He stood at the pinnacle of his high school career, diploma in hand, before the full audience at the Jackie Gleason Theater. His white cap and gown were a reflection of four years of hard work, friendship and the Beach High Silver Hi-Tide Marching Band.

Four years later, in August of 2008, Joshua Figueroa was sitting on his mother’s couch, fresh out of the University of Miami School of Music, when the phone rang from Dr. Rosann Sidener, Miami Beach Senior High principal.

“She told me that the former band director had left and that there was no one in charge of the music program,” Figueroa said. Although he planned on moving to Los Angeles to teach, Figueroa knew he had to go back to his alma mater.

He began with the jazz band, teaching part time for the 2008-2009 school year. “Jazz Band last year was a whole new experience from what we were used to,” said Elvis Hatcher, sophomore alto saxophone player. “He combined elements of improvisation, musical theory, technical skills, and regular music to create a very young, professional band”.

During the fall, Figueroa assembled an alumni all-star band of over 100 members to play at the homecoming game alongside the 12 current horn players he had; it would be a precursor to the revival of the silver hi-tides band that he undertook starting in June of 2009.

According to Figueroa, the rebuilding of a students-only band this year was a much longer, more arduous process. “A marching band is a musical ensemble that one cannot create over night,” Figueroa said. “It takes hours of dedication, planning and rehearsing.” With his core members from the previous years’ Jazz Band, Figueroa began training the band in July. Months of sometimes daily 8-hour practice, perseverance and parades finally culminated in the Homecoming Game on Nov. 13th, where the 65 member band marched on to Memorial Field with the first Halftime Routine in 5 years.

In addition to running the Marching Band, an extracurricular organization, Figueroa currently teaches Beginning Band classes, Jazz Band, and Music Appreciation. However, he does all of this work part-time and recently the idea has been raised of making Figueroa a full-time teacher.

“Teaching full time allows not only growth on my part, but growth for the entire music program at Miami Beach Senior High,” Figueroa said.

Isaac Bichachi, senior drummer, summed up his bandmates views of Figueroa: “Joshua Figueroa is a fabulous teacher”

All the world’s a stage for teacher Nina Duval’s senior English classes as they study William Shakespeare’s famed plays through performance, bringing forward a new level of understanding for the playwright’s complex literature.

“I don’t believe Shakespeare wrote plays for students and teenagers of the 21st century to sit at a desk with a book in front of them and try to understand,” Duval explained. “Shakespeare would have been horrified.”

The class divides into different acting companies and performs the play. Each company has its own scene to contribute to the overall story. “It’s not acting per say,” said Duval, “but I give them little  tips as we go along”

“If you were just to read it you wouldn’t understand what’s going on,” senior Marielly Sanchez said. “Too much is happening, stories are overlapping, and characters are changing dramatically.”

Now that Duval has moved into the new black box theater, she has decided to exclusively teach Shakespeare to her Honors English IV. Focusing on Henry IV Part 1, O hello, and Midsummer Night’s Dream, the curriculum covers history, tragedy, and romantic comedy.

“It’s more hands on then just reading from a textbook and answering questions,” said Sanchez, who plays Prince Hal in Henry IV. “You don’t learn something unless you do it.”

Many students feel overwhelmed by the naked literature. Duval explains that teaching through performance helps the students learn without the busy desk work, although they are required to complete analytical and literary essays.

“The way she teaches the class allows us to incorporate our own creativity,” said senior Hanna De Leon. “I’ve read Shakespeare in the past and have completed questions but I didn’t really understand it as well as this time.”

According to Duval, the performance method will continue for the remainder of the year. “The more I do it, the more I like it,” she said, “and the more I learn, too.”

By Joselyn Martinez

You may have heard him DJ-ing on B-Day or watched him rap at Crown and Capers. DJ Classik, Miami Beach Senior High’s very own Adam Haas, is creating quite a wave his senior year.

