What’s new in the news?

What’s new

No more mandate: New vote results in lifting the mask mandate in all BCPS schools, allows opt-out

The School Board of Broward County (SBBC) voted 7-1 to remove the current mask mandate and substitute it with a new optional policy on November 9. Masks were previously made optional for high school students in October, but now the order extends to all students. Masks will now be ‘strongly encouraged’ for high, middle and elementary school students, staff, visitors and vendors. A formal opt-out process is not required. Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) implemented their new policy on November 20. “We also wanted to make sure [when choosing a date for implementation] that we gave ample opportunity for our students and our families who wanted to be able to go out and receive their first vaccine or vaccination, they had the ability to do that,” BCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright said in a press briefing. Some community members agreed with SBBC’s tiered approach to mask mandates after vaccines were recently approved for children as young as five. “As more and more people become fully vaccinated and COVID cases decrease, I don’t mind, slowly, reducing the restrictions of wearing masks, as long as everyone 4 news feels comfortable and safe,” middle school speech-language pathologist Cynthia Ortiz-Correa said. During the meeting, vaccines were also addressed as elementary schools will be visited by medical professionals to provide vaccines for the newly allowed age group. These strategies were previously seen at high schools around the county. However, the SBBC is not requiring vaccines at the moment. “I think that using the masks should be mandatory because not all students have the vaccine,” the parent of a Pioneer Middle School eighth grader Zulma Suarez said. “I understand maybe some parents agree with vaccines or might not but I believe that students should keep using the mask.” In addition to vaccines, the steady decline in quarantining students has also been cited as a reason to lift the mandate. BCPS saw as many as 733 students quarantined on October 25, and it has fallen to only 484 in early November. “I think it’s better if people have the vaccine they can not wear a mask and if they don’t have the vaccine they should,” Pioneer Middle School eighth grader Juan Calderon said. “But I think it should be mandatory for elementary.”

BY EMILY MORENO AND ELENA ASHBURN

Photo by The Lariat Staff

in the news?

Harvest Drive makeover: What was new this year?

The COVID-19 pandemic made this year’s Harvest Drive food collection more challenging than usual, with CCHS losing its Publix location where people would stand with a list of items and ask shoppers to buy and donate. To try and get more student involvement this year, CCHS had put a twist on the collections. Each club competed against one another to see who could bring in the most items with each item having a different value. “This year we added the inter-club competition to try to make a fun, friendly good cause competition and whichever club collects the most items would get some sort of pizza party at the end,” National Honors Society (NHS) advisor and teacher Nicole Hicks said. Having friendly competition is a way for students to be more involved and work together to achieve a common goal. The Harvest Drive collection at CCHS normally reaches 16 pallets of donations collected, however this year proved challenging. “I’m excited to report that the Cooper City kind cowboys rallied and we came close to hitting our goal with the support of the students bringing the items and a local public’s allowing us the opportunity to collect for a few hours on a Saturday,” Hicks said. The collections were open to everybody and clubs like NHS, Key Club and Interact Club were just some of the many that took part in this year’s friendly competition. “I have deeply enjoyed working with the rest of the NHS [members] to help facilitate another year of giving back through the Harvest Drive,” junior and NHS vice president Matthew Feirstein said. “We worked to bring a new and innovative approach to help foster and incentivize giving back, especially in such needing times.” With this year’s Harvest Drive having a spin on it, many clubs were eager to participate for the good cause. The Harvest Drive is a tradition at CCHS and within all of Broward County that has been going on for over 28 years. It provides Thanksgiving meals for people in need and brings them other items as well. The collection ended up with CCHS being short of the collection goal of 16 pallets and the DECA class/club won the competition for most points of collection items. “We are kind cowboys and we take care of one another and we’re here together to make the world a better place,” Principal Vera Perkovic said.

BY ORIAN TZIPORA HAROSH

Photo by Melissa Sarosi

news 5

Pandemic pill: A new weapon against COVID-19

A new pill called Molnupiravir produced by Merck & Co. has the potential to ease COVID symptoms before they become serious. The current debate in the fight against COVID-19 is the public’s resistance to receiving the vaccines introduced by Pfizer and Moderna. This issue has been complicated by the continuous spread of vaccine misinformation, the beginning of booster shot administration and vaccine mixing. This pill may provide an alternative for those who are still hesitant. Although the pill doesn’t prevent infection and spread of COVID, it has alleviated symptoms preventing hospitalization or death in trials. Merck applied to the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization, a similar process the vaccines went through as part of Operation Warp Speed. The FDA voted November 30, 1310 in support of the emergency use of the Molnupiravir pill. “The extraordinary impact of this pandemic demands that we move with unprecedented urgency,” Merck President and CEO Robert M. Davis said in a recent press release. As the first oral treatment for COVID-19 this new medicine could have a large impact on the pandemic and become a persistent form of medication if COVID becomes a regular threat. BY ADDISON ROBERTS

