Positive People in Pinecrest : Luna Karshis

Positive People in Pinecrest : Luna Karshis

Until COVID shut things down, Palmer Trinity School junior Luna Karshis spent two Saturdays a month teaching underrepresented students who attended Breakthrough Miami sessions.

She taught an Arts in Culture Class to sixth graders where she created a Greek lesson that asked the kids to create their own pictures and their own myths.

Being a part of Breakthrough Miami inspired her to seek other volunteer opportunities to help underrepresented children.

“They really like interactive things. It helped me discover I like making those types of lessons,” she says.

This summer, she volunteered at Reach for the Stars, which offers free tutoring and summer camp courses.

“I found it because of COVID 19 stay at home policies,” she says. “I could help children specifically.”

She taught study skills, time management, scienceand crochet.

“It’s all online,” she says. “The students who run it are from all over the world. It was created this summer. I was easily able to apply and connect with the founders. We quickly got organized.”

The classes were about an hour long. The student teachers created their own lessons on the chosen topics.

“I think we did three weeks and we were all assigned one class each week,” she says. “I did a history class. I did a breaking down borders where I taught Greek mythology.”

She also tutors an eight-year-old boy who lives in Vietnam every Friday.

“He’s learning a little bit of English,” she says.

In the fall, she signed up for an eight-week internship for students from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. The internship called for her to tutor them in English the first hour and in Spanish the second hour.

For her, the connection with Nicaragua was important because her mom is from there and they used to go visit family every year.

“We helped out a poor village church,” she says. “We took backpacks, books, and shoes.
We’d send them to the families for their community. Sometimes those families couldn’t afford to eat.”

They stopped going because of the threat of political violence that was started two years ago and now because of COVID-19. She misses the visits.

“I really enjoyed helping the families,” she says.

While turning a car into a solar powered vehicle seems like an unusual activity, Luna loves being a part of the Apollo Star Car project team. There were no other girls in the club so some of her girlfriends decided to gather together and join.

“We did not realize how much fun it would be to put together a solar powered car,” she says.
The first competition was cancelled but they are continuing to work on the car for future competitions.

She’s also part of the Peer Counselor program that helps new students transition from other schools to Palmer Trinity.

“We help any student who is struggling to adapt either socially or academically,” she says.
Karshis is on the advisory board of the Student Diversity Council and teaches Mosaic lessons.
“Diversity awareness is important to me,” she says. “I feel fortunate to be part of the community. Especially with what’s happening in politics.”
The organization sponsors cultural awareness and talks about race, religion and ethnicity, family structures, women’s history and sexuality.
She says they try to teach about the facts.
“I think it’s important that we don’t try to persuade the kids,” she says. “We try to have discussions about it.”

She’s a member of Students Demand Action, the Falcon Tutors Club, and Co-Captain of the Cheer team.

Back
Main Entrance: 8001 SW 184th Street, Miami, FL 33157
Mailing Address: 7900 SW 176th Street, Miami, FL 33157
Main:     305.251.2230
Admission:     305.969.4208