Featured
Graduate
November of 2005
Opa-locka has the largest collection
of Moorish architecture in the Western hemisphere.
The city was incorporated in 1926 as an "Arabian
Fantasy'' based on the book 1001 Arabian Tales. Developer
Glen Curtiss built 105 buildings with an array of
domes, minarets and outside staircases. These structures
were constructed during Florida's land boom between
1925 and 1928. The boom came to an end after the 1926
hurricane destroyed much of the city.
Although the name of the city - Opa-locka - sounds
Arabic, it is a contraction of the native American's
name for the area, "Opa-tisha-woka-locka",
meaning a dry place in the swamp with trees. A notable
fact about Opa-Locka is that Amelia Earhart launched
her historic trip around the world from Opa-Locka
Airport on June 1, 1937.
During the more than two centuries that Florida was
controlled by Spain, the Tequestans and other Prehistoric
Indians of Florida were decimated by European diseases
and warfare. The lands they vacated attracted people
from several of the Creek tribes in Georgia and Alabama
who had entered Florida as early as 1704. Collectively,
they became known as Seminoles, and during the nineteenth
century they would engage in a series of bloody wars
against the United States partly to defend their right
to live in Florida. After the conclusion of the Third
Seminole War in 1858, the few hundred Indians remaining
in the state lived in the Everglades.
The first permanent white settlers
in the Miami area arrived in the early 1800s. During
the decades that followed, a wide variety of individuals
left their mark on the history of this area. One such
person leaving her mark is our very own Ms. Graciela
Gonzalez
Graciela graduated from Citizens’ High School
last October. She needed 10 classes from us to earn
her diploma. She did so with an impressive 3.7 GPA.
Her reasons for choosing self-paced home study are
not new. Graciela was not being challenged by the
public school system in South Florida. The school
district is not unique. The must teach to the median.
The brilliant students are left unfulfilled and uncontested.
The slower students are left behind or put into “Educably
Mentally Retarded” category. Both categories
make it easier for the teachers but do not serve the
needs or talents of their charges.
Graciela knew her best chance to graduate and to
be challenged was to “do it herself.”
She now is a high school graduate with an accredited
diploma. “I feel awesome!” “I have
accomplished something that has made a huge difference
in my life.” This accomplishment has given Graciela
the confidence to do anything she sets her mind to.
We agree whole heartedly! Not just anyone can muster
the discipline Graciela demonstrated to educate one’s
self. Ironically, Graciela is now enrolled in Miami
Dade Community College. She is working on her prerequisites
to becoming a teacher. She really does want to leave
her mark.
We are proud of Ms. Gonzales and award her
Graduate of the Month for November 2005.
To read about other graduates, click
on the links below:
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