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Miami Palmetto High School senior Alexandra (Ali) Shapiro is vice president of the Health
Information Project (HIP). HIP members go into freshman classrooms to teach health-related topics. The topics range from proper nutrition to mental health and COVID.
“Overall, HIP teaches students in personable ways,” she says.
Topics, such as COVID vaccines, can sometimes be controversial, but all information is science-based.
“I think a lot of kids, they go a lot by what their parents say,” she says, adding, “but by teaching them the facts, they are able to form their own opinions.”
Shapiro’s volunteer service includes Achieve Miami.
“I started Achieve Miami my freshman year,” she says. “Once COVID hit, I took a brief break from it but then I started again.”
She goes to Caribbean K-8 Center once a month to help children increase their ability to read and write.
“I enjoy helping people in as many ways I can,” she says. “The kids are always very sweet.
I like making sure they are having fun while still benefitting educationally.”
On Achieve Miami days, the volunteers stand in a circle and the Little Buddies come around to choose their reading partner.
“We go and pick a book at the level that they read at,” she says. “They get to pick any
two books. We read both and they get to take one of them home with them. They then write short summaries of the book they read as well as a creative writing activity. We go to recess, and we come back for lunch.”
At Palmetto, Shapiro is the Chief of Senate on the Student Council board.
“My job is to monitor the senators’ projects and progress,” she says. “I have a partner and we work together to ensure Student Council does not fall behind. We keep records of what they are and aren’t doing. When we chose the senators, we chose people who we knew would do their jobs.”
This year she’s the design editor of the yearbook. She was previously the ads editor, the events editor and the academics editor.
“This year my position is a leadership position,” she says. “I really love working on the yearbook. It provides me with a creative outlet.”
She was previously secretary for the Class of ’23. As secretary, she kept the students in her grade informed.
“I let everybody know about events like fundraisers, the junior ring ceremony, and class activities,” she says.
She used Instagram and an app called Remind to send out reminders and details.
Shapiro is a member of the History Bowl team. She is also in the Social Science Honor Society.
Last year, the History Bowl team participated in several competitions. She’s a member of the National Honor Society and Interact.
For college, Shapiro is considering a major in psychology.
She’s taking a dual enrollment class called the Social Environment at Miami-Dade College.
“It focuses on how things have changed in society, because of political, economic, and social factors,” she says.
She has also taken dual enrollment classes in Human Nutrition and Psychology. A previous summer, she took a psychology class at a pre-college program she attended at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA.
“It was a program for high school kids,” she says. “We were able to get a feel of the college experience, both academically and socially.”
Throughout her high school career, Shapiro has won the Yearbook Award her freshman year, the PAW Award her sophomore year, and last year she was named Panther of Distinction.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
To see more #Miaminews from #Aventura to #Coralgables to #SouthMiami, #Pinecrest, #Palmetto Bay and #Cutler Bay and all throughout #Miamidadecounty go to:
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