Gianmarco Maestri
Videographer
Brother Kevin’s Clothing Store
Written by: Jordan Perez
Brother Kevin has been a staple of Columbus for generations, and his legacy lives on throughout the brotherhood. To keep this tradition alive, Columbus staff have decided to redesign the clothing store named from the legend himself. The inspiration for the redesign is Columbus president Thomas Kruzchek. He states that Brother has made the most contributions to the school than anyone else. He believes that the clothing store refurb is a great way to properly honor his legacy. The store has already gotten amazing feedback from the students and faculty, with more and more sales going up. The one person that is truly a fan of the store is Brother Kevin himself. He states that he is very grateful for the stores naming and theming to be based on him. The greatest thing about the store is its way of educating the new generation of students about Columbus tradition. The students are drawn into the store by the amazing colors, design, and overall feel of the store. But after closer examination, the meaning in the walls tell a bigger story. One freshman states that he admires pictures and quotes painted onto the walls, it gives him a good insight into Brother Kevin’s legacy. With the next generation of students able of enjoy school merchandise and learn some rich Columbus history along the way, the Brother Kevin store will be an important part of the campus for years to come.
With contributions by: Gianmarco Maestri
Back and Forth: A new take on Streetwear
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Brian Seage, Christopher Columbus High School alum,. has started his clothing store in Coral Gables. Brian started his idea after college when he finished and was staying in Cincinnati. “When I was away in Cincinnati, I met a store owner up there and he became my mentor and treated me like family ever since” said Brian, his experience with his mentor gained him confidence in opening his first store and that confidence is what back and forth is all about.
When Brian opened back and forth he enlisted the help of his brother, Kevin Seage who has worked with brian all his life. Kevin started his own clothing brand with support from his brother and friends. Spilled milk, Kevin’s brand, is being sold at Back and Forth and there to stay. “I knew immediately that I was gonna be able to help him out and help him build the store he wants it to be” Kevin stated. Kevin’s brand has a fanbase with an impressive online presence with many of his products being sold on his website.
With Brians store completed he continues to want to add product to his store. His style of formal and casual streetwear has filled in a void of the clothing market that not many stores have tapped in to. “I worked up with receiving product and then learning how the customer approaches shopping”, this mentality stated by Brian has led him to his success. With Brians store now being complete, he will continue to his skills in both business and fashion to expand and grow his business to the top.
David Martinez : Fighting Towards Success
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Students in high school usually look for easily accessible sports as a hobby like basketball, baseball and football. David Martinez wanted to carve his own path and start independently training to become an MMA fighter. David's passion began last year when he found a fighter through instagram, with further research he started training himself at the UFC Gym in Miami, Florida. From that point he met his coach, Martin Davila and they have been pushing each other every day.
“I want to compete, compete, compete, compete, I want to win as much as I can,” said David, this drive and passion that he states here is the reason his coach and himself believe in a possible MMA career. With a supporting cast of friends and family all supporting and believing in his career, progress continues everyday until the day when David will enter the ring as a fighter for the first time.
For David, only time can get when he will be ready for the ring. Due to his young age it is an advantage because of his young age giving him a lot more experience when he is older. David has no date on his debut fight but his work will not go to waste as it is David’s goal to enter the ring as soon as possible. Now while we wait for the debut, David will not waste a second using all time possible to train.
A Local Beach Cleanup
Beach Cleanups have been a way of cleaning our local beaches that were affected by pollution. Now a local teen news magazine, “Miami VIP 305” started their own beach cleanup in hopes of making a change in Miami. Miami Vip 305 started a service project week this year, a week long camp all for helping out local problems and provide service to those in need. With the week coming to a close, the last stop was a local beach that has a big plastic pollution problem.
When it came down to the cleanup itself, it was a big success. All the boys in the camp came down with trash bags ready to pick up as much trash as possible in the beach. All the people at the cleanup had their own personal motives and goals for the cleanup and it all came down to a collaborative effort put into the cleanup to make our beaches clean. Brandon Couto, a volunteer at the cleanup found motivation in making the beaches enjoyable for everyone and his impact on the beach.
The event as a whole was a success, as a group these teens came together to clean up a local beach and help our environment. Also doing this gave them experience to what cleanups mean and the experience hopefully makes the volunteers want to participate in more acts like these. Organizations like “Vip 305” will continue to make an impact to save wildlife and preserve Floridian beaches and hopefully influence a generation of change.
Spike Ball Makes its Debut at Columbus
By: Adrian Botton
Here at Christopher Columbus High School, we provide an excellent sports program home to almost all popular high school sports. Now Columbus is expanding in the introduction of spike ball through a school wide spike ball tournament. This tournament was used as a fundraiser for the school's annual walk a thon fundraiser. This tournament brought out over 50 players from all grade levels with all different levels of experience. All these players were seeking the final jackpot to whoever won the tournament.
