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This summer, Miami Palmetto High School rising senior Sofia Garcia has been interning in the offices of District 7 County Commissioner Raquel Regalado.
Garcia says through her work for Commissioner Regalado, she’s developed a better understanding of how local government truly affects people’s lives.
“I’ve interacted with citizens in need by helping to organize community events such as a Farm Share food drive in South Miami,” she says.
She plans to continue the internship throughout her senior year. She expects to help organize events such as the re-opening of the Chapman Dog Park in the near future.
“This experience has been incredibly rewarding,” she says. “I am able to help people in need first-hand and also I’ve had a chance to see the important role legislation plays in making it all happen.”
During the last school year, Garcia tutored students at Madison Middle School. Twice a week the students and tutors would come together online and educate them by using games as a way of teaching concepts so that students could better understand their lessons.
“We would go over small worksheets that required some reading and then answer questions and finally we would play games to reinforce what they had learned,” she says.
Garcia says the students gained understanding of the fundamental concepts with the help of the tutoring.
“I hope to do it again next year,” she says. “I really enjoyed working with the kids and it was nice to see how much they improved.”
At school, Garcia is a varsity cheerleader. As a cheerleader she not only cheers at sporting events, but she also participates in community events.
Despite a year that was defined by COVID restrictions, the cheerleaders were able to cheer at numerous football games and all home court basketball games.
Garcia is a member of Thespians. She participated in the Regional Thespian competition and earned a superior for Publicity Design.
As a thespian, Garcia participated in Puffs, a play put on over Zoom. It was a comedic spin-off of Harry Potter.
“Through Zoom we would record each scene and later put them together,” she says. “We used a digital portal where people could buy tickets to watch the streamed show. We held two showings of Puffs.”
Because of health concerns related to COVID, Garcia opted to go to school online.
She was accepted into the National Honor Society and she’s the Membership Coordinator of the Amnesty International Club.
“Our meeting focused on how students can participate in efforts to defend human rights,” she says. “Some of the methods used to involve students included signing petitions and writing letters.”
Garcia is an active member of the ACLU.
“I closely follow the many issues that the organization works on such as criminal justice, free speech and immigrant rights,” she says.
She volunteers at the Church of the Little Flower Homeless Ministry. The ministry prepares food donations for the Miami Rescue Mission.
“Once a month we meet at the church for food donations prepared by members and local businesses,” she says. “As a member of the ministry we’ve fed many members of Miami’s homeless community.”
In addition to food donations, the ministry also provides bags of sanitary products and items to get them through the next couple of weeks.
For college, Garcia is considering majoring in International Relations with a minor in Communications.
She’s considering applying to the University of Florida, Florida State University, as well as the University of Michigan. However, she’s a nominee for a Posse Scholarship and if she is granted a scholarship, her school choice is Syracuse.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
