Greetings!  The Sandy Golf Tournament, Alumni Reunion Weekend and Graduation are right around the corner!  The year is almost over and there is still so much that is happening here at PTS.  Our Girls Lacrosse team is heading over to Naples this week to compete for the State Championship.  The Drama Department is putting on Titanic this weekend and it will be Richard Rosen’s 25th full year in the Drama Department.  Les Standiford spoke at the Book Fair on Monday and he is the author of a great book about the history of South Florida called “Last Train to Paradise.” Keep up with all the exciting news from Palmer Trinity on the website at www.palmertrinity.org!

The Sandy Golf Tournament needs help from volunteers!  If you are available to help, please contact Monica Sanchez, Director of Alumni Relations at 305-969-4210 or msanchez@palmertrinity.org for more information. 

The Alumni Office is organizing the Spring Reunion for the class of 1978 (30th), 1983 (25th), 1988 (20th), and 1998 (10th). If you would like to volunteer to help by locating alumni in your class, organizing the event, or helping the Alumni Office in any way, please contact Monica Sanchez at 305-969-4210.  Take a look at the following itinerary for the weekend:

We plan to host an Alumni College and Career Day to help current students succeed at the college level and beyond.  With your help, we can give them appropriate information as well as introduce them to the opportunities and challenges that await them.  If you are interested in sharing your experiences and opinions, please feel free to contact Monica Sanchez for more information. 

We wish Sharon Kujawa the best in her retirement and AJ West who is off to Westminster for an interim role as Head of the Elementary School.

The Alumni Office had a great time visiting Alumni in the New York City Area and would like to start hosting other Alumni across the nation! If you live in Atlanta, Boston, DC, or Orlando and would like to join an Alumni Cocktail gathering, please contact Monica Sanchez for more information.

Take advantage and log onto www.palmertrinity.org for more information about Alumni events, the school, sporting events, drama and musical performance schedules!

The Alumni Relations office continues to collect Alumni contact information for our mailing database and for the “AlumNews” section of the Aerie. For the next Aerie, send us news of your summer adventures, birth, engagement, and wedding announcements, along with personal accomplishments, promotions or any other family news you would like to share. Don’t forget to send us your pictures as well! Photos sent as JPEG work best.  Check your mailboxes for the newest Aerie and call us with your feedback! 

This summer there is a new multidimensional course being offered June 9-July3 designed to give students an opportunity to explore the undersea world. If you know anyone between the ages of 13-17 who is passionate about or is intrigued by the underwater world, then this course will definitely captivate them.  This course links traditional learning with real world application and hands on experience; it is filled with activities (on and off campus) that stimulate and educate, keeping young minds eager to learn more. Young scientists are given an opportunity to learn basic ecological principles that are relevant both to the study of marine science and to the future of our natural resources. The combination of activities, discussions, exams, field experiments, lectures, and presentations will get young minds thinking about countless marine topics, such as biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, and most importantly conservation. This course allows individuals to discover and interact with the fascinating and mysterious world beneath the ocean surface.  Please contact Ms. Winn at lwinn@palmertrinity.org with any questions or interest.

This is just one of the great programs being offered at Palmer Trinity over the summer. Visit our Summer Program webpage to browse all the programs.

Congratulations to Preston Michelson, Lindsey North, Andrew Miller, Yoshodhara Suri, and Seth Ruiz for being selected to the Duke TIP Program. Duke TIP Summer Studies Programs offer students in grades 7-10 the opportunity to learn highly challenging material at a rate suited to their advanced abilities. Students enroll in a single Duke TIP-designed course for three weeks of in-depth study; they attend nearly 40 hours of class each week between Monday morning and Saturday afternoon.

For more information, visit http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/.

PTS is glad to announce a new student exchange program with Colegio Marista Champagnat in the Spanish city of Salamanca. PTS is offering a phenomenal opportunity for rising 10th graders who are willing to expand and enhance their Spanish language skills.