The tournament started like any traditional tournament, brackets with teams that all lead up to the finals. All kinds of players showed up, regardless of their skill level. Jake Cordes, a participant in the tournament said, “Everyone likes it, there’s nothing to hate about it…Columbus kids came out because they know how much fun it is and they want to have fun with their friends”. This tournament is to be seen as fun, while there is a winner, all the kids who participated got an opportunity to try or revisit the game and play spike ball.
It came down to two teams in the end as they both competed for the jackpot and the title of being the spike ball champions at Columbus. These two teams were both comprised of underclassmen as they fought their way up through upperclassmen to secure a spot in the finals.Oliver Callava and his teammate ended up winning the tournament in a hard fought match. The spike ball tournament was an all around success as it brought Columbus students together to introduce a new sport at Columbus.
Contributions from: Gianmarco Maestri
The 7th Annual Coral Gables Doggie Costume Contest
By: Adrian Botton
Halloween is usually spent with family while going around the neighborhood trick or treating, but here at the Coral Gables museum, Halloween is used to host a doggie costume contest. Owners and their dogs dress up together and take the stage in a competition all to benefit the humane society. With all kinds of dogs and even cats, all animals that showed up got to compete with the dogs. The hostess of the event, Ashley Magluta said quote, “Coral Gables people love their pets so we decided to throw that pet aspect in for them.”.
When looking into the crowd you will see all kinds of people, from families all in costume to just single people with their pet. All of these people come together as a community to celebrate Halloween with the pets that they consider to be part of their own family. Jade Lleonart, a dog owner at the contest said, “Events like this bring the community together, people look forward to come out and have something to do, and when it involves the whole family including pets, it really brings the community together.”
At the end of the day, this contest is more about a community coming together. All of these dog owners came together to celebrate Halloween is a fun day surrounded with other dog owners. The event was organized to raise money for the humane society and bring together the dog owner community in Coral Gables. In the end, the 7th annual doggie costume contest was a success as it many dog owners came out for a different take on Halloween.
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With contributions by: Gianmarco Maestri,Neo Gaitan
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Ernie Perabeles
By: Adrian Botton
Ernie Perabeles is a senior in high school is now feeling the best he has ever felt due to his new found passion, but it wasn’t always like this. As a freshman, Ernie struggled with his physical appearance, he started as a golfer and he put a lot of time and dedication into it. He described golf as his real passion when he was younger, saying that he would visit the golf course almost every day that he could.
After this, Ernie saw himself and wasn’t confident with the way he looked. Ernie then stated, “My friend introduced me to power-lifting”, and this introduction started a new passion for Ernie as this would be his outlet for his body transformation. Ernie, since the beginning of senior year has been improving at power-lifting and it has taken over the spot that golf used to have. With power-lifting Ernie has worked for the body he always wanted and a new found passion that will hopefully stay with him for a long time.
Ernie’s mother along with him has found his transition to be beneficial. She stated that it is like an adrenaline that goes through him everyday, and how it’s a great habit he has begun. So with all of this family support and his own motivation, Ernie’s new path with power-lifting will continue to grow and strengthen, one plate at a time.
Contributions from- Gianmarco Maestri, Richard Joseph
President Donald Trumps Impeachment Trials and its Effect on the Youth
By: Adrian Botton
In the wake of president Donald Trump's impeachment trial, we explored the voices of the youth of Miami to see their impact on this trial. At this time the acquittal of the president was imminent as the senate was in the process of voting and later that day it would be announced that the president was not guilty on a vote of 48 to 52. As student journalists we wanted to explore what impact the youth had on this trial and how they can affect politics.
As a local student advocate, Janet Hernandez makes her mark as she helps promote voter registration and is actively involved in informing students on campus about the importance of being an active participant in politics. She stated that as an advocate she is “getting young people involved in issues that matter”, and in this she shows her impact on her community. Voices like Janet’s in the community are heard all over Miami, especially to Local CBS 4 Anchor Elliot Rodriguez, while he reports on events like the impeachment, he sees how young people are active and the community and he recognizes its importance in politics.
Even with the impeachment trials not being successful its opportunity to affect young people was seen all over Miami. Congress women, Don Shalala emphasized this as she said, “My hope is that now that the trial is behind us, young people - no matter their political persuasion- reflect on the importance of involvement in civic life and take action to build a better future for all Americans.”. With this impeachment trial bringing together youth voices, we can only hope this brings the best for the future of America.
