New plaza updates

November 2018 January 2020 Photo by Kayla Florenco Photo by Sydney Katz

Shopping plaza across the street from CCHS soon to be finished

After over a year of construction, the “Cooper Square” Plaza is nearing its completion in the next few months. The b o u t i q u e s h o p p i n g c e n t e r est ablishe d by Boulton Commercial Real Estate s t a r t e d construction in summer 2018 and is expected to open it’s 35 stores sometime this year. At first, the plaza was forecasted to be completed in November 2019. However, the amount of work needed was underestimated, causing this date to be pushed back. Now, Boulton aims for the complete establishment of the shopping center to take place in the coming months of 2020. By mid-August 2019, Boulton successfully sold all 35 spots for stores and swiftly moved their focus onto leasing terms. There has been a growing curiosity among Cooper City residents about the type of stores that will be seen in this plaza. However, the d e v e l op e r s claim that they cannot release any names of the c o m p a n i e s i n v o l v e d until just b e f o r e completion of the plaza. “As much as we would like to put out the names of the companies working with, we cannot right now because most contracts for leases are still in the negotiating stage right now, so nothing is official yet,” Boulton Commercial Real Estate Sales Director Marcela Parra said. “You can expect to know the names of the stores around the opening day of [Cooper Square].” “HOPEFULLY THEY HAVE A CHICK-FIL-A THERE BECAUSE THE NEAREST ONE RIGHT NOW IS USUALLY A 10-MINUTE DRIVE FROM MY HOUSE.” -RASHAD CORNELIUS JUNIOR

Over the months, H&M Development has been carrying out construction for the plaza at a regular pace. Construction first started in September 2018 with just the foundations of the buildings, plenty of dirt and a long canal built behind. Now, buildings with glass doors and pavement for parking are being settled, furthering the progress of the plaza. “I’m just ready to see what kind of stores the plaza has, it seems like there is going to be a lot to do there with all those buildings,” junior Rashad Cornelius said. “Hopefully they [will] have a Chick-fil-A there because the nearest one right now is usually a 10-minute drive from my house.” With the plaza being right across the street from the CCHS, some students— specifically incoming juniors and seniors—may see the plaza as a place to park their vehicles during the school day for free. School administrators have warned students not to do this as their cars will likely be towed. For the most part, the major work visible on the project’s construction site is unfinished paving and buildings for all of the restaurants and businesses. Soon, this continual construction work will turn into charming architectural details such as pastel stucco exteriors, decorative lighting accents and pedestrian walkways enhanced by trees and seasonal landscaping. A quality shopping center for Cooper City residents is the ultimate goal for the developers. “[It’s] crazy how a few years ago there used to be just an open field of grass [across from] the school and now a whole plaza is about to be in that exact same place,” junior Julian Smallcombe said. “Usually people go to [Stirling Town Center] but in a few months everybody [is going to] go right across the street after school because it's closer and probably bigger.” BY RYAN MERARD

TIME FOR PLAN C New fundraising policy leaves PTSA in a funding deficit

The Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) has been met with a funding deficit ever since a fundraising rule that prevents students from getting out of class for a fundraiser was brought to their attention and forced them to cancel the annual fundraiser, Stampede. In a letter written to the President of Broward County Council PTA/PTSA, Earlyn Barton, from Chief School Performance and Accountability Officer, Valerie S. Wanza, Wanza states how she telephoned school leaders to praise them for their creative fundraisers they have put together with an important reminder that these fundraisers cannot include students paying to leave class during the school day. “I did advise them to remember the following in their planning of these type of activities: ‘...it is important to be reminded that students cannot pay a fee to be excused from their learning process during the school day,’” Wanza said. The main appeal of Stampede was that students were able to miss two class periods, which encouraged many to go. However, the entire premise of Stampede conflicts with the new policy, so the PTSA had to figure out a new fundraiser. In order to fill the deficit, PTSA attempted to put together a Winter Wonderland Dance, selling tickets for $25, the same cost of a Stampede ticket. However, this event would require students to come back to school after school hours on Photos by Cassie Hartmann

a Friday night. Because of this, the dance did not appeal to the student body and PTSA had to cancel it due to a lack of ticket purchases. “No, [I wasn’t going to attend the Winter Wonderland Dance] because I feel it is unnecessary because we already had Homecoming, which was already enough money,” CCHS senior Alex Molina said.“I went to Stampede [for the first time last year] because, for $25, it was a good way to get out of class.” Though some students went to Stampede to get out of class, many students attended because they genuinely thought it was fun. Yearbook advisor, Hailee Yaeger, is a CCHS alumna who attended Stampede in her high school days. “I kept attending because it was fun the first time,” Yaeger said. “It changed every year, they were adding more fun stuff and more vendors, so it was cool to go back because it wasn’t the same boring thing every time.” PTSA is still trying to solve the funding deficit problem while staying in compliance with the new fundraising policy. They are working on selling CCHS hoodies and car magnets, but the profits do not compare to those raised from Stampede. While students benefited from Stampede by getting out of class, the school benefitted as a whole from the amount of money raised. BY JULIA SAFRIN