Haas came up with the idea of DJing almost a year ago to combine his love for music and performing. “I was looking for a job  that interested me,” he said, “and music has always been a favorite part of my life.”

As an open format DJ, he familiarized himself with all types of music in order to cater to a variety of  occasions, from family fun days and bar mitzvahs to corporate gatherings. “I am a lover of all kinds of music – basically anything that makes  me move and sounds good,” said Adam.

“I’ve known Adam since we were in Kindergarten, and he has always been an entertainer, so I’m not surprised he chose to express himself through DJ-ing,” said senior Petrena James.

 A close friend of Haas’s developed the name ‘DJ Classik.’ “When I would do certain things while DJ-ing, my friend would always say ‘that’s so classic Adam’ or ‘classic   ’ I thought itwas cool, so  I dropped the ‘c’ at the end, put a ‘k’, and the rest is history.”

“DJ Classik, to me, is a persona, a medium of entertainment,” Haas e x p r e s s e d . “All in all it’s a fun thing to do. I just loveto be on stage, perform, and  get people to dance.”

“His father is the cantor at my temple, so I can see where Adam gets his musical talent,” said  sophomore Eitan Rabinovich.

 As an artist, Haas does more than just spin tracks. He is an MC, promoter, and performer on the constant prowl for newforms of expression. “There are  so many things I would like to do, I can’t be tied down to just DJ-ing. This is a great start and has already led me in so many directions because of networking,” he said.

Although this might not be his intended career path, Haas hopes to open the doors of opportunity as DJ Classik. “The DJ-ing and networking I’ve done is just  a gateway to the entrepreneurial opportunities I’d like to take advantage  of in the future,” he explained.

Haas has already performed at  Crown and Capers, where he wowed the crowd with is rapping ability. “I thought the crowd had an awesome reaction – the spirit and hype was really  high,” he said. “Now everyone knows I’m a performer as well as a DJ and will be seeing more of me this year.”

 Beach High will, in fact, be seeing much more of DJ Classik. He is scheduled to perform at the Share program and Black History Month assemblies. “I’m going to be there for anything I possibly can. This is my senior year – I’m taking over the school,” said Haas with a laugh.

By Joselyn Martinez

Noah Bellamy, Beach High’s former band director, has left the classroom and joined seventies mega-group KC and The Sunshine Band, whose hits include “Get Down Tonight” and “Shake Shake Shake.” So far, the tour has taken him to Brazil, Mexico, the Los Angeles County Fair, and soon throughout the United States and Chile.

Bellamy’s reputation brought him this opportunity. “When you are a musician Your reputation is so important,” he said. The trombone professor at the University of Miami recommended Bellamy when the band was asking for an experienced player to replace their former trombonist who was leaving the band.

“You spend hours in the practiceroom working on being a great musician with the hopes that one day your talent will be recognized in this manner,” said Bellamy. After an interview and audition, he was officially offered the position.

“The first person I told was my wife,” he said. “As a performer it is always very exciting to get calls for gigs like this. This is why we do what we do.”

Being the new st band member is sometimes difficult. “I am walking into a band that has played together for quite some time, and if there is something not quite right in the horn section on a given night, odds are it is because of me,” he said. “But I am figuring it all out fairly quickly.”

However, Bellamy has not forgotten his Beach High roots. “The students and the faculty at that school are truly amazing and I miss all of them,” he said. “As cool of an opportunity as this was, it was not an easy decision for me to make. I enjoyed my time at Beach High and learned more than I ever imagined learning.”

Although not certain as to what the future may bring, Bellamy definitely acknowledges the significance of his past. “Jobs and experiences that we  have in life are what shape us into what we are… and working at Beach High for twoyears was certainly no exception with me  and my life.”

ABC officially declared the week of September 21 “National Stay At Home Week,” the same week that the new TV season premiered. With a variety of new and returning shows appearing, there is good reason to stay at home.

