Loggers' Run Student Reports from Clinton Campaign Event

Loggers’ Run Middle School student (and celebrity reporter) Benjamin Schiller tells us exclusively about his experience covering Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Super Tuesday event in Miami.
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Last Tuesday, March 1, 2016, as a kid reporter for the Scholastic News Press Corps, I covered Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Super Tuesday’s campaign event at the Ice Palace Studios in Miami, Florida. It was an interesting day as I found out the afternoon before I would be covering this exciting rally.
I arrived an hour before the doors opened at 6:30p.m, to be guaranteed a good spot near where Secretary Clinton’s podium to speak was set up. At that time, there were several hundred supporters standing line before me. Moments after the doors opened, the line was as long as three blocks!
Many of the supporters came from all over Florida. They traveled from Naples, Coral Gables, Boca Raton, and even a few blocks away. Some came to the event for the experience of witnessing a major political event. However, most of the people that came were her supporters of all races, gender and religions.
As the doors opened for the event, everyone had to go through intense security measures. Secret Service agents checked every bag and everyone went through a metal detector for precautionary reasons. After I passed through security, I rushed in to get as close as possible to the stage. It was standing room only. I was asked to stand on the stage where she was going to speak. Due to my role as reporter and part of the press, I must stay unbiased and had to decline.
That evening, Secretary Clinton won most of the delegates. The former U.S Secretary won the majority of most states and received delegates from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Although the Democratic Presidential Candidate had lost some states, she earned a significant sum of the delegates from Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.
Every once in a while, there were several chants of “USA” to “Hillary.” I waited in the crowd almost three hours for her to appear. Once the Democratic Presidential Candidate came on stage, she told the huge crowd of supporters, “We’ve got work to do” and also stated, “Instead of building walls, were going to break down barriers.” She spoke for almost twenty minutes. She then left the stage where she took a few selfies with a few supporters next to her. Unfortunately, I was not able to get into that area.
After all, I enjoyed covering this event for Scholastic’s News Kids Press Corps. I sure can’t wait for my next experience!
If you would like to check out my article, here it is!
http://kpcnotebook.scholastic.com/post/hillary-clinton-greets-supporters

Book Review: Wherever There Is Light

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I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of a new book, Wherever There Is Light, by author Peter Golden. The book will be released in a few days, but you can pre-order on Amazon now.
Many of our local readers will appreciate how much of the story takes place in South Florida as well as the New York metropolitan area (especially parts of New Jersey).
The characters are richly portrayed and the story is captivating. It covers a lot of ground, both literally and figuratively. Just on geography they move around: Florida, New Jersey, Greenwich Village, Harlem, Paris, and Germany. With ideas it gets into art, music, business, philosophy, war, the Holocaust, race relations, family, love and more.
Central to the story are Julian and Kendall. Julian is a powerful Jewish man who has lived through difficult times and horrible loss. He’s the kind of guy you go to when you need to get something done, or perhaps undone.
Kendall, a black woman, is smart, thoughtful, and artistically gifted. They operate on different planes, yet somehow they connect. Except when they don’t.
The ending is brilliant. You won’t believe it.
Golden previously wrote his first novel, Comeback Love, and is known as well for significant non-fiction works such as Quiet Diplomat.
There’s something special about the way the best authors write. The reader can feel the author’s voice. You can tell Golden isn’t just spitting out words, but rather that he treats writing as a craft.