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 A WELCOME FROM SILVIA
Dear St. Stephen's Community,
In October, we shared our first St. Stephen's Today issue involving our fifth grade students. It was a big hit! I know you will enjoy this new edition featuring many student-selected topics, as well as coverage of events that have happened since October.
I invite you to join us for our Christmas Pageant on Friday, December 19 at 7:00 pm. This annual tradition is always a wonderful way to start our holiday break. May you and your family have a holiday season filled with joy, peace and love.
Silvia Larrauri
Head of School
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10 QUESTIONS FOR 10 YEARS
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A Chit Chat With Mrs. Larrauri
By Notorious Nicole (Nicole Rodriguez), Lighting Lucian (Lucian van der Vlugt), and Aiden the Amazing (Aiden Charlton)
Mrs. Larrauri has been the Head of St. Stephen's for 10 years. She has been a great leader, and the best part of all is that she is so supportive of all the students. We had a chance to ask her 10 Questions for 10 Years.
What was your favorite subject when you were in school? Math because I was a good mathematician when I was young. My dad was always good at math and I took after him.
If you had a chance to teach ANY GRADE, which grade would you like to teach? Fifth Grade because when I taught, I was with younger kids and I wanted to teach older kids.
Would made you decide to take on the job as Head of School? I was asked to sit in as Interim Head for a year, and while I was Interim Head I fell in love with my responsibilities and leading the school.
What is your favorite meal here at St. Stephen's? I love all of the meals here. I don't have a favorite.
The fourth grade named you Larrauri the Legendary. Do you have any other super-hero names? What is you super-hero quality? Who would be your sidekick? My sidekick is the Magnificent McIntosh. My super-power is seeing the future. My other super-hero name is Super Mom.
What do you like to do in your free time? I love to have quality time with my family, read books, and I love the water. I love the beach. I could live on the beach!
How do you feel about the Miami Heat now that Lebron has left? I feel just as excited about our team. I think we have great new players that will make a huge impact for the Heat.
If we were to go into your car, what kind of music would we hear? Latin music because I'm Cuban, and I grew up listening to Latin music.
What is your favorite late night snack? Chocolate ice cream out of a bowl.
Lastly and most importantly, what makes the Class of 2015 special? You all bring your own personality to the classroom, and you take your responsibilities with pride.
Thank you so much for meeting with us. We loved learning some interesting information about YOU. We congratulate you on your 10 years, and we are all so fortunate to have you as our principal!
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Marilia Sabalier
Advancement Assistant
By Stephan Baker, Lawrence Leitman and Heidi Riemer
St. Stephen's welcomes a new face on campus... Marilia Sabalier is the new Development Assistant. Marilia was born in Puerto Rico. She went to college at Columbia in New York. She loves to cook, do yoga, jog, and spend time with her family and friends in her free time. Marilia explained, "My favorite part of St. Stephen's is the trees, the great education, and the values the students have."
Before working at St. Stephen's she worked at a nice hotel in Miami Beach. Marilia is afraid of snakes and sharks, so she might not want to go to SeaCamp. Since Mrs. Larrauri was given the title Larrauri the Legendary this year, we asked if she could have any super power, what would it be. She replied,"It would be flying because I don't like to be late, and you can go anywhere." We hope Mrs. Sabalier has a wonderful time at St. Stephen's.
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SAGE Chef
By: Madeline Leaņo, Kayli Requenez, Oliver Pratt, and Mateo Massoni
Guess who's cooking? Janet Christie! Chef Janet Christie came to St. Stephen's after the school year started. Chef Janet has four kids of her own and her husband is in the military. We pray that he is safe as he continues working for the military. Janet spent 10 years in the military herself. Originally, she is from South Korea. but she has worked in Dallas, Texas at the Central Market Cafe. She went to culinary school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
Chef Janet likes St. Stephen's a lot because everyone is cooperative with her. All the other kitchen staff are nice to her and she says they are all a team. Mrs. Sandi likes Chef Janet's organization skills. She came to this school because her neighbor, who cooks at Palmer Trinity, suggested she try working here.
