People Profiles

A stack of 100 T-shirts sits on a shelf inside Nicole Markus’ bedroom. The Miami Palmetto Senior High School student, who is starting her sophomore year, has collected colorful tees for as long as she can remember. Some have humorous slogans, and others were given as keepsakes from school clubs and summer camps. “It’s funny,

Though tutor Marcus Sousa has helped hundreds of students achieve academic success, few stand out in his mind as much as the fifth-grader he helped about a year ago. The boy was crying and his mother, close to tears herself, asked Sousa for help. “She said, ‘Marcus, I don’t know what to do with my

If you live within a few miles of Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, and you have a backyard garden, you might have noticed your tomatoes are heartier. Or that the plants on your deck that once wouldn’t thrive are now flourishing. Thank your new neighbors—the honeybees of the Micro-Apiary at Tradewinds Park & Stables. At

Although Tammy Freeman is a language arts teacher at Monarch High School, her teaching style prompts many of her freshman students to ask her why she didn’t become an actress. To keep learning fun, Freeman acts out vocabulary words for her students and invites them to join in. To teach them the word “brigand,” she

After scratching his itch to experience the West, Mitchell Kaplan found himself at a crossroads. “Like a lot of other English majors, you graduate and you panic a little bit, which is what I did,” says the Miami-born Kaplan about what he felt after attending the University of Colorado. “I ended up going to law

A Pinecrest dietitian teaches her clients—including the Miami Marlins—to eat and live well Miami-based dietitian Monica Auslander follows one rule: Eat when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re full. The 28-year-old Pinecrest native is the founder of Essence Nutrition, which provides nutritional services for individuals, groups, businesses and restaurants. “I’m always the 28th dietitian that

My spiritual journey into health and wellness began 20 years ago with the birth of my daughter. She and I both almost died during the delivery. After about two weeks, I was able to bring my daughter home with the help of a nurse. Five days later, my dad died. I began to feel anxious,

I grew up watching World War II movies with my dad—like John Wayne in “Sands of Iwo Jima.” It’s not necessarily the glamour; it was the cause that attracted me. Fighting Hitler in Germany. Defending the country after being sucker-punched at Pearl Harbor. I did 10 years of active duty in the Navy, and then,

Lesley Visser had her armband. It was Jan. 1, 1980, the dawn of a new decade and, so it seemed, a new era. After being denied postgame access to locker rooms for player interviews early in her career as a sports writer for The Boston Globe, the armband meant that Visser—already the first woman to

Simon Kornberg remembers his first encounter with a small, light- and dark-colored Jack Russell terrier like it was yesterday. The 10-year-old dog was paralyzed from the neck down. After an extensive evaluation, the veterinary neurologist discovered the problem. Testing revealed a large benign tumor that was compressing the terrier’s spinal cord. Kornberg’s suggested treatment to

Though Robert C. Mattes majored in outdoor recreation and psychology at Plymouth State University, it took becoming the recreation director for the city of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, to see that working in parks and recreation could be, to use his word, “wonderful.” “It really wasn’t until I started that career that I realized this isn’t

Jarvis Landry’s inaugural event to benefit cystic fibrosis research—Jarvis’ Jam—holds deeper meaning for the Dolphins’ star receiver According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, more than 30,000 U.S. residents are living with the progressive, genetic disease that limits the ability to breathe because of a consistent buildup of mucus in the lungs. A half-century ago, the