Students from Spanish Lake Elementary School and Bob Graham Education Center competed at the 66th Annual South Florida Science and Engineering Fair on Feb. 8. More than 20,000 students participated in contests at Miami Dade College’s North Campus. Spanish Lake Elementary medal winners in the photo at left are, left to right, Dominick Rivera, fifth grade, who won gold; Kristopher Guzman, third grade, a silver medalist and Jordan...

The chess team from Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic School attended the 2020 Florida Scholastic Chess League tournament on Jan. 25. The Cheetah Chess Club’s K-3 Team won third place and the K-5 Team placed fifth. The K-1 Team -- Daniel Tome and Dylan Martinez -- tied for first. The K-3 Team, left to right, are: Arturo Sosa, who is in the third grade and Liam Giberson, Gabriel Santiago and Victoria Besu, all second grade students....

Miami Lakes K-8 students medaled in the South Florida Regional Science Fair Feb. 8, when they competed against middle and high schools from throughout Miami-Dade County.Students, from left to right, are: Sofia Gonzalez; Megan Lewis; Maia Ramos, holding her first place trophy; Justin Correa; Matthew Menard; Joshua Rivas and Aidan Schwinghammer.Maia’s project about the ability of social networks to improve depression among senior citizens won...

Bob Graham Education Center’s STEM Academy competed at the Roboslam robotics competition held at the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds on Jan. 25. Three teams represented the Miami Lakes school in the contest that drew 53 competing teams. One BGEC team earned the build award and a second BGEC team won the create award. The students qualified to compete at the South Florida VEX IQ Regional Competition to be held at Westminster...

When Vanessa Valle was a little girl playing with her dolls, she would pretend to be their teacher. Sharing knowledge is something Valle has continued to do through her adult life. And on Jan. 30, her passion for education was rewarded when she was named the 2021 Francisco R. Walker Teacher of the Year, a top award for educators in Miami-Dade County. Valle, 37, an English teacher at Hialeah Gardens Senior High School, was so...