Coral Gables High junior Lauren Perna is an athlete playing softball and volleyball. She is captain of both teams. She’s also a member of the National Honor Society and the new Gables service club, Shape.
“We do beach cleanups. We painted the walls on the school,” she said. “We’re trying to clean it up. We try to help the kids out. They just started this last year.”
Perna said the idea behind the club is to beautify and improve the school environment.
“We are trying to build these skateboard racks and bicycle racks,” she said. “It’s for the convenience of our students.”
The club had plans to cleanup one of the patios and paint a mural on the patio wall.
“We have an artist in the club,” Perna said. “He goes to the school and he’s a senior. He’s really, really talented.”
This year’s girls volleyball team had a terrific season, making it into the district playoffs for the first time in many years. The softball team is facing a tough season because Gables is in a new district that pits them against strong competition. Last year the team went to the district finals before losing to Miami Springs. The year before, they went to the district finals and made it to the regional quarterfinals.
“We hope to go up against them and do well. Only time will tell,” she said.
Last year Perna played third base and was a cleanup hitter. This year she is expected to pitch.
For all the time she spends on the court and the field, she doesn’t skip on academics and achieves good grades, even with the rigorous International Baccalaureate program.
“I have really good time management,” she said.
To help keep strong on academics, Perna dropped her commitment to club softball.
By Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
