD--it's just become a very scary thing and the threat of violence happening at schools is more prominent than it's ever been before, and that's definitely something we need to try to work on to make our school safer. -Senior, Kylie Fernandez

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NEWS CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

The Broken Promises From The Government GABRIELA CARVAJAL STAFF WRITER

Graphic By: Jasmin Bleu

O

ver the past few weeks, Puerto Rico has suffered deeply. It all began when Hurricane Maria hit, which left over 3,000 people dead and destroyed everything that was in its path. However, the places that took the hardest hits were the rural areas lingering high up in the mountains and those far away from civilization because of their limited communication, no power, internet access, and aid. In the beginning stages, many believed the government was going to help them with at least the basic necessities and governor Ricardo Rosselló made it known he was going to assist-- but that assistance never came.For example, there was a mother of a man, both remained anonymous, who had breast

cancer and didn’t have the means for medications. Rosselló promised her medications after the storm; however, the help never came (NowThis News). Residents have waited more than a month for someone to come, such as FEMA or the governor, but so far they haven’t reached anybody, according to CBC News. People also feel as if the government figures regarding the missing people and the dead have been misleading.

Overall, the situation at this time is only one of the reasons this island is attacking its government for the lack of attention they have provided for their people.

Aside from the poor living conditions, the governor, instead of taking care of relief matters, attacked activists, supporters, opponents, and civil society figures - joked about those who died in Hurricane Maria. For being governor, one should know Puerto Rico has a long tradition of protesting government corruption and a history of pro-LGBTQ, student, feminist, pro-independence, and social activism, stated by the Washington Post. Many sources stress the fact that with all the government mishaps, many individuals consider it corrup-

tion. With the kind of responses the island has gotten, it may be advisable for them to make changes (TIME News).

Moreover, Ricardo Rosselló was apart of the New Progressive Party and as the scandal unfolded, thousands of Puerto Ricans from around the world (even those from his party) made it known they wanted him out. Residents, including an anonymous 11th grade student at PPCHS, considers it “unprofessional, disrespectful, and selfless.” For some, this was the last straw against 13 years of recession, a terrible response towards Maria, and a government debt crisis (New York Times).

Comprehensively, the governor wasn’t very effective for this island ever since he became governor in 2017, and instead he is now in his own secluded island.

Even though this Puerto Rico resident wanted to stay anonymous, he stressed the fact that the government had a lot of control in what was the after-effect of their actions. He also mentioned that former governor, Ricardo Rosselló, should have been more sensitive, mindful, and careful with how he speaks. Likewise, the next election in 2020 is going to be different in the way that voters are going to be very cautious and mindful of who their governor should be based on their current problems.

Mrs. Ciafre, Spanish 3 Honors teacher at PPCHS, equally felt the people were “crazy [to vote] for him, knowing he was a corrupt” person. “What the people need is to start getting involved and becoming more aware of who is in the government” [so this won’t happen again], she followed with.

The debt crisis Puerto Rico faces is criti-

cal adding up to $70 billion, which dates back to when the island was first established. Part of the problem is the municipal bonds. The island is known for favorable tax treatments, which lead to bond investors. While this was effective at the time, eventually the island grew too much in debt with this and soon relied on the borrowed funds they collected to balance the budget. Also, the decline in money has lead to budget deficits. The island was built on the manufacturing and production of goods, but once the tax treatments started to expire, many of those companies started to flee. This lead to many downfalls, such as people losing their jobs and becoming homeless. In fact, compared to the other states and territories, Puerto Rico’s spending on social programs is significant. The majority of the island receives Medicare due to the high poverty rate. Additionally, the fact that many islanders have left Puerto Rico, it left the territory with limited income, reduced tax based, and spending more than what they have (Investopedia).

With accounting all these issues Puerto Rico struggles with, this island needs a lot of improvements which means they must hope their 3rd new governor, Wanda Garced, regains life into this island. The lack of a true response from the government during this catastrophic phase revealed the government’s true inability to offer an effective response, even for their own people. The infrastructure of Puerto Rico is getting worse and with all these changes, there are genuine concerns that the stability of Puerto Rico will soon go with it.

Jags come together to support Bahamas after Dorian Howling winds knocked houses down,

as if they were made of straw. Intense rain plummeted down on the beautiful islands of the Bahamas, generating an unimaginable flooding that engulfed the tourist destination and leaving it in a desolate state.

