The Legend The Legend is published monthly by Lake Placid High School, 202 Green Dragon Drive, Lake Placid, FL 33852

Desk of Mrs. Stivender

April 2015

Editor: Alexis Merlo

By Katie LeBlanc and Delani Coleman

Dates to

Remember!

FSA Reading Test

There is a new

standardized test that un-

derclassmen will be taking

this year to replace FCAT.

Teachers have been prepar-

ing students for this test for

weeks; the new format is

very different from any

standardized test that has

been taken here at Lake

Placid High before. While

students are taking the

Florida Standard Assess-

ment, teachers will contin-

ue teaching the students

who are still in their class

and the ones testing will

make up the lesson when

their testing is over, just as

it has been done in the past.

Testing will be during the

weeks of April 13 and

April 20.

Prom

Lake Placid High’s

Under the Sea prom will

be on May 9n at the Flori-

da Aquarium in Tampa.

Students will meet at the

high school at 4:15 to

load onto the buses and

depart for the Florida

Aquarium. Students will

be searched before load-

ing the buses and go

through the aquarium se-

curity before entering

prom. Deputy Garza will

also be going along with

the students for security

measures. Mrs. Stivender

is expecting prom to go

very well due to the nu-

merous successes in past

destination proms. Mrs.

Stivender suggests that

when students are decid-

ing on clothing to wear to

prom, they take into con-

sideration that they will

be on a bus for quite some

time while traveling to

and from prom; it is also

suggested that students

bring extra clothing that

they change into on the

way back. Students will

be taking bus to and from

the aquarium.

Second Semester Grades

As the 2014-15

school year comes to an

end, students will be de-

ciding on classes for next

year. Mrs. Stivender asks

that students chose their

classes wisely. She tells

The Legend that colleges

are looking for the num-

ber of academic classes

and their grades. Colleges

do not like to see that a

student took a lot of in-

ternships and co-op clas-

ses. It is very important

for students to get as

Caps of Love Update! By Kayla Harris

SGA’s Caps of Love drive

has been a huge success

The collection goal has

been surpassed

SGA received an award for

its work with Caps of Love

All year long, Lake

Placid High School students

have been collecting bottle caps

and other plastic lids for charity.

Caps of Love, the organization

that collects the lids, recycles

donated plastic and uses refunds

from the recycling to purchase

new wheelchairs for disabled

children in the United States.

Thanks to SGA and all the stu-

dents who took part in the col-

lection drive, Caps of Love has

been able to add tens of thou-

sands of lids to its numbers.

How many caps have been col-

lected, exactly? According to

SGA president Sophia Hernan-

dez, SGA “stopped counting

once we hit 126,144,” but the

actual count is most likely closer

to 130,000 caps. This far ex-

ceeds SGA’s goal of 125,000,

and they are excited about these

results. “I feel so honored that

the student body has responded

the way they have,” So-

phia says. “I never in my wild-

est dreams imagined that they

would show out so much and

donate so, so many caps...We

never thought this could be pos-

sible.”

Not only has SGA’s

work with Caps of Love raised

money for children in need of

wheelchairs, but it has earned

SGA well deserved recognition

as well. At a recent student gov-

ernment convention, Lake Plac-

id High’s SGA won third place

for its successful bottle cap

drive. “We entered a project

book for [Caps of Love], and

we won an award for it,” Sophie

explains. The trophy that they

earned now sits in a display

case in the SGA room, making

known success of the project.

Though the possibility

of another Caps of Love drive

next year is still being deter-

mined by the incoming SGA

officers, the accomplishments

of this

year’s

drive can-

not be

mistaken.

SGA’s

original

goal at the

beginning

of the school year was to col-

lect 50,000 bottle caps, a goal

that has since been more than

doubled. Such success would

not have been possible without

the full support of Lake Placid

High. “We’re very proud of

everybody who has helped

make this happen,” Sophia

says. She would also like to

issue “a big ‘thank you’ to all

the teachers who have come up

with creative ways to motivate

Child Abuse Awareness Month

Page 2 The Legend Volume , Issue

By Kristen Harris

Preparing Future Investigators in Forensics By Ana Ramirez

Many state and local gov-

ernments work to encourage

public awareness of child

abuse and child neglect

This special awareness cam-

paign encourages schools

and their students to get

involved with child abuse

prevention

The child abuse hotline can

be called anytime at 1-800-

4-A-CHILD

Every April, purple

pinwheels pop up across lawns

nationwide. Businesses, homes,

and government establishment

display the colorful decorations

as a symbol for children and the

youthful happiness deserved by

each and every one of them.

