Last week, Sharon, one of our newest teachers, gave a very interesting lecture about the history of Miami Beach and the mob. During her lecture she showed pictures of some of the most well-known gangsters from the past in Miami Beach, such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. She discussed how the mob in the U.S. was connected to the mob in Italy and how they even helped the U.S. government during the War. Some students were surprised to find out that many government organizations, such as the FBI, worked with the mob. So, in many cases they did not get in trouble with the law because they were helping the government. Eventually, most of the leaders of crime in Miami went to jail for tax evasion, which means not paying your taxes. Another fun fact about the mobsters in Miami is that they lived very close to our school on Palm Island. In fact, Al Capone’s watch tower is still on the island, which is just off of the bridge that connects Miami Beach to downtown Miami. One student who attended the lecture decided to learn more on his own by watching the movie J. Edgar about the leader of the FBI. All in all, people learned a lot about the history of Miami and it wasn’t boring at all because the crimes and lives of these gangsters were very interesting. Thanks for a great lecture, Sharon!