The FOX network premiered two new shows for primetime. J.J. Abrams’ Fringe, very similar to The X-Files, incorporates mystery into paranormal activities. The comedy sitcom Do Not Disturb stars Reno 911’s Niecy Nash as an employee in a New York hotel.

House made its house call September 16 for the fifth season. Fox’s animated Sunday lineup of classics Family Guy, The Simpsons, King Of The Hill, and American Dad will return with new episodes September 28.

ABC’s most popular series’ Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy premiered September 25. Grey’s Anatomy will start airing its fifth season while its spinoff, Private Practice, will be returning on October 1.

The popular Heroes  will return for a third season after the rest of the second season’s episodes aired beginning September 22. Comedies Chuck, My Na   Is Earl, 30 Rock, and The Office are all returning this TV season. Emmy winning 30 Rock’s third season will begin at the end of October.

The CW’s most anticipated new show 90210, a remake of the original 1970/80’s soap opera that can be compared to a scripted version of The Hills, premiered September 2.

Reaper, a Ghostbusters meets Clerksdramedy, will also return but in the middle of the season  for thirteen episodes.

By Amalia Reyes

The opening scene of the Wachowski brother’s newest film, Speed Racer, leaves the viewer wondering whether somebody might have slipped shrooms intotheir coke. The insane splash  of color was endearing at first, but, like anything extreme, it quickly becomes too much. The producers seemed to have tried to make real life as close to the animated version as possible. The phosphorescent colors cause a reaction that burn the eyes and kill the brain.

Speed Racer is a young man whose life goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country race which previously took his brother’s life. His parents, with the unoriginal names Mom and Pops Racer, make race cars for a living (surprise), and all throughout his childhood, all Speed can think of is racing and winning. When his grades begin to fall, his parents don’t care enough to do much of anything, continuously shrugging in defeat instead of sitting their kid down and talking with him.

Once Speed rejects a generous offer to race for Royalton Industries, he predictably reveals   at they are cheating and fixing races to gain money. Royalton tries its best to make sure that Speed does not win a race, but he enters the Crucible anyway, setting out to rescue the family business and honor.

The plot is so paperthin and repetitive that the film relies on overdone effects. The cars perform ridiculous stunts that the producers dubbed ‘car-fu,’ and the racetracks defy any possible logic, contorting themselves into ridiculous shapes and foreshadowing insane crashes. Speed’s rival, the not-so-mysterious Racer-X, sports the worst costume since The Riddler’s question-mark littered green pajamas.

The dry plot,excessive flashing lights,  changing camera angles and effects make for a movie that that only small children can enjoy. The Matrix it is not.

By Ines Michelena

Having recently dropped the unique “!” in the middle of their name, Vegas natives Panic At the Disco have unquestionably been maturing. Their new release, Pretty. Odd., diverges from the emo-electronic-pop-rock vibe of their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, and is patch-worked with the sound of some of the masterminds of rock, such as the Beatles and Genesis.

Pretty. Odd. is, in fact, pretty and odd. Over the past few years, there has been an amazing craving for gloomy punk-rock songs. By releasing such an optimistic and eclectic CD, Panic At The Disco made a bold and odd move that astonished many fans. Rumors that they may have changed their sound permanently are in circulation, but on, “We’re So Starving,” singer Brandon Urie addresses the question: “You don’t have to worry,” he sings, “’Cause we’re still the same band.”

The new album evokes nostalgia for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band, especially on the psychedelic and eerie fourth track, “Do You Know What I’m Seeing?” Urie’s al  rnative-rock voice doesn’t quite fit the whole Beatles sound, but neither does it disturb the balance of the disc. Unlike their debut album, all of the band members sing on Pretty. Odd. Ryan Ross, the lead guitar player, is also the lead voice in the song “Behind the Sea.”

Although their talent cannot be measured against the giants they attempt to imitate, at least they chose the right bands as inspiration for their new CD.