Roberto Alonso was elected to the Greater Florida Consortium of School Boards.      Alonso, of Miami Lakes, became secretary and treasurer of the organization, which chose him in June during its meeting in Tampa.      Locally, Alonso represents District 4 of the Miami Dade County Public Schools Board.      The GFCSB develops a legislative platform that it advocates for...

     Twenty students from Virnalis Arvelo’s eighth grade class at Miami Lakes K-8 Center achieved a perfect score on their English Language Arts Florida Assessment of Student Thinking.       “What a fantastic way to end the year,” Arvelo said in an email. “We laughed and cried.”  The students received a level five score and Arvelo treated them to dinner at ML Steak...

     Boy Scouts from the Miami Lakes area attended a BSA National Youth Leadership Training Program in March held at Camp Elmore in Davie.      Over six days and five nights, the scouts learned advanced corporate team building; leadership and critical thinking and management skills, which they will bring back to their troops.     Fifty young people from Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties...

 Each year, the American Legion presents awards to approximately 30,000 students for demonstrating character traits that the group calls American ideals: courage, honor, leadership, patriotism, scholarship and service.      Young people in elementary, middle and high schools and at colleges are chosen by faculty for the Legion’s School Medal Award Program, said Gary Cardenas, commander of American Legion Post 144...

    Like many authors do, Jackie Morera drew from her own life when writing her first book, “Abuelo’s Flower Shop.”       Morera, 34, grew up in Miami Lakes. Her grandfather’s flower stand in Miami inspired her tale of Elena, a little girl who is finally old enough to help her grandfather sell his flowers.       “I would visit my abuelos (grandparents) when...