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Miami Palmetto High School junior Catalina Forwood wants children in Argentina to be able to attend school. To help achieve that goal, she started a community service project called If I Had a Pencil.
“I collect school supplies, pencils, sharpeners and erasers for the kids in Argentina who cannot afford it,” she says. “I’m supported by the Spanish National Honor Society.”
In order to make sure the supplies get to the children, she contacted the organization Send a Child to School. They will ensure the school supplies are distributed to the Villa most in need.
Forwood moved to Miami from Argentina two years ago. She attended the American school there, a school that was located next to Villas, underprivileged areas there.
“I’d hear stories about kids not being able to afford something as basic as a pencil,” she says. “I could just lose a pencil and be okay.”
Forwood wants to help break the chain of poverty she has seen by getting children basic school supplies so they can learn.
She thought long and hard about how she could help the kids. She says she knew she wanted to do something to get herself more in touch with her old community.
“A lot of problems amplified, especially after COVID,” she says.
At school she put out collection boxes set out for pencil donation. She lets her fellow students know that any pencil they don’t need can be used elsewhere. At the end of the year, her message will be “donate a pencil you are not going to use next year,” because she knows many families will buy all new supplies to start a new school year.
She plans to take a suitcase full of supplies to Argentina this summer. It will the first of several trips.
“I will be doing trips during the course of next year,” she says. “I’d like to bring at least one per trip.”
Locally she volunteered at Camp Unbeatable at Evelyn Greer Park in 2021.
“It was a mix of sports camps with an element of tutoring,” she says. “We would partake in lessons in everyday life, lessons on how to save money or treat someone with kindness.”
She also volunteered at Fairchild Garden in 2021.
“I was an ambassador,” she says. “I would make sure people were following the rules.
I worked at the butterfly garden. I was teaching all the people about the butterflies.”
At school, Forwood is secretary of Model United Nations and has participated in regional conferences, receiving Honorable Delegate at Florida Atlantic University in 2022.
“It’s something I really enjoy doing,” she says. “Especially because of my international background.”
She is the historian of the Chess Club, which means she is in charge of the club’s social media. She’s the vice president of fundraising for the Junior Class. She’s a member of the Spanish National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. She tutors at Palmetto Middle School in math through My Alpha Theta.
She was selected by teachers for the University of Miami’s new Women in Stem program.
“I have been taking Introduction to Probability at UM and look forward to continuing my advanced math work there next year,” she says.
Forwood says she enjoys sports, including her teamwork on the varsity soccer team at Palmetto.
Outside of school she takes voice lessons. Last summer she sang back-up for Rapper Trippe Redd.
In college, she’d love to be in an a cappella group. Currently she’s interested in majoring in business, either international business or business with a focus on finance with a minor in mathematics.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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