Chef Janet likes all foods but she likes Asian food the best because of her Korean mom. She is proud of making french croissants. The first meal that she ever cooked was eggs. She's been cooking for 20 years and every night of those 20 years she's been dreaming of being a nutritionist.
Did you know?!
- Chef Janet jumped out of airplanes at 13,000-14000 ft in the air.
- Chef Janet has a pet dog boxer.
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Grandparents and Special Friends Day
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On the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, St. Stephen's hosted its annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We had over 100 visitors on campus who toured classes, attended a chapel service, and enjoyed brunch in the Oak Grove. We hope you enjoy this slideshow of a very special morning.
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By Adriana Burnett, Alessandra Lanz, Ryan Peluso, and James Scullin
Do you know what the Board of Trustees does? If you don't, we are excited to tell you! We interviewed some of the Board of Trustees members to get a better understanding of this important group at our school.
We first interviewed Mr. Schein, who has a son, Viktor, and daughter, Melina, that attend SSEDS and his son Thomas graduated last year. Mr. Schein is in his third term as part of the Board. He explained that there are 15 people on the Board. Everybody's job on the board is to help the school improve. They have a meeting once a month to discuss ideas or vote on important ideas (If there's a emergency they will have a meeting as soon as possible). Mr. Schein said, "My favorite part of the board is listening to other people's ideas."
Later, we interviewed Mrs. Larrauri and asked her about improving the school. Mrs. Larrauri replied,"We improve the school every year." She also informed us, "The only alumni to ever come back and work on the board is Peter Gardner."
Finally, we interviewed Mr. Gardner, who graduated from St. Stephen's in 1979. He also has two children, Patrick and Christian, who attend St. Stephen's and his son Jared graduated last year. He has been the Board Chair for a year and a half. He has organized the STEM program for all the students and he is most proud of the public and private partnership for the field with the City of Miami.
We had so much fun interviewing members of the board and writing this article. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did writing it!
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La Feria de la Hispanidad
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Each year, St. Stephen's celebrates La Feria de la Hispanidad. Our Spanish teachers, Sra. Ana Llaneza and Sr. Alfredo Peche, plan a week of activities to celebrate the Spanish culture and how it enriches our lives.
This year, events included a Flag Salute performance by Junior K students accompanied by Grammy Award winner and St. Stephen's parent Juanes, a Senior K piņata party, a soccer tournament for fourth and fifth graders, traditional dances by Grades 1 to 5 and a lunchtime fiesta with mariachis. Click at right to enjoy the fun!
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SURVEY: FAVORITE GENRE OF BOOK
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By Heidi Reimer, Stephan Baker and Lawrence Leitman
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By Jorge Bohorquez, Martin Jaramillo, Kira Oglesby, and Delfina Iribarren
There is a new team on campus and it's called the Green Council. The team will give "green" announcements in the future to help us learn about the environment. Mr. Weaver and Mrs. Zepeda will help manage the Green Council. Their goal is to show the students at St. Stephen's to see how sensitive the Earth is and how important it is to live out our pledge to take care of our Earth.
"The best thing about being in the Green Council is learning from the students," Mrs. Zepeda told us. She added that she wants to expand the opportunity to any student who is interested. Green Council members collaborate with the school by presenting a list of ideas to Ms. McIntosh and they help students do teamwork in their classroom.
The founders of the Green Council are students who ran for Student Council and showed great leadership and interest in helping our school become a better place. So, Mr. Weaver and Mrs. Zepeda asked them to write an essay on why they would like to be on the Green Council. Green Council members meet every other Monday in the afternoons. In the meetings, they talk about environmental issues, energy stars, video newsletters, and even more. Green Council also talks about ways to encourage people to turn off the lights, recycle, and conserve to earn energy stars.
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A favorite tradition at St. Stephen's is the celebration of All Saints Day. The Senior Kindergarten students dress as a favorite saint. Our fifth grade students research those saints and present them during the church service.
Enjoy the slideshow!