We would like to thank everyone who participated this season in our South Florida Student Shark Program (SFSSP).  We were able to grab the interest of the Miami Herald, local television news, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Cable News Network (CNN).  We would like to announce that we will continue our work throughout the summer and would like to offer an invitation for anyone interested to come out on and join us.  SFSSP is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary research and education program. Graduate and undergraduate students, as well as teachers and university professors train high school students in marine science field sampling techniques, as well as research protocol, data synthesis and reporting. The SFSSP supports student career development in a variety of natural science disciplines, focusing on the study and conservation of coastal Floridian shark species, mangrove fish habitat and the Florida watershed through service learning, education and research.  Next school year we will also be offering weekday trips as well as weekend overnight trips for shark tagging expeditions.  Please contact Ms. Winn at lwinn@palmertrinity.org with any questions or interest.

30 students from PTS sat for Le Grand Concours, the National French test. 14 out of 30 students placed in the top 20. We had 4 high ranking national winners:
Lynn Leveille, French 3, ranked 6
Gabriella Verwaay, native division French IV, ranked 9th
Alejandro Aguirre, native division AP French, ranked 7th
Felipe Piedrahita, native division AP French, ranked 8th

During Spring Break, a team of PTS students participated at Congrès, the State French competition. This hard-working group of young men and ladies spent 4 days of their spring break involved in academic endeavors. They all won 1st or 2nd place ribbons (11 superiors and 4 excellents) and participated many events, including poetry recital, extemporaneous speech, reading comprehension, album (artistic and literary yearbook), and an excerpt of a Molière play: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

The Middle School Thespians have had a terrific semester so far and are currently embarking upon their final and most exciting project yet. Earlier this semester, eighth graders Halina Rachelson and Alex Dudley were selected as the winners of a Middle School scriptwriting contest from a selection of very competitive submissions. Their short play entitled West Shore Story, a teenage love story, will be staged and performed by the MS Drama class. Two love scenes from Romeo and Juliet will flank the student-written production to compose our festival-style performance entitled Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Tickets for the PT Thespians production of the Tony Award winning musical Titanic will go on sale Monday April 21st. Performances will be Thursday April 24th and Saturday April 26th at 7:00 pm, with 1:30 and 6::00 pm curtains on Sunday April 27th. Admission is $12.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.  Reservations can be made by e-mail only. rrosen@palmertrinity.org.

The Spring Student Art Show took place in the library on Wednesday April 16 from 6:30-8:30 pm. The exhibit showcased work from almost all of the Art classes here at PTS. We had a great turnout and our families really enjoyed seeing the work produced by their children! We plan to make this show an annual event, so if you missed it, be sure to watch for it next year! There is so much talent here at Palmer Trinity and it was a real treat to see it displayed in one place.

Please wish the members of the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble and String Ensemble the best at they travel to Orlando, today, Friday, April 18th for a music festival competition.  They will perform for three judges from colleges and universities throughout the country, compete against bands and orchestras from as far away as California and receive a clinic by one of the adjudicators. 

With a 14-7 defeat over Coral Shores High School in the district title game the girls’ club lacrosse team has booked their ticket to a final four appearance next weekend. The team, which is in its third year of existence, will face Stoneman Douglas High School on Friday, April 18th, at 5 PM at Barron Collier High School (Naples, FL). Congratulations to head coach Meridith Roy and the entire team on this great accomplishment.

On Wedneday, April 16th, four members of the Palmer Trinity School Varsity Baseball Team were honored by The South Florida Baseball Conference. Danny Fresco and Gregg Steinman were named to the 1st team South Florida Baseball All-Conference and Ricky Morgan and Erik Figueredo made the 2nd team. The South Florida Baseball Conference is in its initial year and consists of the baseball programs from Palmer Trinity, Ransom Everglades, Miami Country Day, Archbishop Curley, and Coral Shores.  Each team played two games against the other four members.  Palmer Trinity School finished the year in 3rd place with a record of 4 wins and 4 losses.
 

Senior Alex Sachs will be part of the sailing team next fall at Roger Williams University (Bristol, RI).

Recently the future Division III Hawks sailor, along with Coral Reef Yacht Club teammate Enrique Quintero Jr, won the 2007 (50th Annual) Florida State Snipe Junior Championship.

Congratulations, Alex.

Palmer Trinity School senior defenseman Angel Diaz will play NCAA Division II lacrosse next year as a member of the Adelphi University Panthers in Garden City, NY. Diaz, who was recently named to his third consecutive All-District Team, has been a starter on the Falcons defensive unit for all four years of his high school career. Angel signed his letter of intent the afternoon of April 9th in the school courtyard.