This went on for a couple of days because Hurricane Dorian moved only 25 miles within the first 24 hours after making landfall. Dorian will go down in history as one of the most destructive and vigorous hurricanes to ever hit the Bahamas, with powerful winds at 185 mph and almost 30 inches of rain flooding every town, street, and house. Dorian left no part of the Bahamas untouched, and many Bahamian residents face a difficult road ahead due to Hurricane Dorian’s effects. Not only has Dorian made his mark on the Bahamas, but also on the entire North American continent.

Hurricane Dorian left countless towns under several feet of water in its wake.

Dorian showed a sign of leaving after nearly spending 48 hours in the Bahamas.

As Dorian made its way to sunshine state the eye of the hurricane departed the islands at 6 mph, expressed the hurricane center. Sadly, Dorian has left a current death toll of 43 Bahamians with the expectation for the number to rise; at least two people are also dead in North Caro-

CAROLINE KADIR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lina. It is evident that Hurricane Dorian didn’t plan on dying out after leaving The Bahamas to its ruin (CBS).

Many might say that Floridians were saved from the wrath of Hurricane Dorian.

Although the residents of Florida were spared, many were still affected, including some of our very own jags. What many seem to have forgotten is that people have loved ones that live in the Bahamas. Although the hurricane may have not physically impacted the sunshine state on the scale that was originally projected, it certainly has impacted some jags emotionally. Senior Aysha Nixon stated, “This is one of the worst hurricanes that our islands have ever gone through. My people, some of my family and friends as well, lost so much. Many people have lost their lives, both literally and figuratively. To hear the stories and try to fathom what people have gone through makes my heart ache and it’s hard to breathe. All I can do is pray and have faith, and I’m going to continue to pray and have faith that the best is yet to come. We are going to get through this[;] it may not be now but soon.” Hurricane Dorian has definitely sparked an immense outreach of help from everywhere, from cruise lines like Royal Carribean all the way to PPCHS grounds.

One thing is for sure: PPCHS is truly be-

ing proactive and setting a great example to its students about giving back. A message on Jupiter stated, “... the City of Pembroke Pines is organizing a relief drive in order to bring much needed supplies to the victims of this terrible storm… Many of our various honor societies and clubs are working together to organize this drive at our school.” Junior Abigail Wongsang expressed, “My Dad, Stepmom, and Sister live on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas. Fortunately for us, Hurricane Dorian did not directly hit the island (they got just about the same force winds we did) but still the Bahamas is home to me and seeing those videos were heartbreaking. My family and I have been trying our best to help out with donations.” It seems that Hurricane Dorian has allowed the chance for PPCHS to come together from faculty to students in a small effort to give back.

Sometimes people take for granted everyday things like: power, drinking water, food, and most importantly their homes. These basic necessities are only appreciated when they aren’t available. For the thousands affected by Hurricane Dorian it will be a while till their basic necessities are available again. Sopho-

more Astrid Villaroel stated, “I have seen Hurricane Dorian release efforts around the school such as the donation drives that many teachers had. Many of my teachers also talked about how it was important to donate and to try and help out as best as we could. I think the Bahamas really needs our help and collaboration. We should help out and try to help the Bahamas get back to normal. I hope that everyone affected can someday be even better than before they had to face the hurricane.” The people affected by Hurricane Dorian need more than just thoughts and prayers; they need aid in helping rebuilding their lives.

Graphic By: Jaxen Wyborny

NEWS CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Graphic By: Bryan Lara

Important Safety Reminders CAROLINE KADIR & ALAN MATHEW

O

n August 14th, 2019, students strolled onto the school grounds to begin the new 2019-’20 school year. For many jags, this return to school was one filled with anticipation, excitement, and hope-- all of which was visible in the bustle and commotion of the first day.

Sadly, these feelings fell away as an all too familiar reality reared its ugly head on the second day. Worry and panic infused that first week frenzy, and Pembroke Pines Charter High began a year on a discordant and worried note.

On August 15th, 2019, jags were face to face with a bomb threat that is now widely considered fake, and students emotions ranged wildly. As senior Jessica Chang stated, “No one finds [fake threats or jokes] funny, and they’re such a waste of time, energy, resources, and, quite frankly, emotions.” As a result of Tuesday’s events and others besides, the Pembroke Pines Police department sent

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & NEWS EDITOR

an imperative video clip about school threats to begin to tackle the issue.