These pinwheels are a part of

Child Abuse Prevention Month,

an awareness campaign created

by the organization Pinwheels

for Prevention in 2008. Every

April, the U.S. President Presi-

dent of the United States issues

an edict proclaiming the start of

Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Many state and local govern-

ments also work to encourage

public awareness of child abuse

and child neglect, launch pro-

grams in communities, and re-

commit themselves to the

issue of child abuse preven-

tion. The theme of this year’s

Child Abuse Prevention

Month is “Making Meaning-

ful Connections,” which was

chosen to encourage the

building of healthy relation-

ships between

children and the

adults in their

lives.

This

special aware-

ness campaign

encourages

schools and their

students to get

involved with

child abuse pre-

vention. Accord-

ing to guidance counselor Ms.

Wilson, Lake Placid High

School prepares its teachers to

aid in issues of suspected

child abuse. “Our teachers are

trained every year. We have a

PowerPoint that is sent down

to us from the district office,”

she explains. “We give

them… things to look for. We

give them steps and proce-

dures to follow.” Though she

says reports that child abuse

cases reported in Lake Placid

are few and far between, she

Ms. Wilson adds that “there’s

cases we don’t know about.”

She further explains, “We

don’t have a lot we report. It’s

low frequency, but I’m afraid

there’s a lot we don’t hear

about. Children are afraid to

speak. They know something

is going on with their friend,

and I would really like to see

more of the students take an

active part in going to an adult

when they fear something is

going on.”

If a student suspects

that a friend may be a victim

of child abuse, there are steps

that he or she should take. Ms.

Wilson advises students

to“look for signs.” She de-

scribes exactly what students

should do in a situation by say-

ing, “If they see something- a

big change in a friend or some-

one they know…. Just try to be

a friend to that person. There’s

help… [If you feel the first

adult you told didn’t help] keep

going. Tell another

adult. Just be

aware of what they

see with their

friends. If they

have a concern, go

to an adult that

they trust. It

doesn’t have to be

a counselor; it can

be any adult on our

campus. Follow

up;, don’t just re-

port it one time. There may be

things happening that [students]

don’t see; just follow back up

with them.”

“Abuse isn’t always physical;

sometimes, it’s verbal or emo-

tional,” she explains. If at any-

time a student feels as if he or

she or a friend is in danger of

abuse of any kind, the child

abuse hotline can be called any-

time at 1-800-4-A-CHILD. It is

open twenty-four hours a day,

This year, forensics

has been offered to seniors

who were interested in tak-

ing the class. As the year is

coming to an end, these

seniors will have to work

together to solve a murder

case of their own.

What is forensics?

According to Mrs. Rinald,

who taught the class for

three years from 2006 to

2010, “forensics is the ap-

plication of science” that

involves criminal investiga-

tion and the use of experi-

ments to come to a conclu-

sion. Forensic science is

going deeper into science

and using what one knows

from biology, chemistry

and any other regular sci-

ences. Within the forensics

subject, there are many top-

ics that one may specialize

in such as hair analysis,

fingerprinting, blood splat-

ter, ballistics and decompo-

sition. There are many

subsections to forensics

that one may choose.

The forensics class has had

several labs that contribute

to the lessons learned.

When studying hair, the

students observe the hair

through microscopes and

learn to anatomy of it. In

the blood splatter lesson,

students learn about how

blood’s behavior with grav-

ity and how blood shape

and direction can identify

what happened and where

it occurred. Since real

blood cannot be used, syn-

thetic blood is used.

With the help of

teachers,

Mrs.

Rinald will

be creating

a crime

scene us-

ing a cloth

dummy. In

the final

project,

students

are split

into small teams by choos-

ing what topic they want to

work in whether it is evi-

dence collection, hair, psy-

chology, fingerprints, docu-

mentation, etc. Each team

will have to explain their

findings and come together

to solve the case. They will

eventually have to present

the case to a

“jury” which

will consist

of students

from a histo-

ry class or a

group of

teachers. The

final project

will last at

least 7

weeks. By

having students participate in

a crime scene of their own, it

will make them “analyze

their evidence” and learn

how to prove their finding by

explaining and demonstrat-

New Year’s New Food Standard for Schools

Page 3 The Legend Volume , Issue

3rd Nine Weeks Club Updates!

By Jayda Knight

dents have to meet the follow-

ing nutrition requirements:

Be a “whole grain-rich”

grain product

Have as the first ingredi-

ent a fruit, a vegetable, a

dairy product, or a pro-

tein food

Be a combination food

that contains at least ¼

cup of fruit and/or vege-

table

Contain 10% of the Daily

Value (DV) of one of the

nutrients

of public

health

concern in

the 2010

Dietary

Guide-

lines for

Ameri-

cans (calcium, potassium,

vitamin D, or dietary

The United States De-

partment of Agriculture, has

recently published practical nu-

trition standards for snack foods

and beverages that are sold to

children during their school day.

