|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Gulliver Prep senior Mateo Krauze has two passions, soccer and community service that impacts immigrants.
He was born in Mexico City and immigrated to Los Angeles in 2011. He started on his journey of helping immigrants and teaching others about immigrants at Crossroads School, a private school in L.A., where he was the only student in his class born outside the U.S.A.
“From the original 50 kids, I was the only immigrant,” he says. “I got to share with my classmates the whole immigrant experience. Being an immigrant has been a part of my identity as a person. The Mexican culture and the fact that I brought that here and I grew up in the U.S. results in a pretty unique cultural experience. That’s been a big part of me.
In CA there weren’t many immigrants in my school. I got to share my experiences here, it was unique there. Here I speak Spanish with my friends. I joined Gulliver in freshman year when I moved from LA.”
Because of his love of soccer, it’s not surprising that he planned the soccer sports equipment collection drive with his younger brothers, Alejandro and Santiago. They are working with the Mexican Consulate to distribute the donated goods.
The drive ran from September 2 to September 21. They set up bins at various sites at Gulliver for students to bring their donations. They also set up a bin at the Pinecrest Community Center.
Krauze says this is the most ambitious collection drive he has conducted.
“It’s the biggest one to scale,” he says. “This is the first one that we are trying to get all of Pinecrest as well. There are a lot of soccer players.”
Planning for the drive took about a month. It’s not the only one he has planned. As president of Gulliver’s Business Honor Society, he has worked on a few.
“A lot of people organize drives through us,” he says. “That’s probably the most impactful thing I’ve done. We did a drive collecting toys for the holidays last year. That one was quite successful.”
They also did a drive for people impacted by Hurricane Helene.
“We collected toiletries, canned goods, some clothing as well,” he says.
Last year, he used what he’s learned about business volunteering with Breakthrough Miami.
“We were advisors to students developing business plans,” he says. “A group of middle schoolers that were devising business plans. The group that won the whole competition was one of the groups that we coached.”
Krauze says there were about 20 groups that the business students coached.
“I probably coached one to three groups each session,” he says. “We did more than five sessions. They came up with some cool ideas.”
The winning group created a website for people who host events, which even allowed participants to RSVP online.
In his last days as president of the honor society, he’s working on a major project for the Gulliver Centennial to bring in successful alumni for a speaker series.
“I probably won’t be president when it comes to fruition, but it will be cool to see that happen,” he says.
His strong interest in finance has him collaborating with friends who plan to open an investment mini-club under the umbrella of the Economics Club dedicated to stocks and investments.
At Gulliver, he’s a member of the National Honor Society, the Italian Club and the Italian Honor Society. He participated in a DECA competition last year in business management.
His college application list includes USC, Boston College, UCLA, Dartmouth and Yale for an Economics major.
Linda Rodriguez Berenfeld
ABOUT US:
For more Miami community news, look no further than Miami Community Newspapers. This Miami online group of newspapers covers a variety of topics about the local community and beyond. Miami’s Community Newspapers offers daily news, online resources, podcasts and other multimedia content to keep readers informed. With topics ranging from local news to community events, Miami’s Community Newspapers is the ideal source for staying up to date with the latest news and happenings in the area.
This family-owned media company publishes more than a dozen neighborhood publications, magazines, special sections on their websites, newsletters, as well as distributing them in print throughout Miami Dade County from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, South Miami, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay and Homestead. Each online publication and print editions provide comprehensive coverage of local news, events, business updates, lifestyle features, and local initiatives within its respective community.
Additionally, the newspaper has exclusive Miami community podcasts, providing listeners with an in-depth look into Miami’s culture. Whether you’re looking for local Miami news, or podcasts, Miami’s Community Newspapers has you covered. For more information, be sure to check out: https://communitynewspapers.com.
If you have any questions, feel free to email Michael@communitynewspapers.com or Grant@communitynewspapers.com.
