South Miami Senior High - Social Studies Department News 2009-2010

2009-2010 Social Studies Department News

For the first time ever, an educator has won the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Lesson Plan of the Year competition two years in a row . . . and he’s a Cobra!

Dr. Astuto from the Social Studies department was honored by the central bank at the conclusion of this year’s competition, in which teachers from all or part of six southeastern states participated. The announcement was made at a luncheon at the bank’s Atlanta headquarters. Earlier in the year Dr. Astuto had been named the repeat winner of the competition at the Miami branch, which was open to competitors from the southern half of the state of Florida.

Teachers from Georgia as well as from the territories of the bank’s five branches (Miami, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Nashville, and Birmingham) entered at each branch in the first phase of the contest with those winners moving on to the finals in Atlanta. The Sixth District is the only one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks to conduct the competition.

Dr. Astuto’s lesson plan, which promotes student financial literacy, will be posted on the website of the Atlanta bank for other educators to see and use. His winning lesson from 2009 along with other winning plans, have already been downloaded by over 22,000 educators. He teaches government and economics courses, as well as Advanced Placement courses in Macroeconomics and U.S. Government & Politics, and sponsors the Social Studies Honor Society.

Please join the Social Studies Department in congratulating the following seniors who finished in the top 20th percentile nationwide in the National Financial Capability Challenge, sponsored by the Department of the Treasury. The students are from Dr. Astuto's AP Macroeconomics/AP Government class and Mrs. Galeri's Honors Government/Honors Economics classes:

Vanessa Alvarez
Eduardo Aroix

Jordan Avitan
Nataly Cartaya
Spencer Christopher
Aubrey Dupree
Carlos Estevez
Cherry Flores
Leslie Lombo
Westley Pineda
Ian Raisbeck
Christoper Rodriguez
Steven Rodriguez
Ariana Sanchez
Daniel Santana

Cobra Senior Ashlee Baez has been named the State of Florida winner in the InvestWrite essay competition. This is the third consecutive school year in which a Cobra from Dr. Astuto’s Economics classes has won the top award in the state. The competition, sponsored by SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education, is held in conjunction with a stock market investment competition. Ashlee will be recognized at an awards luncheon later this year.
Please join the Social Studies Department in congratulating Dr. Keith Astuto, who for the second consecutive year, won First Place for the Miami Branch in the Federal Reserve Bank's Lesson Plan of the Year Contest. His entry in 2009 was recognized as the best in the Sixth Federal Reserve District, covering all or part of six states in the southeastern United States. Dr. Astuto will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to compete with the other finalists in the Regional Contest.

Dr. Keith Astuto of South Miami Senior High received Special Recognition from the Miami-Dade County School Board at its July meeting. Dr. Marta Pérez presented the award to commemorate Dr. Astuto’s first place finish in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s 2009 Lesson Plan of the Year competition. The contest evaluates teachers from six different states in the southeastern U.S. served by the Atlanta FRB. Principal Gilberto Bonce was also present for the honor.
Three Cobra scholars were among the four-dozen high school students from Miami-Dade County to participate in the Summer Institute for National Security Studies at Florida International University this summer. Seniors Dalny Ruel, Osman Lopez, and ascending senior Juan Acosta took part in a simulated energy policy negotiation among government and industry groups in Brazil. Accompanied by Dr. Keith Astuto of the Social Studies department, the students reviewed governmental organization, conventional & alternative energy technologies, and data maps of Brazil’s natural resources. During the final negotiation session, Dr. Astuto portrayed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to give the session an added dose of realism.

FIU is planning two simulation activities this school year in preparation for the 2010 Summer Institute, so be on the lookout for announcements about them each semester.
Please join the Social Studies Department in congratulating the following students and teachers who were honored at a luncheon at Bonaventure Country Club in Weston, Tuesday, May 19, for winning the Florida Stock Market Game and the Invest Write Competitions.
- Christina Garcia- Alario (Invest Write Winner - 2008 1st Place State Winner/7th Place National Winner)
  - Teacher: Mary A. Galeri
- Saranhais Zerpa (Invest Write Essay Contest- Spring, 2009 First Place State Winner)
  - Teacher: Keith Astuto
- Chris Rascon, Sara Rojas, Julio Sanchez, Ashley Simpson, Noland Torres, and Esmee Vera (Stock Market Game - Spring 2009 1st Place District Winner/3rd Place State Winner)
  - Teacher: Patricia Coyle

For the 2009-2010 school year, a Cobra has emerged as the state champion in the InvestWrite essay competition. Ashlee Baez was honored by the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education for her efforts in the competition, which is held in conjunction with the Stock Market Game in Economics classes across the country. In her essay Ashlee had to create an investment strategy with specific recommendations for relatives who came into an unexpected inheritance. She was recently honored at a luncheon in Ft. Lauderdale. This is the third consecutive year that a student from one of Dr. Astuto's Economics classes has taken Florida's top prize in the competition.
Dr. Astuto has won First Place in the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching Economics in a state-wide competition. The Florida Council on Economic Education hailed Dr. Astuto’s entry in teaching personal financial literacy, which guided students through saving, budgeting, investment, and even filing federal income tax returns. This is the third consecutive year that Dr. Astuto has been recognized at the Governor’s Awards ceremony; he took third prize honors in different categories in both 2008 and 2009. Officials from the FCEE presented the award to him at the “Teachers Rock!” luncheon in Orlando.
Nearly a dozen Cobra scholars joined high school students from across the county to participate in the spring session of the Program in National Security Studies conducted by Florida International University.

Students assumed roles as representatives of one of six international entities in a strategic recreation of the diplomatic negotiations connected to the ethnic cleansing occurring in Kosovo during the late 1990s. The purpose of the negotiations was to obtain an end to hostilities between nationalistic groups in the former Yugoslavia and avoid military intervention by NATO troops. Students conferred within their own group to determine the group's stand, then were challenged to negotiate with other groups to find common ground for a peaceful solution. Many of our Cobras served as lead negotiators or representatives to the final negotiations.