Positive People in Pinecrest – Alexia Lugo

Positive People in Pinecrest - Alexia Lugo
Positive People in Pinecrest - Alexia Lugo
Alexia Lugo

Last year, Miami Palmetto High senior Alexia Lugo started a new club called Project Unify. The club enables students to mix with and play sports with the students in Palmetto’s special needs class.

“We do things within the school,” she says. “We do Special Olympics.”

Working with the special needs students is important to her. She first began volunteering with the special needs kids when she was a freshman. It was something she could do with her brother, who has special needs. He graduated from Palmetto last year.

“I’ve been doing a camp called Camp Shriver, which is also funded by Special Olympics,” she says. “It’s a sport camp.”

The kids at camp participated in sports such as soccer, volleyball and basketball.

“Every day we go outside, and go play on a team,” she says. “I thought we were helping the special needs kids, but it’s not like that. We do things with them. Every day, we go outside, go into teams.”

When she decided to create a program at Palmetto she checked with the folks at the Special Olympics for suggestions. They recommended Project Unify, a program that is in other school. She liked the concept and brought it to Palmetto.

“I really love working with those kids,” she says. “I wanted to bring it to Palmetto.”

While Project Unify has similar aspects to Best Buddies, it’s much more sports oriented.

“We play basketball and go to tournaments and competitions,” she says. “We do unified sports.”

The teams are a mix of volunteer teen helpers and special needs students.

‘Basketball is five on five with two helpers and three special needs kids,” she says. “Volleyball is three helpers and three special needs kids.”

Junior year, the Palmetto club fielded teams in both volleyball and basketball.

They had a volleyball team her sophomore year and last year they fielded teams in both volleyball and basketball.

With all the sports she plays, it’s surprising to learn that she’s not a huge sports enthusiast. She’s actually more into dance. Lugo has been on the Palmetto dance team, Variations since her freshman year.

“We do the pep rallies and shows,” she says.

Dance is not only a team but a daily class. She also has practice every week.

“It’s taken up my high school experience,” she says.

The team goes to dance camps like the America Dance Alliance at Barry University. Lugo says it’s three crazy days of dancing ten hours a day.

Many of her more than 900 community service hours come from dance and volunteering with special needs organizations. She’s also earned some from being in the National Honor Society and Eight Habits of the Heart club. Club members go to freshman classes to teach students about the values which include nurturing, responsibility, dependability, friendship, and kindness.

Her college applications include University of Florida, Florida State, and the University of Central Florida. She has already been accepted to Florida International University.

She’s interested in majoring in psychology or speech therapy. She’ll make her decision once she starts taking classes in college. Her interest was sparked by multiple psychology classes in high school.

“I just find it so interesting,” she says. “A lot of psychology has to do with mental disorders. I hope that the path I want to continue on – learning more about the brain and everyone’s different personality.”

She hopes to work with the disabled.

“I’ve also considered speech therapy because I know that I’d work with kids who have problems like that,” she says.

Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld


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