Unfortunately, today’s generation has become accustomed to these terrible threats. Ever since the MSD tragedy, the city of Pembroke Pines has been proactive in hopes of preventing this devastation from happening again. Consequently, any and all threats are taken seriously and met with an appropriate response. As sophomore Jeevanesh Sathiaseelan points out, “Privately, some people make jokes… and don’t really see the consequences behind their words.” The problem arises when the line between joke and reality becomes blurred, which it often does when possible threats --as the police department and school are forced to see them-- end up public.

Our very own PPCHS forwarded a safety notice to parents and students which not only had a video clip about

school threats, but also clarified “...

That several students ranging in ages from 9 to 18 were charged with 2nd Degree Felonies for making various threats in the 2018-2019 school year in our Pembroke Pines area. This charge adversely impacts students for their future academic and career goals.” Junior Arvin Saji commented on the matter saying, “Things that seem like trivial jokes when it comes to matters like this are anything but trivial. These consequences won’t go away down the line, so preventing them in the first place has to be key.” Evidently, it is essential that both students and parents are actually addressing this ongoing issue.

Mayor of Pembroke Pines, Frank C. Ortis opens up the video clip, making it clear that threats against students in schools are serious. The video goes on to say that the threats made against students will also have serious consequenc-

es. The city of Pembroke Pines is trying to instill into students that a threat is still a threat even if it was meant as a joke.

The age we live in is a confusing one to many, but decisions and actions still have to be made and taken by law enforcement and the community when it comes to issues as serious as these. To quote freshman Nicole Becerra, “Unfortunately, even with the current events, kids still like to mess with friends and say false threats without realizing who’s hearing them and how other people are interpreting them.” Whether it’s just a text or a tweet or a comment made offhandedly, in a post-Parkland America the lives of students have to be taken that much more seriously. And because of that, anything that could even possibly endanger those lives has to be taken seriously too.

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In Memoriam of Mr. White

“Mr. White was a class act and a true professional. His calm demeanor and strong resolve were a model to all of us.”

“Charles White was an intelligent and distinguished man, whose calmness and confidence spilled into the D building hallway every morning. He is terribly missed.”

“Mr. White was always so relaxed and calm. He made everyone around him feel comfortable.”

“Most dignified - Loved to teach his kids - Very “Mr. White, I met you at Open House and loved positive outlook always - Extremely kind.” you from the start. Out of all my son's teachers, you struck out the most because of your demean“Mr. White was a quiet, honorable man and a or. You were knowledgeable, cordial, educated, gift to have known him. He will be missed.” and a classy gentleman. My son confirmed my thoughts and I was grateful that you were his “Mr. White was a kind, gentle, and peaceful teacher. Then, we exchanged emails in which you man. Talking with him always put me at ease asked me to continue to pray for you. We did! and stress-free. It was a pleasure working with Frequently, we question why life goes the way it him side by side all of these years and he will be does. Nevertheless, you remain in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for all that you did for missed dearly.” our children. May you rest in peace.”

Touching Words From Kimani Dodd

“I remember Mr. Whit being the well distinguished man with dapper style in his step. I recall having small conversations of living in cold weather states and how we live in paradise. He is truly missed here in campus. Rest Easy Mr. White.”

I had the pleasure of having Mr. Charles White as my Psychology teacher during my freshman year of school.

Mr. White taught at PPCHS for several years up until his death last year from cancer. Mr. White never failed to make me laugh about various things - some random and some intentional. Many of my favorite memories of him were his constant threats to issue detentions to certain kids in class only to never make good on those threats because he was so kind-hearted. I loved hearing about his childhood stories. They were filled with adventure and mischievousness. He was the type of teacher who truly wanted the best for his students. He would often give us life advice about college, the kind of people we surround ourselves with, and personal stuff. I often remember him telling us to go out and party on the weekends. He truly made my freshman year unbelievable and I miss him every day.

CHARTER HIGH ACADEMIC TIMES

Gratitude for Our City Commissioners

Commissioner Thomas Good, Jr.

Mayor Frank C. Ortis

Vice Mayor Jay D. Schwartz

Commissioner Angelo Castillo Commissioner Iris A. Siple

Photos Donated By: Principle Bayer

PPCHS would like to thank our city commissioners for all they have done.

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