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Jaya Castro is Miami Palmetto High School’s Silver Knight nominee in the Science category. Castro’s Silver Knight project is called Sustainable Humankind.
“There is so much I want to teach about our environment,” she says.
Her sophomore year, she went to Pinecrest Elementary to teach kids about different environmental concerns affecting our planet.
“I led presentations and interactive activities as a guest speaker for their EcoAmbassador club. The following Fall, I started an after-school club called EcoSkits and each week we focused on learning about a different environmental issue,” she says. “We then wrote skits based around the environmental issue.”
They would also play theater games, and the students acted out the skits.
EcoSkits was born out of her passion for both the environment and theater. She’s been performing in shows since fifth grade.
“I love being on stage,” she says. “Working together to put on a show is one of the most rewarding experiences.”
She’s performed in shows at Area Stage and MoonAmie. She’s also performed in shows at G. W. Carver Middle School. Her freshman year she attended the International Baccalaureate program at Coral Reef High School, but missed taking drama at school, so she transferred to Palmetto. She is in the advanced theater program.
“I love it. It teaches you about hard work and community. You are bound to be competitive.
You want a certain role, you want a certain piece, but to stay a troupe, you have to work together,” she says.
She’s performed in Legally Blonde in the role of Whitney, Warner’s new girlfriend’s best friend. In Putnam County Spelling Bee, she was Ronna, the announcer.
At the recent Thespian District competitions, she performed a duet musical from West Side Story and received Top Honors, which is a perfect score.
In the past, she’s won superiors for large group performances.
In addition to acting, she’s also a dancer. She dances pointe ballet at Armor Dance Theater.
“They run afterschool outreach programs for schools around Miami-Dade. They teach dance, reading, writing and math for free,” Castro says. “I asked my dance teacher. ‘Do you think they would enjoy learning about environmental education?’”
Her dance teacher thought it was a great idea. Castro reached out to Elkay and asked if they could donate reusable water bottles.
“So far, I’ve been to four schools to teach them about single use plastics. At the end of the presentations, I help the kids decorate their new reusable water bottles,” she says. “I adore having the opportunity to both have fun and educate the kids.”
Her environmental work has many facets, including music.
In fact, she worked with her piano teacher from the Friends of South Florida Music Foundation to compose a song.
“I worked with her and her husband to write a song about environmental awareness. He helped me write the chords and arranged them. It was copyrighted this summer,” Castro says. “I taught the song to kids at Pinecrest Elementary for Earth Day.”
At school, Castro is one of the presidents of the Science National Honor Society, secretary of Thespians, and the Environmental Outreach Chair of Student Council.
Her plan is to major in Environmental Policy and possibly Pharmaceutics.
She attended The Summer Science Program in Genomics at Purdue this past summer.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was exposed to lab research for the first time and met some of the smartest people I know,” she says.
She says the program compelled her to look at pharmaceutics as a potential career.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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