Senior Accepted to Ivy League School

Kevin Vega

Sports Editor

Cornell University has accepted Catalina Ferreira-Dias, senior, to attend after her high school graduation in June.

Catalina is among a group of students at Mater Lakes who received acceptance to ivy league schools this year.

“My four years of high school have been building up to this point. It’s always been a dream of mine to get accepted to Cornell and now it has happened. It’s my prime, this is it” Catalina told The Paw Print.

Cornell was the senior’s number one choice school, but she did not expect to be accepted.

“The day before I was like, I’m not gonna get accepted but that’s okay because life is about more than that” she recalled.

However, when she got her acceptance letter is was a happy surprise. Catalina became teary eyed while recounting the story, but noted that it was not all happy thoughts.

“There was a long application process and I had to write two separate essays, but it was all worth it” she said.

Catalina is a hard working and dedicated student, with excellent grades and a long list of extra curricular achievements. The skills and knowledge attained during her time at Mater Lakes has certainly helped her secure a promising future.

“I’ve wanted to be a vet all my life, and Cornell has the number one vet program in the nation” she remarked.

In light of this outstanding achievement, The Paw Print would like to congratulate Catalina Ferreira-Dias and wish her the best of luck. YOU DID IT!

 

 

Farewell Mr. B!

Amanda Milian

Editor-in-Chief

Assistant principal Mr. Matthew Bieule has been at Mater Lakes for 11 years, teaching math courses such as Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, and has been an assistant principal for the past three years. At the end of this school year, Mr. Bieule will be bidding a bittersweet farewell to the Bears as he begins his journey as principal at SLAM! Boca Raton, a charter school in West Palm Beach. As the school year comes to a near end, Bieule reminisced on memories he has made, lessons he has learned, and hopes for the future.

As many of us have heard, you will be leaving Mater Lakes at the end of the year. I can imagine it was a tough decision to make, but what prompted you to leave?

“Adfecto. Change. Change in life is necessary in order to grow.”

 Reflecting on your years at Mater Lakes, what has been the most important lesson you have learned?

“There are so many lessons I have learned. Number one, students come first… That it takes a team to build something like Mater Lakes, not one person can do it alone, and the love that is generated here is reflected through all of us.”

 What has been your favorite memory throughout your time here at Mater Lakes?

“So many. I have too many great memories. From us getting the first A in the high school, to having the A’s in middle school, students graduating and teaching, students graduating and going all around the nation, attending these top schools, to working with Rovi, to laughing with Rovi, the office, district championships for boys and girl volleyball and basketball. There are just so many memories, I can’t define one.”

 What are you looking forward to most on your new journey?

“That maybe I can replicate a little little something of what we have done here at Mater Lakes and hopefully I can build something to that magnitude where I go and take a little piece of Bear country with me.”

Do you have anything special to say to the Bear community?

“Mater Lakes, always push for greatness, strive for excellence, and I wish you guys nothing but the very best in the future. I will always be part of Mater Lakes.”

 

 

Welcome

                                                                                               Welcome to The Paw Print. The blog features news about faculty, staff and students at Mater Lakes Academy. To submit an idea for a story or to send a question, e-mail us at  materlakesblog@gmail.com  The blog’s advisor is Ms. Taylor and she can be found in Room 231 or e-mailed at jtaylor10@dadeschools.net.

Visit our school website at http://www.materlakes.org.

The Final Serve

By Sofia Ponce, Melany Freytes and Victoria Gayarre

The Boys Volleyball team, lead by Coach Melissa Lopez, wrapped up their season 7-7, with an impressive performance that got them to district playoffs.

“We made fourth seat in this year’s playoffs losing to ATM (Alonzo and Tracy Mourning High School), who have held the district title for the last six years,” said Lopez.

Lopez explained that the team, with only three seniors, is a young one, but that they proved to be “motivated, disciplined and eager to learn the game of volleyball.” She added that she looks forward to watching the team grow in the next few years.

