Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

On February 17, 2003 the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that "as President Bush talks to the country about war with Iraq, Sarah struggles through every day at school, looking different, feeling different... She's easy to identify at Boca Raton High because she dresses according to her Muslim faith... But she's found a bit of acceptance in the school's ROTC program... Not because of its connection with military training, but because of the commander, a man with brown skin and accented English, a man who knows what it's like to be an outsider, too... He's retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Edwin Morales -- Chief Morales to the kids in the Navy Junior ROTC program he helps run... Inside the portable classroom, Sarah, 17, joins students from this country and around the globe -- Haiti, Colombia, Russia, Venezuela, [and] Brazil."