Girls Basketball

Anyone following the story of the Lady Patriots knows that the "State Champions" title has been an elusive one for the past three years. They have made it to the show for the past three years and this year was no exception. However, this year something felt different. With four seniors on the team who will be heading off to play college ball, their final goal was to bring home that state title. Saturday's game was a nail biter and as they headed into overtime the Patriots knew it was now or never. When the buzzer signified the end of the game and scoreboard read 48-42, the Lady Patriots had made CDS history. Congratulations coaches and players. You are truly AMAZING. 

History Fair 

Last week, members of the CDS History Club took on the challenge of competing in the Hillsborough County History Fair. Entries had to be consistent with the theme of Breaking Barriers in History. From websites on William Harvey Carney, the first African-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, to performances highlighting the first woman, Frances Perkins, who served in the U.S. Cabinet and Charles Drew, the African-American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S., our middle and upper school Patriots knocked it out of the park. Congratulations to all of the students who participated. The following students are headed to the state competition on May 3-5, 2020.

Middle School

• Meagan C. & Maeve I. ('24) - Galileo - 2nd Place Group Exhibit
• Katie T. & Anika S. ('24) - Hedy Lamar - 1st Place Group Exhibit
• Zaim S. ('24) - Dr. Charles Drew - 1st Place Solo Project

Upper School

• Kay W. & Winnie A. ('21) - Adversity Project - 1st Place Group Exhibit
• Kaylee S., Aidan G., & Yasmine R. ('21) - First Women In Space - 2nd Place Group Exhibit 
• Evan B. & Aidan O. ('21) - Enigma Machine - 2nd Place Documentary
• Samantha A. ('22) - The Little Rock Nine - 1st Place Individual Website
• Hanna G., Madeline M., & Julia Z. ('21) - Rachel Carson - 1st Place Group Website
• Eric O., London B., Max M., Ryan A., & Neel S. ('21) - William Harvey Carney - 2nd Place Group Website
• Hanna M. & Sarah M. ('22) - Opening the Cabinet Doors: Frances Perkins - 1st Place Group Performance

Wrestling

After an amazing season seven of our CDS Wrestlers advanced to the regional competition on February 29th. This is a record for CDS. Continuing their record-breaking season four CDS wrestlers are headed to the state competition this weekend. Come support your Patriots as they compete in the State Championship Tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena - Osceola Heritage Park on March 6-7, 2020. Congratulations to:

• Jonathan C. ('22)
• Kourosh R. ('20)
• Brendan P. ('21)
• Ryan K. ('22)

Robotics

The quest for robotic domination is not an easy one but CDS Team Nova pushed through regional competitions and the rigors of science and technology to reach the Florida State Championships this weekend. This year, the CDS team of students was challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand", use their teamwork skills, and build and program their industrial-sized robot to enter the arena against other schools from across Florida. After a day of competition, Team Nova competed in the semi-finals and came away with a 14th place overall finish making CDS history.

Shout out to CDS Security team member, Dennis, who made the trek to Jacksonville this weekend with his wife to root for the CDS team and to all the parent and faculty mentors who volunteer their time to support the team.

Speech and Debate

Our CDS Speech & Debate Team competed in our Regional Grand Finals Tournament on Friday and Saturday, February 28th and 29th with five students advancing to the NCFL National Finals Tournament to be held May 23rd and 24th in Chicago!

• Carter C. ('23) and Katie M. ('21) advanced in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
• Hailey A. ('23) and Maddie B. ('23) advanced in Duo Interpretation of Literature.
• Akash P. ('21) advanced in Original Oratory.

Congratulations to all our Grand Finals competitors and our advancing National Qualifiers!

To all our athletes, scholars, and competitors, you motivate not only your fellow CDS students, but the teachers who are proud to teach you, the administration, and the entire Patriot Nation. Thank you for your continued perseverance and dedication.