Junior Jay Brady said, “Our record was positive, and we beat our rival Pace during our senior night when we came back from a 2-0 deficit.”

Senior Angelo Moline-Castro also agreed that the team had a great year. “This is the second year we’ve made it to districts so I think we’ve been getting better and I’m very proud of my team for their hard work this year,” he said.

 

End of the journey for flag football

By Rafael Llamas
Sports Editor

Even though the team didn’t win any games this season (March-April) flag football Coach CC Bovee has high expectations for next year.

A good portion of the team is made up of seniors so there will be a big change in the roster for next year. Coach CC said, “It was tough but fun this year this past season. It was a pleasure teaching a sport I love so much to eager young ladies. Next year we are coming back strong!”

As the girl’s flag football season comes to an end, the team reflects on their performance and effort, but most importantly are the unique experiences some of the players had, and the sad realization that this was the last season for a lot of the players.

Katelynn Garcia stated, “It was during our senior night when I was able to tell my teammates and coaches how much I appreciate them and how much I’m going to miss them in college.”

This was the third season for this young team, so there is definitely a lot of room for improvement and change. As the school grows bigger so will the team, and as the seasons go, so will the players. For one individual player a goodbye will be extra hard to say.

Senior and captain of the team, Ariana Bocalandro, has been a member for two seasons. Bocalandro said, “After being part of the flag football team for two years, I can say that what I will miss the most of being part of a family that loves football just as much as I do.”

The team might not have had a great season performance wise, but a lot of memories and smiles were shared.

 

Lady Bears Beat Rival Pace

By Leslie Betancourt
Staff Writer

This has been a great season (January-March) for our varsity softball team, with the girls earning district runner ups after beating rival Pace at the first district game and losing the championship game by a few runs. The outcome of the season was 10-8.

The team welcomed two new coaches, Lauren Badia and Nicolas Wydra, with open arms.

Wydra stated, “Being a coach has been great! I originally stopped coaching well over eight years ago, but I came out of retirement for my step-daughter whose team (The Lady Bears) didn’t have a coach.”

The 38-year old had this to say regarding where he draws motivation, “Watching students that I teach and athletes that I coach working vigorously to become better. When I

 

see them putting in the effort that it takes to get better, it motivates me to work even harder so that they can achieve their goals.”

Senior team captain and Wydra’s step-daughter, Mariah Hernandez, said this about the team, “We brought a lot of new girls on to the team, but we played cohesively and competitively. It was a great season and a great way to end senior year.”

New to the team this year was Coach Lauren, who was born and raised in Hialeah and started coaching at Barbara Goleman High School in 2012. She explained, “I’ve been around sports all my life. It’s a very big passion of mine, so I decided to study it in college.” Coach Lauren worked with the JV team.

The 28-year old uses her love for the game and her passion for seeing her players improve as a huge motivation. “My favorite part about being a coach is seeing my girls get better, seeing their hard work pay off on the field when they get the winning hit or score the winning run,” she stated.

Senior co-captain Jessica Brady said, “I think the girls did well, and there were games that were very difficult under certain circumstances, but they still did good.”

 

The Last hit for Varsity Baseball

By Amanda Milian

Staff Writer

Junior pitcher Miguel Temes allowed three hits and struck out four on his way to a complete game, 9-1 victory over the Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM) Titans, extending the Bears’ winning streak to six games in their home finale at Paul Demie Mainieri Field at Frank R. Esposito Stadium on April 25.

“I’ve been working on it [pitching], and my main focus this year is to not allow any walks, throw strikes, and just do my job,” said Temes about his performance.

Junior first baseman Rolando Leyva, added three hits and three RBI, including a two-run double in the sixth inning that broke the game wide open. Junior shortstop Adrian Perez added a triple and 2 RBI for Mater Lakes.

The Bears (13-11) got on the scoreboard first when Leyva’s first-inning single drove in second baseman Christian Caro for the game’s first run.

