Incoming Coral Gables High School senior Michelle Tapia is very involved in extracurricular activities. She is a member of Interact; Quill and Scroll; a new club, VICA; International Baccalaureate Honor Society, and National Honor Society.
She also is going into her second year as the editorin- chief of the school’s newspaper. That job is usually reserved for seniors.
“My freshman year, the yearbook was only seniors. Slowly they started recruiting younger,” she said. “I’m the first editor-in-chief I know of as a junior.”
She led the effort to reorganize the yearbook, changing the format so that it was in chronological order, which is a now a trend nationally.
“When we had decided to change from traditional to chronological, there was a lot of learning that went with it,” Tapia said. “I have been doing traditional since ninth grade year. We always go to conferences and conventions and you get to see other schools books. I would see that traditional was dying out. I want to do something new and we went for it.”
As a member of the various community service organizations, Tapia has been able to do plenty of community service but she is also considering doing her own project.
“I would like to do a book drive. I like reading. I like giving books to people who may not be able to afford them,” she said. “I was a reluctant reader.” She said the book Twilight turned her on to reading.
“Everyone was talking about the books. I finally gave it a chance,” Tapia said. “I’m actually interested in reading and what’s going on. I know what it’s like being a reluctant reader.”
She would begin the drive at the beginning of the school year to get the help of the student body. The project also would fulfill an International Baccalaureate requirement for a service project.
“You have to figure out your own logistics,” Tapia said.
— Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
