MIAMI, February 21, 2014 – Eleven students from Mary Galeri’s South Miami Senior High School class swept the top spots in the annual statewide PNC Christmas Price Index® - SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game Challenge. Galeri’s students entered the competition as a part of the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game program and were honored this Thursday, February 20, in an awards ceremony at their school. The students won $2,500 in AMEX gift cards and prizes in this finance competition.
PNC has a long-standing relationship with the SIFMA Foundation and its flagship program, The Stock Market Game. More recently, they teamed up to encourage the Florida teaching community to discuss economics and inflation with their students by using the playful, PNC Christmas Price Index as the lens of the "cost of Christmas." The popular annual PNC Christmas Price Index® is a whimsical economic indicator based on the prices of gifts in the holiday classic The Twelve Days of Christmas. The Challenge was a culminating activity, requiring students to estimate the cost of each item in the Christmas Price Index and then submit an essay outlining their rationale, with awards given to the top three performing middle and high school student teams. Prizes include gift cards, trophies, and class pizza parties.
Although there were hundreds of students who competed this year, culminating in a 200 percent growth in submissions, the 2014 winning teams all hailed from South Miami Senior High School. Student winners were selected based on the accuracy of their cumulative estimates and their written rationale. The winning teams are as follows:
First Place: Crystal Torres and Hirania Pages
Second Place: Christian Echevarria, Jorge Rojas, Nora Molina-Salazar, Ryan Serrano, Elayza Gonzalez
Third Place: Marineth Sierra, Brooke Hatten, Giselle Schreiber, Maria Calas
The students researched each of the gifts mentioned in the song, looking at source data, such as the price of gold for the golden rings or macro-economic indicators such as historical trends of inflation. They calculated their estimated percent change from last year’s prices and wrote a short essay describing their research and supporting their findings. Students then eagerly awaited PNC’s release of the final price data on November 26, hoping that their research produced the best estimates.
“The SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game and the PNC CPI SMG Challenge engage students in learning about the global economy and how it connects to their personal lives while enriching foundational academic and life skills,” said Melanie Mortimer, executive director of the SIFMA Foundation. “Thanks to the PNC Christmas Price Index, students are incentivized to take an active part in their own financial education.”
“Working with the SIFMA Foundation to host the Christmas Price Index Challenge is a wonderful extension of our shared commitment to helping students develop and strengthen their understanding of the building blocks of finance and the economy in a fun and interactive way,” Cressman Bronson, regional president of PNC Bank for Florida East.
Students participating in the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game program are introduced to personal finance and investing, while exploring real-world applications for the math they are taught in the classroom. A study conducted by Learning Point Associates found students who participated in the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game program scored higher on math achievement tests than their non-participating peers.
About PNC
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com) is one of the United States' largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. Follow @PNCNewson Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.
About the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education
The SIFMA Foundation is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds. Drawing on the support and expertise of the financial industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides financial education programs and tools that strengthen economic opportunities across communities and increase individuals’ access to the benefits of the global marketplace. Notable Foundation programs include the Stock Market Game, which has served more than 15 million students since it began in 1977, the InvestWrite national essay competition, and the Capitol Hill Challenge. For more information on the work of the SIFMA Foundation, visit www.sifma.org/foundation. Like Us at https://www.facebook.com/sifmaFoundation.
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Ms. Lloren's Spanish Dual Enrollment students had the opportunity attend FIU's Maidique Campus and explore the school's academic programs and facilities. |
Check out the Magnet TV Production classes staging a ribbon cutting ceremony unveiling their much improved newsroom set, donated by Univision's Channel 23. Members of the press and former alumni of Mr. Diaz's program, such Julie Bagg were among the notables at the event.
Click below for more images and videos
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Congratulations to Coach Fox and the Girls Basketball team for being District Champs after defeating Ferguson 46-39.This is the first time in 20 years that the Girls Basketball team has won districts. They will be playing for Regional Quarter-finals (more info to come).
Congratulations to Coach Pardo and Jean Concepcion for being District Champ in his weight class in Wrestling! |
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11 students and 3 teachers participated in the Miami Half Marathon. 13.1 miles of running early in the morning. I am pleased to announce that all 14 of us finished. Although a little tired. |
Ms. Hunter, Ms. Lemo, Mr. Diaz and Ms. Gormley had 11 students exhibit 15 works of art in the Scholastic Art Awards 2014 OFFICIAL Regional Digital Exhibition at the Perez Art Museum in Miami.
