This year's Drug Abuse Resistance Program (DARE) graduation at Spanish Lakes Elementary (SLE) was bittersweet due to the beloved Miami-Dade Police Officer Wendy Heller's forthcoming retirement. Since the school’s inception, Heller has served as SLE’s resource officer and DARE instructor. After the students were presented the certificate of completion for the 10 week course, a special award was given to 5th grader, Max...

  Christy Llanes has been named as José Marti MAST Academy’s (JMMA) 2018 Teacher of the Year. She has worked as the Science, Engineering, Communication and Mathematics Enhancement (SECME) coordinator since she began working as a teacher at JMMA 7 years ago. During this time, there has been a tremendous change of staff, many positive programs implemented and an upward trend in the achievements of students at the school, all...

  The Miami Lakes Optimist Club’s MIA 8U travel flag football team recently won the 2018 national championship, defeating the Miami Lobos in a 20-0 shut out during the Grip It and Rip It Tournament at Brain Piccolo Park in Broward County.    The team went undefeated (5-0) and held all of their opponents scoreless and only gave up three first downs during the entire tournament. “Once that final whistle blew it was...

  Former Monsignor Edward Pace High student-athlete Ray Shipman recently earned his Master’s degree in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University. The former linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, the Florida Gators and University of Central Florida was also a basketball standout at Pace, leading the Spartans to two consecutive state championships and was named Florida High School Player of the Year. Shipman, 28, is a...

  At only 14 years old, Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s James Williams has shown many local spectators and recruiters from around the nation that he is a force to be reckoned with.  At the beginning of the season, head football coach Joe Zaccheo recognized the talents he brings to the Spartan team by stating that Williams “might just be the next Sean Taylor.” Since then, he has continued to work hard to prove...