The Graham Companies and the Town of Miami Lakes’ Education Advisory Board on June 8th awarded scholarships worth $1,000 each to two recent high school graduates who live in town and are bound for college in the fall. The Graham Companies and the Education Advisory Board chose the winners; the scholarships are funded by The Graham Companies. Lisbeth Arrieta, 18, graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School and plans to attend...

Pedro Fiallo, 76, received an honorary diploma on June 7th from Barbara Goleman Senior High School and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Perla Tabares Hantman, chair of the school board, presented Fiallo with the diploma. “It was a surprise,” Fiallo said afterward. “I had no idea. I was so honored to receive this honorary diploma. It was very...

It was fitting that a
steel drum played happy rhythms for Ana Pena’s surprise retirement party on June 7th. The Miami Lakes Middle School director of band cried joyful tears as colleagues celebrated the woman who taught music to children for 39 years. “It’s been my life,” Pena, 61, of Hialeah, said. “I think of it as a service. And I think I served the kids with my heart and my music.” Pena and her...

Two sisters from Miami Lakes recently celebrated graduating from college. Sarah Sutnick, 27, above at left, and Isabel Sutnick, 24, at right, are the daughters of Steven A. Sutnick, D.M.D, and Liza Sutnick, R.N. Sarah Sutnick graduated in 2012 from Barbara Goleman Senior High School. She earned a Doctor of Optometry degree from the New England College of Optometry.
Isabel Sutnick graduated from the University of Miami, Patti and...

Using only pencils, Mater Academy Charter High School senior Michael Cano drew such a compelling portrait of a man that it was chosen for display in the U.S. Capitol complex. Cano, 18, of Hialeah, said he was inspired -- by the hard times that some people are living through and the impact of race upon a person’s fortune -- to create the winning work. “As a society, I’m disappointed with how things are right now,”...