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With contributions by: Gianmarco Maestri
The Mother of All Caravans
By: Christopher Gomez
This past weekend Cubans 4 Trump organized the largest political caravan in South Florida to support the President and in their view fight creeping socialism.
“We have to help out our President, this is a great country and we have a choice,” said event organizer Ozzy Perez. “It’s either lawlessness or law and order, it’s either riots or peaceful people being out in the streets.” Cubans like Roberto Martinez were there to fight what they had experienced in their home country and were quick to defend the president and his policies. “I am here because I am seeing that the security of the US is in danger and I love this country and would die for this country. I saw what the Cuban government did and I don’t want that here.” He told us.
The caravan isn’t named the Mother of All Caravans for nothing, they had over 800 cars attending the event. “We are not the silent majority anymore, take a look around. I lost count of how many people are here, this is incredible.” Said Myllye Gonzalez.
The disdain for the press was evident at the rally. On multiple occasions we were called “communist” and “fake news.” Lourdes Cuadrado told us “He receives no support in the news and because of that we have to be there.” Mayte Arguelles reiterated her point “The press is so against Trump that is why I came out here”
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Contributions by Gianmarco Maestri
The Turkey Drive
By: Adrian Botton
Christopher Columbus High School started its annual turkey collection. This charity drive gathers all students and staff to donate to the needy families of the holiday season. Mr. Gonzalez, head of the campus ministry has taken the job of being the director of the drive. As a director, he has gathered students to help collect these turkeys and gather them all for delivery. The turkey drive has always been very important to Columbus and keeping the tradition alive was crucial especially during COVID-19.
COVID-19 has made a lot of events and traditions hard to celebrate. Columbus knew that the turkey drive was very important to families needing food for thanksgiving. Just a simple turkey is all that families need to have a good meal for thanksgiving. So Columbus went and collected hundreds of turkeys now allowing families to have the thanksgiving meal they deserve. Students made donations all to help this holiday season and every donation counted.
With everyone at Columbus coming together for this one cause, it ended with a great turnout. Hundreds of turkeys added up and collected to all be delivered straight to the houses of needy families. The turkey drive will continue to be a tradition at Columbus and its support will always grow no matter what the circumstances are.
Contributions: Gianmarco Maistri, Neo Gaitan.
By: Adrian Botton
The Everglades
Florida is a place where the great outdoors plays a key role in our way of life. With this comes the importance of sharing the knowledge of the environment that surrounds us. In the Florida everglades, many people get their knowledge from tours around the area. One fun way to tour is on an airboat, on an airboat you get a guided tour of the everglades on the water. Tour guides like Tom, Tom takes his animals and his airboat out around the everglades to show his guests what living in the land is all about.
Either about crocodiles or birds, Tom knows the wildlife of the everglades better than anyone. When on the air boat or in the showroom, Tom is sharing his knowledge everyday to all of his guests. He says, ¨When you learn something, you get that spark and that's what makes life worth living¨. One of his guests today, Andy Gutierrez, found his valentines day being spent on the water learning about the great outdoors. While not your average valentines day outing, it definitely did not disappoint.
Tom will continue to keep guests like Andy informed on the fragile everglades for as long as he can. A major fear that many guides like Tom have is that the everglades are slowly coming apart, with many factors damaging the ecosystem, everyday the everglades suffer from pollution and land loss leading the everglades to shrink and become less livable for the surrounding wildlife. Tom will continue to promote the conservation of this land to hopefully one day save nature's gift.
Contributions from: Manny Naccarato, JP Garcia-Casals, Jordan Perez, Gianmarco Maistri
Too Much Light makes the Explorer go Blind
By:Adrian Botton
For the past year, Columbus’ drama club has been restricted from performing in front of an audience due to Covid-19. Now the club is back, with their returning show, “Too Much light makes the Explorer go Blind”. This show is an improv show run by the audience. Members of the club have to go and play skits from the audience choice. With 30 topics to choose from, the audience yells one number and then the drama club will do their best in performing it. Head of the drama club, Mr. Bussato says it started during his years in the club and now the drama club is keeping the tradition alive.
With this being the only show of the year, seniors like Justyn Rubio are left to make the most out of their performance. As the seniors didn't get the most out of junior year, to have a senior year performance is very special to them. Rubio expressed his excitement and was very happy with the performance and the turnout of guests that attended.
The show ended with a round of applause and all the guests gave their appreciation to the club and the performance. Gabriella Ramiez was one of the guests in the crowd and she was really impressed with the show put on. Ramiez knows the importance of a senior show and with this being their senior show she was super excited to come out and show her support. Now as the curtain closes, a new one opens as the club prepares for next year's show.
Contributions: Gianmarco Maestri, Neo Gaitan, Nick Casanueva