As most students already know,

there has been a huge junk food

reduction. Throughout the past

few years, Michelle Obama has

cut numerous amounts of junk

food items from schools around

the country. This isn’t to punish

students and take away to the

only school foods that we like,

such as cookies, but this policy

is being implemented help de-

crease the percentage of kids

suffering from obesity and will

become a stronger national cam-

paign strongly supported by

Michelle Obama in the 2016-

2017 school year.

Next school year, the

foods that will be sold to stu-

Key Club is competing

in their annual conven-

tion next week

SGA is holding a

dodge ball tournament

FFA members will be

going to SFSC to com-

pete in districts.

Recently, the Key

Club has been involved in

Relay for Life, which will

be held April 25 at the

football field. Key Club is

also participating in their

annual convention in Or-

lando called Dcon. At this

convention they will be

awarded for all the work

and projects they have

done throughout the year.

In the past two years the

Key Club have won the

turkey scavenger hunt and

look forward to getting

more awards at their con-

vention.

The president of Key

Club, Brisia Fonseca, has

been involved with Key

fiber).

The Nutrition Standard for

Beverages that are allowed to

be sold at schools are:

Plain water (with or with-

out carbonation)

Unflavored low fat milk

Unflavored or flavored

fat free milk and milk

alternatives permitted by

NSLP/SBP

100% fruit or vegetable

juice

100% fruit or vegetable

juice

diluted

with wa-

ter (with

or with-

out car-

bonation), and no added

sweeteners

Clubs and sports that

fundraise by selling candy to

make a profit will have to do

this on their own time.

“Students and athletes will no

longer be allowed to sell candy

bars or any type of food item

during the school day. All

sales must be done outside of

our school campus,” said Mrs.

Stivender

Although it may take

a while to adapt to the lack of

junk food on our campus, it

may very well be beneficial. It

is worth the shot, with a lower

rate of obesity these students

can become a part of making

America a healthy place.

Club since her sophomore

year. To join Key Club

Brisia stated, “Most of the

time old members bring

friends along and get inter-

ested and decide to join.”

For

more information about ac-

tivities involving Key Club

please see the advisor, Mrs.

Eidenberger.

In FCCLA the

members are planning to

put together egg wraps to

sell to students for $2.

FCCLA is also planning to

participate in the dodge ball

tournament, on April 29.

Some of the members are

extremely excited about the

event. Mr. Skalski, the

FLCCA advisor stated,

“This is my first year I have

done FCCLA but I did do

Key Club up north.” Since

he is just starting out

FCCLA has not received

any awards but Mr.

Skalski is hoping to win

some. He later added,

“To join FCCLA see me

or my officers.”

Some upcoming

events in SGA would in-

clude getting volunteers

to sign up to help out for

Amy’s School of dance

recital. If students do

choose to sign up they

will be given community

service hours for however

long the student volun-

teered for. SGA will also

be holding a dodge ball

tournament on Wednes-

day, April 29. Each class

grade will need a total of

8

players. SGA is a fun and

social way for students to

get community service

hours and to become a

better student.

On May 5th,

FFA will be hosting their

annual banquet here at

the school in the com-

mons. The students will

be recognized for all the

hard work they have

done throughout the

year. The students will

be participating in sev-

eral upcoming contests.

Mrs. Vester, the advisor

for FFA, stated that the

members of FFA will be

participating in districts

at SFSC. On April 11

the students will also be

going to Gainesville for

a state competition.

Mrs. Vester also stated

she has been involved

with FFA for her whole

life. Mrs. Vester’s dad

was the old advisor and

when he retired she took

over his position.

If students are

interested in joining

FFA students will be

required to fill out an

application and pay a

yearly due, which this

year was only $30. FFA

is a fun way to get in-

volved and become edu-

cated with agriculture.

By Halie Murphy and Nick Videll

Page 4 The Legend Volume , Issue

Name: Florida Gulf Coast Uni-

versity

Location: Fort Meyers

Size: total undergraduate en-

rollment of 12,861

Fast fact: FGCU has no foot-

ball team.

College Spotlight By Kristen Harris

Name: Palm Beach Atlantic Univer-

sity

Location: West Palm Beach

Size: total undergraduate enrollment

of 2,887

Fast fact: PBA has the only Sailfish

mascot in the nation.