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W R Thomas Middle School competed in the Future Business Leaders of America Academic Competition on Friday, January 28, 2005 and was very successful in receiving over 70 percent of the trophies. The club adviser Mrs. Mercurius was very proud to represent them. Listed below are the winners:

*Career Exploration* Tasha McCarthy 1st Zandalee Martinez 2nd Ryan Perez 3rd Jessica Victores 4th Mijela Aguayo 5th	Principles and Procedures Kayla Robinson 2nd Daniela Barragan 3rd Jessica Diaz 4th Jessica Yuen 5th Leilani Perez 6th
Intro to Computers Daniel Hidalgo 1st Michael Camara 2nd Jose Ceballos 4th Cynthia Guartos 6th	Spreadsheet Lai Nguyen 2nd Samira Mohamed 3rd Erik Gonzalez 4th Helen Molinares 5th
Proofreading and Editing Gloria Calle 1st Clarijenny Merida 2nd Chantelle Panchame 4th Jessica Santos 5th	Keyboarding Application Sabina Renaud 2nd Ariadna Santiago 4th Dylan Matthew 5th Jose Quijano 6th
Leadership and Parliamentarian Daniel Yellin 2nd Luis Manuel Perez 3rd John Estrada 4th Marisol Hernandez 6th	Desktop Publishing Charles Jane 1st Jefferson Iles 2nd Daniel Guttierez 3rd
Math Alexander Delascasas 3rd Daniel Ernard 5th	Website Development Lai Nguyen 1st Largest Middle Chapter W R Thomas 1st

VFW District Five Commander Vernon Dean Hanson, W.R. Thomas seventh-grader Jorge Carmona, and W.R. Thomas teacher Mr. Tim Smith pose for a picture at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Mid-Winter Conference in Orlando, Florida. Jorge was there to receive his Patriot's Pen Essay award while Mr. Smith was being honored as the VFW Department of Florida Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year 2004-05.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Patriots Pen Essay Award Winners 2004-2005

W.R. Thomas Middle School had multiple winners in the 2004-2005 Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest sponsored by the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars (VFW).
This years essay theme was ”What Service To Our Country Means To Me”.
Seventh-grader Jorge Carmona, from Mr. Acosta’s class, was the Post 4127 and District Five winner. His essay was then judged at the state level where it came in third. Jorge and his family were honored guests Saturday night January 29th, 2005 at the VFW mid-winter conference in Orlando, Florida. They attended an awards banquet where Jorge received a beautiful plaque and a check for $300. Congratulations Jorge! Mr. T. Smith also attended and was named the Department of Florida Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year, Grades 6-8.
Nineteen other W.R. Thomas students will be honored for their outstanding essays on February 19th at Post 4127 in Homestead, Florida. While their essays did not advance to state, Post 4127 chose them out of over 500 entries for recognition. Additionally, VFW Post 4127 and VFW District 5 honored Mr. T. Smith with their Post and District Teacher Awards. Mr. Smith and the students will attend a dinner and awards ceremony with their families. The students are:

From Mr. T. Smith’s class:
Brenden Rego
Armando Perez
Diana Martinez
Alexa Morales
Amanda Gonzalez
Jose Ceballos
Mario Uriarte
Jason Calderon
Odelaisys Valenzuela
Daniel Perez

From Ms. Rebecca Smith’s class: Julie Somoano Rabiya A. Jamal Jocelyn Hernandez	From Mr. Acosta’s class: Yenissette Arias Jordan Crus-Del Olmo Mary Capey
From Ms. Soto’s class Kristinne Fidalgo Rayden Diaz	From Ms. Diaz’s class: Brady Vasquez Laurenz Bello

Mrs. Zaichick- Teacher of the Year

After working in the hospitality industry for eight years, it was time for a change. I was searching for a more rewarding professional challenge. Sooo... I returned to FIU in 1995 and finished the coursework for Elementary Education certification. I began teaching full-time in 1996, earned a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Education from NOVA in 1999, and completed the Gifted Endorsement add-on to my teaching certificate by 2000. I joined the W.R. Tigers in 2002 and am extremely proud to call 13001 SW 26th Street “home.”
I love teaching!!! NOTHING is better than seeing "I got it!" in a child's eyes! Each day I come to school hoping TODAY will be the day I have made a difference someone's life.

WLRN's "My Halloween Story"Contest
Age 13: The Masked Watcher... by William Llerena from W.R Thomas Middle. Ms. Lockerbie has a great writer on her hands.WLRN Public radio and Television received over 150 entries and the results of WLRN's "My Halloween Story" Contest are in! First of all, WLRN Public Radio and Television would like to thank all the wonderful writers that submitted stories for WLRN's "My Halloween Story" Contest. Our youngsters' imaginations are alive, well and thriving!

Advisor of the year
W R Thomas Middle School is extremely proud of our Business and Computer’s teacher Mrs. Mercurius. She was awarded at the end of year banquet for The Future Business Leaders of America as “Advisor of The Year, 2003” for District 25, where she received a trophy and an engraved pen set.
Mrs. Mercurius has taught and trained our students to win many academic competitions both at the local level in Miami-Dade and at the state level in Florida. For more information please read the stories below under the captions:
State Competition Awards for Business Classes
FBLA Community Service
Business Competition Awards

CITIGROUP Grant 2003-2004 Grant
W R Thomas Middle School teachers Mrs. Judith Mercurius and Ms. YolandaMendoza were awarded a CITIGROUP grants for Academic and Team Mentor respectively. Go Mrs. Mercurius and Ms. Mendoza!!! Congratulation!!

National Career Development Association Poster and Poetry Contest
Students from W R Thomas Middle recently participated in the National Career Development Association Poster and Poetry Contest. Thomas student Kevin Gonzalez was the first-place winner of the poster contest in the Middle School. The following students were given participation awards in the poster contest: Juan Carlos, Johnathan Larrocha, Kristin Lopex, Alberto Ordaz, Camilo Rendon, Ryan Rodriguez, Juan Solorzano and Matthew Vandama.

FBLA Community Service

The Palace
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Club, dance and musical class of W R Thomas had a talent show for the residents of The Palace, a retirement home on Friday, November 14. This is one of their projects to give back and get involve in their community, meeting and being exposed to different people. The talent show consists of songs, dance, musical recital, poem and talking with the residents. They spend several hours at the retirement home and had fun getting to know all the residents being exposed to their elders.

Thanksgiving
W R Thomas Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club has decided to spend Saturday, November 22 with the Walking in Victory Ministry Church as their Thanksgiving Dinner service. The club members devoted their time in preparing various cuisines for this dinner. They enjoyed spending an enjoyable and delightful afternoon meeting new friends, eating and having fun in celebrating this memorial day at Larry and Penny Thompson Park. All members gave thanks for spending time together and the kindness shown by the FBLA students to their fellow community members.