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ST. STEPHEN'S THEN AND NOW
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By Rylan Sadler, Robert Capó, Juju Simoes and Laura de la Fuente
St. Stephen's has changed a lot during these past years, yet some things are very similar. We interviewed Jimmy Sadler, an alumni parent, Mrs. Baugher, who has taught here for over 30 years, and Mrs. Harper, who was a parent here for many years before she began teaching. They gave us great information about what St. Stephen's used to be like. They said that the safety patrol and acolyte jobs have not changed. Flag Salute is very similar, although there are more students today. There were about the same amount of students per class (15-20 students) but the grade levels were Junior Kindergarten to sixth grade. Pre-K wasn't added until 1994.
What are some changes? Many years ago the uniforms were different. The biggest difference is that every girl student wore a small hat called a beanie. If you want to see some of the different uniforms, they are on display in the stairwell of the Great Hall. St. Stephens always had the best uniforms! Also, the transportation was very different some years ago. Many of the kids came by bike and very few kids came by car. St. Stephen's campus used to be much smaller too. In fact, the campus ended where the Library is now. The Johnston Building opened in 2002 and the Main Highway Pavilion only in 2010. In Mrs. Baugher's words, "St. Stephen's really looked like a little school by the bay." She added that many years ago, PE was held in the alley behind the Great Hall. Can you imagine playing on concrete?!
We think one of the best improvements at St. Stephens is the iPad program. They have changed our learning environment very much. There are educational games on the iPads that help us learn in a more hands-on way. They are also used in group projects for research and creating. Another improvement we have seen is the Apple computers. There is at least one computer in each classroom. Just like the iPads, computers also make learning fun! The addition of the Johnston Building was a really good improvement, too. It holds 13 classrooms from Senior Kindergarten to fifth grade, which allows more classrooms and space for the library and offices. We love our new improvements here at St. Stephen's.
Even though St. Stephen's has changed some, teachers and alumni say that one thing has stayed the same - we still are a family community and we have all the heart we used to. "We still have a very warm and friendly community where many families come together. It's not just a school but a community of loving families." says Jimmy Sadler, Class of 1975. We all love St. Stephen's. Mrs. Harper said that St. Stephen's is her second home. "As long as I'm teaching, I'm happy." Mrs. Baugher, who has worked at St. Stephen's the longest, said, "When I first came here I felt very welcome. This welcoming feeling has been here ever since."
One thing is for sure, St. Stephen's has always been a great school and continues to be one.
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 By Caleb Carlson, Nicky Falero, Audrey Harrelson, and Fernando Mendoza
Best Buddies is a volunteer organization that helps, encourages, and motivates people with disabilities. Best Buddies has groups in 51 countries in the world. Their goal is to reach 100 countries by 2020. Best Buddies was founded by Anthony K. Shriver, who is also the father of Joey (JK) and Carolina ('12). Mr. Shriver first had the idea of starting a volunteer association because his aunt had a disability. He noticed she had a lot of potential and he wanted to help others like her. Best Buddies was born. It has bloomed immensely from the start. From bike rides to school announcements, Best Buddies has really gone far and has many programs such as the friendship, ambassadors, ebuddies, jobs program, and many more.
The programs give people with disabilities the opportunity to have jobs, friendships, and many other things that everybody wants in their lives. The people with disabilities become more comfortable every day. They learn how to live through real world situations. These people are talented in all different types of ways and Best Buddies has helped them realize that. We think that the programs Best Buddies has are incredible, and will change people, with and without, disabilities forever.
Best Buddies has tons of different ways to raise money for the organization. They have bike rides all over and their annual auction to raise money as well. Best Buddies is celebrating their 25-year anniversary this year, and every single one of them has been life changing. What Best Buddies has done is phenomenal and will change the perspective of how everyone thinks of people with disabilities.
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SURVEY: FAVORITE KIND OF SNACK
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By Isabella Palacio, Andres Defortuna, Mark Tabet, and Alessia Pizzolato
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ST. STEPHEN'S INDUCTED INTO MIAMI HEAT NATION
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Miami Heat Mascot Burnie, Michael Baiamonte, the Voice of the Heat and members of the Miami Heat Extreme Team and Dancers joined us at Flag Salute on November 14. Following announcements and pledges, St. Stephen's was officially inducted into the Heat Nation. Thanks to the Miami Heat for providing all students and staff with t-shirts and making our morning so exciting!
