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For the past three years, Miami Palmetto High School senior Alex Perodin has done community outreach in Miami for Farah Natacha Kerby Dessources Orphanage (FNKDO) in Haiti.
“We try to reach out to people from all over the country,” he says. “There is a large Haitian diaspora all over the country.”
The orphanage supports seven children and works to make sure the children are housed and educated.
“This organization gives them an opportunity to receive a quality education,” he says.
Perodin says they fundraise through several events, such as organizing yoga and Zumba classes.
“We’ve done farmer’s markets,” he says. “They have been fully organized by me and the organization. We put on a farmer’s market at a church (Killian Pines United Methodist Church) in December and it was successful. I think we raised $5,000 from the Mind Body Spirit event alone.”
Perodin says it’s important to raise money for education because the public schools in Haiti are not reliable, so this is the only way for the students to be able to receive an education.
His freshman and sophomore years, Perodin volunteered with chess organizations at two middle schools. Those organizations were started by his brother as a volunteer project.
“For one and half years I accompanied him to Frank C. Martin and Southwood Middle to do chess tutoring,” Perodin says.
Perodin says chess is something he’s good at. He’s the secretary of the chess club at Palmetto. He’s been playing chess for five years.
“I think that’s what we’re going to try and do, is start a chess outreach program. I would love to go back to Frank C. Martin. I’m going to reach out to the principal.”
Unfortunately, the chess program at F.C. Martin had shut down because they lost the teacher sponsor.
“I like to play chess with my dad and my brother,” he says. “We play online on Chess.com. I wouldn’t call myself the best. I’m better at explaining and teaching the fundamentals. It is something I’m passionate about and something I’d like to get better at.”
Perodin also volunteers at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in the orchid microbiology area.
“We sequence orchid DNA to register invasive species and keep track of what orchids are prevalent in our local area,” he says.
When he goes to Fairchild, he extracts the orchid DNA and prepares it to be sent off for sequencing.
At Palmetto, he is secretary of the Health Information Project.
“These are topics, they are not topics people are comfortable with and that they have knowledge about,” he says. “It’s rewarding to be connecting with individuals who might need a mentor.”
Perodin is president of the African Heritage Club.
“We promote inclusivity in the school,” he says. “What I try to do is have people learn about culture, things that people wouldn’t have learned about otherwise.”
He’s also a Chief of Senate for the Student Council.
“I oversee the 16 committees,” he says. “I work with the co-chief of senate. We are the communications team between the president, the senate, and the activities director.”
Perodin is the co-executive producer of Television Production.
“We make sure the news is spread throughout the school,” he says. “We try to do one serious story, one international story and one lighthearted story. We do important work. I try to make sure we have a serious tone. You don’t know what information people are getting outside of school.”
His college application list includes the University of Florida, Tulane, the University of Miami, Florida State University, and the University of Central Florida. He wants to be a Finance major.
Linda Rodriguez Berenfeld
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