CCHS campus cleanup: A solution to clean up our school with student involvement and incentives

CCHS has existed for 50 years, and a lot has occurred on our campus. In that time, our school has gone through a variety of changes, many of which have taken a toll on the cleanliness of our campus. National Honor Society (NHS) advisor Nicole Hicks and Florida Future Educators of America (FFEA) advisor Deborah Covard along with the student body have come up with a creative solution to help fix the problem that plagues many high schools. Together, they came up with a campus cleanup that provides incentives for students but also helps to clean up our school. “We started [on November 6] and plan on carrying into the spring,” Hicks said. “Mrs. Covard and I were thinking about a way to get the kids an opportunity to earn service hours, but in an actual, authentic way of doing deeds for the community and then something for a campus so that if you think it’s beautiful, you’ll want to do it.” The campus cleanup occurs monthly until March 12, but there are ideas of extending it beyond then. “It’s open to everybody, not just clubs, [but] also for kids who want community service, but we originally reached out to NHS, [Student Government Association], [Latinos In Action], Multicultural Club, and almost everybody,” Hicks said. “It’s a great way to get to know kids outside of the classroom, and it’s great to do something hands-on together for a common purpose.” On the surface, a campus cleanup may seem like just a way to get service hours, but it also allows teachers insight into the students they teach every day. It’s also a good opportunity to improve our school’s well-being through student involvement. “When we were preparing for our 50th anniversary, we knew we were going to be touring the school with alumni, so we wanted to make the campus beautiful, and we thought to ourselves (Mrs. Hicks and I), how can we help cleanup the campus, make everything really pretty but also get the students involved in it, because this is our school and everybody is a part of it, while also providing community service,” Covard said. The connection between students and teachers remains a focal point in this project. The project helps facilitate bonding between the student body and faculty in the quest for a common purpose. “We liked it and we thought why not do this every month?” Covard said. “Truly, it’s not a club thing.” What once started as a way to help cleanup the campus in preparation for the 50th anniversary celebration has morphed beyond that. In conjunction with the student body, Mrs. Hicks and Mrs. Covard have spearheaded a project designed to help improve life on campus for the present, while also providing meaningful incentives for students to participate. However, it’s not all just a means to earn community service hours. There is also a larger connection being made. “All students of CCHS are invited and welcomed to help participate to better our campus,” Covard said. “It’s for anybody, whether you are in a club or not in a club.”

6 news

BY CHRIS GOMES

Keeping our cool: A/C malfunction leads to an hour long break

After a cool Tuesday morning, the temperature picked up, but with the air conditioning off in all buildings, this led to classrooms heating up. Some students started to feel the heat with a few getting headaches or overheating while in class. In order to keep students cool, administration enacted an hour-long break to let students get some fresh air. “I was in class and I had headaches and I couldn’t focus and I was sweating,” sophomore Lydia Kentis said. “I felt dizzy at some points.” Starting after third period or B lunch on November 30, all of the student body congregated at the courtyard, red awning and surrounding areas as they awaited instructions to return to class. Students used the opportunity to socialize with their peers and waters were passed out to the students before everyone finally returned to class for about 50 minutes of instruction. “Being outside for an hour was actually beneficial to me because the heat was becoming a little unbearable,” sophomore Madison Rodriguez said. “It gave us some time to regroup before having time to go back to class. Plus I got to miss math, which added a big bonus of course.” BY EMILY MORENO

2021’s Winter Spirit Week: CCHS is kicking off the holiday season

CCHS is preparing for this year’s Winter Spirit Week. Starting December 6, the school will be getting ready for the holiday season. Coordinated by the Student Government Association (SGA), each day has a festive theme assigned. “I’m excited to see everyone dress up and participate in spirit week,” SGA recording secretary Ellen Huang said. Monday is a pajama day inspired by the infamous christmas movie Home Alone. Tuesday is a whiteout inspired by Frosty the Snowman. Of course, no spirit week is complete without a twin day, which is on Wednesday. Students are encouraged to match their “Santa buddies.” Thursday is a Grinch day, as students are encouraged to wear crazy Whoville headwear or crazy hats. Finally, Friday is the Nightmare Before Midterms, which is an ugly sweater day. “Winter Spirit Week is an opportunity for both students and teachers to have a little fun before the stress of midterms. Much like Homecoming Week, Winter Spirit Week gives us all an opportunity to dress up with our friends in the various themed days,” SGA advisor Natalie Flaten said. “SGA tries to come up with dress-up days with items and clothing that students and staff may already have in their closets in order to make it easy for everyone to participate, so we hope that a large number of CCHS Cowboys will join us in this fun week!”

BY EMILY MORENO Photo by Emily Moreno

news 7