Last week, I had the opportunity to attend two events that brought that reality into sharp focus, while also serving as a testament to the outstanding and committed people dedicating themselves to Key Biscayne children, including those with special needs.<\/p>\n
The St. Agnes Academy campus gym was a beehive of activity last Wednesday as the school held its annual Art Show, organized by the school\u2019s lead art teacher, Sonia Sanchez and a cadre of talented teachers. The place was packed with parents, abuelos, tios and tias, family and neighbors, all being led around by the young artists showcasing their creations.<\/p>\n
You could hear the phrase \u201cMs. Sonia\u201d just about everywhere you turned. The commitment of the St. Agnes teachers was palpable and walking around the gym, looking at the art on display, it was hard not to be impressed by their work, but more importantly, it showed a true community coming together.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The next day we were invited by the Key Biscayne Chamber to the official ribbon cutting of Key to Literacy, the brainchild of Brazilian-born Bruna Iasi. She started her academy out of her house in 2019, eventually moving to a smaller office, and now to an impressive center in Key Colony Plaza\u2019s second floor center that felt more like a home than a school.<\/p>\n
Iasi helps struggling kids read on their grade level and beyond, empowering children with autism, dyslexia, ADHD and other learning disabilities to help them discover their full potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat matters most is what happens over time,\u201d Iasi said. \u201cReading becomes less effortful, confidence increases and children begin to choose books on their own.”<\/p>\n
Iasi said parents have seen dramatic improvement in their children\u2019s education, and during the event I witnessed evidence of that firsthand. I met Mariana Quinoa, who became emotional while describing Iasi\u2019s impact on her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe changed his life and mine,\u201d she said almost in tears.<\/p>\n
That brief interaction stayed with me. It was a reminder that regardless of ability, children can thrive when they are given patience, support and the right learning environment.<\/p>\n
Watching children proudly show off their artwork at St. Agnes and hearing a mother describe how her son\u2019s life changed through Key to Literacy were reminders that the strongest communities are built quietly, one child and one family at a time.<\/p>\n
Key Biscayne is fortunate to have people like Sonia Sanchez and Bruna Iasi dedicating themselves to that mission every single day.<\/p>\n
Just ask Mariana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyone familiar with the demographic makeup of Key Biscayne knows the Island is filled with young families. Nearly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[37822,126,123,125,124,10083,119852],"class_list":["post-281281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-justo-rey","tag-key-biscayne","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-special-needs","tag-special-needs-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}