In the third inning, the Titans (8-17) scored their only run when Temes’ throwing error into right field allowed SLAM shortstop, Ryan Sablon to score from first after reaching base on a single. Temes did not allow a hit after the third inning error, thanks to the help of some stellar defense by the Bears.

“With our defense, we have found our niche, and have been playing outstanding [during the winning streak],” said Bears Coach Cesar Temes Jr. about their winning streak.

The Bears started the season 4-0; MLA lost their star junior first baseman, Lazaro Lapiera for the season due to a fractured orbital.

Coach Temes Jr. attributes the team’s positive attitude during their losing streak to their improvement on defense and work ethic.

“That put us in a downward spiral,” said Coach Temes Jr. when talking about Lapiera’s injury. “We struggled but started to play a little better thanks to our defense, which has been playing outstanding.”

The Bears winning streak was halted at six games in their regular season finale, losing 8-7 to Westwood Christian.

Mater Lakes season ended abruptly with a 5-0 defeat to the St. Brendan Sabres in the District 15-5A semifinal game. The Bears finished the season with a 13-13 record.

 

Dearest Seniors,

By Abby Florez

Staff Writer

Graduation is right around the corner, and as you might know, life as you know it is about to change forever. But don’t be too scared, it can also become more exciting and fun! The Paw Print asked some teachers to share their experiences, memories, and some advice. This is what they had to say.

“I would advise the seniors to not have too much expectations of what life is going to be like. Kind of like play it by the year and be happy with what you can accomplish, you know? Always try for more but don’t set markers that you have to reach. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. Sometimes you take a year off school and it was the best choice. You finish school early and it was the best choice, and sometimes you don’t go to school at all and it might have been the best choice too. So you never know what life is going to give you.” – English teacher America Manzano.

“If I could go back to my senior year I would probably get more involved in different activities, like in the school, as opposed to just doing homework and focusing on my work and stuff like that. That’s probably one of the things I would change,” said U.S. History teacher, Ayleen Charles.

U.S. History teacher, Ismael Gonzalez said what he would change if he could go back to his senior year, “I would have taken harder classes in my senior year, instead of doing senioritis things. I would’ve taken more A.P. classes, harder classes. If I could go back I’d probably do dual enrollment. I should’ve done that too.”

“When I got accepted to UF my mom did not want to let me go, but my counselor believed in me and she told me, ‘why not? If you have that opportunity then take advantage of it.’ She played a really big role kind of mediating between my mother and myself to kind of come to a happy compromise of me being able to go, and as you can see, I was able to go to UF,” said counselor Andre Gutierrez, who shared who impacted him the most when he was a senior.

From MLA to NYC

By Samantha Hernandez
Staff Writer

More than 60 music, art, drama and journalism students made their way to the Big Apple for Spring Break 2017.

The group departed April 6th and returned April 10th and was chaperoned by music teachers Sterling Jones and Hector Barrera, drama teachers Krista Flores and Christina Smith, art teachers Xierra Itayem and Mack Jackson, and journalism teacher Jackie Taylor, in addition to several parents.

The itinerary included attendance to two Broadway shows, Aladdin and Wicked, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, One World Observatory and cultural activities such as visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walking tours of the financial district and China Town.

Daniella Llanes, an 11th grader, shares one of her favorite trip memories, dinner at a restaurant in Little Italy called Puglia.

“It was the most fun I have yet to have on a trip. There was a lady singing songs and everyone got up to dance. There was even a part that she told us to stand on our seats and shake our napkins in the air! The room was lit up with happiness and laughter,” said Llanes.

Students like sophomore Oscar Ospina really enjoyed visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art as “visiting the Met was a time when we got to calm down from all the activities and enjoy looking at art.”