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MS. SCHOLER - YEARBOOK QUEEN
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By Lauren Zanarini, Bettina Baptista, Geronimo Carom and Sebastian Perez
Ms. Scholer has designed the yearbook for as long as we can remember, but not always. When Ms. Scholer first started working at St. Stephen's, she taught computers. Parent volunteers created the whole yearbook instead of her.
In the year 2000, she started working on the yearbook and while it is hard, she loves doing it. Usually, she starts working on the yearbook in the beginning of September and it continues until her last deadline in April. Basically, it takes her the whole year to put the yearbook together. She has deadlines, which means, that she has to get some parts in by a certain date. "My February deadline is the hardest deadline of all," she explained. That's because she has the least amount of time between two deadlines and the most pages are due.
The yearbook is made up of groups of 16-page packets call flats. The cover design is always the first deadline, due in October, and the individual student photos pages are due in November. There isn't a limit to the pages in the book. It just depends on how many advertisements are bought. She has to tell the publishers how many total pages in December, so they know how big to make the cover.
To find a theme or cover idea for the yearbook, she sometimes uses Google for ideas to inspire her. The publishers provide ideas also. "When I decide on the theme of the yearbook, I start brainstorming ways that I can incorporate the fifth grade students into the cover," she explains.
Ms. Scholer does not work alone. She has three parent chairs to help her organize everything she needs, and about 15 parent volunteers who take photos. The hardest parts of the yearbook for Ms. Scholer are designing the cover and meeting all the deadlines. But despite the difficulties, Ms. Scholer always does her best because she wants to be sure the yearbook is a perfect memory for all of the students.
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Mini Metric Olympics
Students in Grade 4 studied metric measurement in math class with Mrs. Tappert and Mrs. Finlay. Recently, they participated in the Mini Metric Olympics.
Students rotated through seven stations where they completed a task and estimated and measured results in metric units. Stations were: Cotton Ball Shot Put, Marble Grab, Sponge Squeeze, Big Foot, Crab Crawl, Paper Plate Discus and Straw Javelin Throw. What a great hands-on way to learn math! Enjoy this slideshow of the event...
Spooktacular Scavenger Hunt 
On Halloween, Grade 5 students participated in a schoolwide scavenger hunt filled with questions about our traditions and history. Student teams solved riddles and raced to various locations on campus to find the answers. They often had to visit faculty or staff members to get what they were after.
It was an afternoon filled with fun and problem solving, all while getting to know the rich history of St. Stephen's a little bit better. The winning team was Pastor Jorge's team comprised of Adriana Burnett, Caleb Carlson, Aiden Charlton, Laura de la Fuente, Alessandra Lanz and Edward Strong.
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SURVEY: FAVORITE ICE CREAM
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By Sara Aparicio, Garrett McNamara, Amelia Fox and Jonathan Scurtis
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By Sophia Capote, Nicholas Denaro, Ana Maria Tovar and Sean Youner
Every year we have a Christmas Pageant, but this year there will be some changes. We interviewed Ms. Robbin and Mr. E to learn all about those changes. The most important thing Ms. Robbin wanted us to know that, " It's not just a performance. It's telling you Jesus' story." This is a challenge for Ms. Robbin because she has to make sure the people understand that it's a story.
One of Ms. Robbin's main jobs is making sure the costumes are clean, fit, and in order. She informed us that she has been working on the costumes since the end of September and at the time we spoke with her, she was still not done because she also worked on the second grade play.
This year there will be some changes in the Christmas pageant. Not the story - that stays the same. However, the format is different because each class, first through fourth grades, will be singing at least 2 or 3 songs, by themselves, and then at the end everyone will be singing the final song all together. Ms. Robbin has been working for 10-11 years on the St Stephen's Christmas Pageant and she is very excited about the new changes.
We sat down with Mr. E and he informed us that his job in the Christmas pageant is that every student knows their part. Holy Night is one of Mr. E's favorite songs. Another one of his favorite things is "seeing everyone come together." The Christmas Pageant takes hours to prepare for. This is Mr. E 's fifth year doing the Christmas Pageant. It was so exciting learning what happens behind the scenes for the Christmas Pageant.
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20 Questions with Ron Daw
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