With a 10-5 defeat at the hands of Marathon High School on Tuesday evening in the district semifinals playoffs the varsity softball team has completed their 2008 season. The team ends their season with a record of 7-10. Congratulations to head coach Michelle Ryan and the entire team on a wonederful season.

With a first round regional defeat by Miami Country Day School on Tuesday evening the varsity tennis team has completed their 2008 season.

The team finished in second place in the district playoffs en route to their regional appearance.

Congratulations to head coach Cliff Martins and the entire team on an exciting season.

The 2007-08 Miami Herald Winter All-Dade Teams were announced today and the following 18 Palmer Trinity students were named to their respective sport's team.

Please join the athletics department in congratulating senior midfielder Joe Masterman on being named to 2008 South Florida All-State Lacrosse Third Team.

With a 15-4 defeat at the hands of Gulliver Prep on Tuesday evening in the district 12 quarterfinal playoffs, the varsity boys' lacrosse team has completed their 2008 season. The team, which ended the season with a combined record of 8-10, claimed the PTS Invitational Tournament title in February. Congratulations to head coach Josh Blumenthal and the entire team on a great season.

Senior Gregg Steinmann came in second in the Orangewood Christian Homerun Derby contest held on Sunday March, 30. Steinmann is a senior first baseman with a season batting average of .447, 4 HR and 16 RBI's and was the high scorer in Round 1, hitting a total of 3 home runs in both rounds. For more information on the entire event visit the tournament webpage: http://floridaleague.athleticsite.com/page.asp?articleID=344

Please join the athletics department in congratulating the following high school boys on being named to the 2008 Boys’ Lacrosse All-District Team.

Please join the athletics department in congratulating the following high school girls on being named to the 2008 Girls’ Lacrosse All-District Team.

The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Walk on Saturday for raising money to research cures for digestive diseases was a huge success and a ton of fun.  Team Tyler was one of the top five money raisers of the Fort Lauderdale walk.  The success of the team was due to many people giving unselfishly through the CCF website and sending checks into school.

In response to the Iraq War's affect on the education of that nation's youth, Operation Iraqi Children was founded as a grass-roots program in 2004 by concerned Americans. Four years later, the need for school supplies has only become more critical as the burden of rebuilding the country must fall on the next generation. During the International Festival, our booth collected cash donations which will cover the shipping of the donated supplies to the initial distribution center in Kansas City.

This day of service for the legal community to participate together in a hands-on volunteer experience will be held on Saturday, May 17th. Help revitalize the Dade Juvenile Detention Center by painting murals, planting flowers, and creating gardens.

Register online early for this popular event!

Sponsorships are still available.

We rally around Alyse Fogarty Bell, Palmer Class of '87 and Administrative Assistant in our Middle School, during this time as she is deals with a family health crisis.   Some of you may know her husband, John, is undergoing aggressive treatment for a tumor in his brain.  Alyse has asked that we pray daily and fervently for John, for their daughters, for their doctors, and for her.  She is keeping a very positive attitude and an amazing sense of humor throughout this challenge and all the complications that arise unexpectedly.  Please keep Alyse and her family in your thoughts and prayers.  On a more mundane level, we have set up a calendar to provide them with daily nutritious meals.  If you want to help with this effort, please contact Elena DeVilliers at edevilliers@palmertrinity.org and sign up for a date.

Kick Start Soccer is a project to encourage youth soccer in Haiti. Lead by Gaby and Isabelle Verwaay, the Kick Start Soccer Project aims to provide Haitian children with equipment to play their favorite sport – soccer!  Donate new or gently used soccer equipment to children in Haiti (ages 6-18).  Two boxes will remain on campus (gym lobby, and room 113) for the rest of the semester. Please feel free to donate used sneakers or cleats until the end of the school year!
Thank you and we count on your support.

Youth 13-17 years of age can join Hands On Miami’s Youth Volunteer Corps. Volunteers of all ages can join Hands On Miami at one of the 70+ projects they offer each month. Attend an HOM 101 orientation where you can learn more about all the choices available to you for volunteering with Hands On Miami.

www.handsonmiami.org

PTS Parent, Darlene Bell-Alexander opens Ms. Permello’s Reading Room to Address Educational Problems in Her Community. Palmer Trinity School congratulates Darlene for all her work supporting the Perrine community. Please read the article that was printed in the Miami Herald on Sunday, April 6, 2008.