The trip was enjoyable for all and many students became closer with their classmates and teachers as was the case with senior Taylor Garcia. He described the trip as a “one of a lifetime experience!” His favorite part of the trip was “meeting new people and spending time with them. Everything was beautiful over there but it was definitely the people and the teachers that made the trip worth it!”

These students managed to experience the city that never sleeps in just a few days and come back home with fun filled unforgettable memories and friendships.

 

Survival Tips for College Students

By Emily Mesa
Advice Columnist

When you are fresh out of high school , and excited to finally be free and on your own in college, you may find that your freshman year of college can be a bit of a harder time than you thought as you try to balance school, work, and socializing. For some, it is an easy transition, and for others it might take some time to get adjusted to this new lifestyle.

When experiencing “college life” for the first time, you can get a little carried away and not focus so much on school work because you want to just go out and party. That doesn’t have to be the case though.

There are many ways you can manage school work and socializing so that you can have the best of both worlds. Take college as if it is a job, and at your job you need to do all your work before you clock out.

So once you get out of class, or sometimes even in class, get your homework done or study for a test you have coming up. Then after you’re done studying, or doing the work you need to do, you can “clock out” and go out with your friends and have a great time.

To keep up with the whole job analogy your “pay day” is your grades. Once you see that you’re putting in some effort in school and getting your homework done your grades will show how hard you’ve worked.

You could also reward yourself by going out with your friends or going to that party you really wanted to go to. The best balance is to know the importance of school and what you’re there for.

The biggest thing of all is to not procrastinate or leave everything until the last minute because that is when you start to get stressed out and your grades start to drop.

College is a whole new experience and you should be able to enjoy it to the fullest. Find out what works for you and balance your school work and social life the best way you can.

 

The Senior Behind the Guitar

By Victoria Gayarre
Editor-in-chief

Some may recognize senior Taylor Garcia as the student playing the bass guitar at every pep rally or the dark-haired boy sitting behind the speakers at each drama club performance, helping to bring each show together wonderfully through the power of music.

Garcia has been attending Mater Lakes since the seventh grade. He speaks about the beginning of his middle school life with a slight frown explaining that in the beginning it was difficult to make close connections with friends, but things have changed as time moves on.

“I typically spend my weekends listening to music and just hanging with friends practicing instruments,” he said.

Garcia has been extremely involved in the Mater Lakes band for many years, and over time has grown extremely close with teacher Sterling Jones. He smiles and laughs saying, “I would like to thank Mr. Jones because he has done so much for me and I have spent so much time with him over the years. He has almost become like a father figure to me.”

Senior and friend Diego Pierri said, “He puts others in front of himself, and takes their feelings into account. He is very passionate about what he does, and really takes the time to listen to others and their stories.”

Taylor recently joined Jones and 63 other students on a spring break trip to New York City. He explains how great it was to spend time with such “amazing” people and grow closer to everyone.

Within his high school life, Garcia brought every high school film to life as he began a band with fellow students and some of his closest friends. The band performed live at school events and once played at a Miami Lakes concert at Optimist Park.  As time moved on, eventually, the band fell apart, and are no longer together. Just because the band ended, does not mean his love for music indeed died, he said.

Past bandmate and senior Liam Idrovo shared, “He is just naturally a very nice guy. He is very sympathetic.”

Garcia continues to enjoy music as he hopes to eventually to go on to study jazz elsewhere and inspire others with his passion. He describes the feelings of playing instruments with a smile, “It’s incredible, to feel the vibrations of the bass.”

He explained that wherever he sees an opportunity to share his love, he will go there to play music. He stated that his biggest inspiration is Flea from his favorite band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“Man that guy is just so talented. I mean everyone is sort of talented in their own way, but like I am really inspired by him,” Garcia laughs.

His ultimate dream in life to open a jazz club where people can come and value great music. “I just want to go somewhere where people will actually appreciate jazz, like maybe New Orleans or something.”

 

Although Garcia does not exactly know where his future will take him, he knows that it will be filled with music, the thing he loves most.