Sheila Delgado---1 Gold Key and 1 Silver Key
Yanay Diaz---1 Silver Key and Honorable Mention
Vanessa Dono---Honorable Mention
Carmen Estevez---Honorable Mention
Kathia Hernandez---Honorable Mention
Christina Holloway---Honorable Mention
Yesenia Padron---Honorable Mention
Timmalyna Torres---1 Silver Key and Honorable Mention
Mauricio Valdivia---Honorable Mention
Salene Watson---Honorable Mention
Brittany Wilder---2 Silver Keys and Honorable Mention |
Adrian Izquierdo, Hebert Wilson, and Jonathan Flores have been elected to participate in the Senior All-Star Game Saturday March 22 in St. Petersberg , FL.
Facundo Centurion is a candidate to make the All-Dade team and is nominated for scholar athlete of the month |
Here are some photos from the recent All Star Game with South Miami Senior High's own #16 Glenn Roberts and #81 Jamal Brown. Dade has won 4 years straight over Broward.
 
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Congratulations to the following students, who have been selected to participate in the Beaux Arts Student Artist Showcase 2014.
- Brittany Wilder South Miami Sr. High 10 Suspension of Disbelief
- Brenda Rodriguez South Miami Sr. High 10 Brenda in Wonderland
- Yesenia Padron South Miami Sr. High 11 Self Portrait
- Kathia Hernandez South Miami Sr. High 11 Self Portrait
- Robert Fleitas South Miami Sr. High 11 Self-Portrait
- Robert Fleitas South Miami Sr. High 11 Urban Life Mixed Media
- LeAnn Vazquez South Miami Sr. High 11 After the Bath
The Student Artist Showcase Reception will be:
Tuesday January 14th, 2014
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Lowe Art Museum
At the University of Miami
1301 Stanford Drive
Coral Gales, FL 33143
January 18th - 19th, 2014 - Festival of Art - All artwork will be displayed at the Lowe Art Museum |
Students from the Cobra Readers student book club participated in the holiday toy drive for South Miami K-8 and took time to read to students from the first grade classes at the school. For pictures and videos, click here
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Students from South Miami Senior High's Architecture and Construction classes constructed a pair of trellises for the City of South Miami. Anchoring both ends of the back of Jean Willis Park, Mr. Truby supervised the construction projects snd later were thanked by the Tropical Flowering Tree Society and members of City of South Miami, including comissioner Bob Welsh and South Miami Senior High principal Gilberto Bonce and the mayor of the City of South Miami, Phillip Stoddard.
For more about the City of South Miami, click here
To learn more about the Tropical Flowering Tree Society, click here |
After having successfully defended our State Championship in February, last week we traveled to Washington D.C. to defend our National Robotics Champion’s title. This year we finished in a very respectable third place at the National Robotics Competition held at the Smithsonian Museum.
The team of Richard Morales, Christian Echevarria and Christopher Morales finished the competition with a perfect score of 500 points. This year however, there five other teams with perfect scores. We would have loved being awarded First place, but considering the level of the competition, and the strength of the other school’s robotics programs, we are very pleased with our third place finish and the $500.00 third place prize.
To find out more about this competition visit: http://miniurbanchallenge.com/ |
Two of our magnet fine art students have been awarded prizes through the Latino Art Beat Hispanic Heritage art competition.
Maria Gonzalez earned a regional first place prize, which makes her eligible for substantial scholarship money if the work is later awarded a national prize.
Harold Casco earned a regional honorable mention. Although his piece will not be forwarded to the national level, he will be awarded a monetary prize.
Latino Art Beat is a Chicago-based, non-profit organization created in 1998 that supports Latin student artists in high schools and that organizes competitions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago during Hispanic Heritage Month with art shows and concerts. |
The following magnet art students are participating in a state-wide summer art exhibit hosted by the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Teachers were allowed to submit up to 8 works of art---Ms. Hunter was the only teacher in the state who had all 8 accepted!
Gormley: Dante Rodriguez, Tahlia Utrera
Hunter: Yanay Diaz, Roberto Fleitas, Maria Garcia, Shaloma Gutierrez, Natalie Hernandez, Sueann Li, Katherine Machin, Yanelis Valdes
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