-Joshua Bowen
Thursday, Feb. 12, was quite a blood filled day at Overhills High School thanks to the Cape Fear Valley Blood Donor Center. They brought two of their mobile units to the OHS campus, The Vessel and The Vein, and accepted donations from students and teachers. Students signed up in the week leading up to this day, volunteering themselves for the health of others. The large turnout allowed for the Donor Center to collect a large amount of blood for local use in the Cape Fear area. The Donor Center is located in Fayetteville, and accepts donations at this location. This donated blood goes to local hospitals and clinics to help save lives. The Donor Center encourages people to give, especially those with rare blood types. To give blood at this center you must follow a few guides dealing with age, weight, and a few other health factors. Check out the website at www.savingliveslocally.org.
-Joshua Bowen North Carolina has been hit hard by influenza, but things may be looking up. According to reports from the N.C. Weekly Influenza Summary the percentage of illness has gone down. This is good, as the number hit a high of 8 percent at the beginning of the year. The number of deaths has also declined in the past weeks, at less than ten percent since the start of 2015. The Center for Disease Control advises all to receive a flu vaccination, as it can prevent certain strains of the virus. It also advises to wash hands often and avoid contact with any person with the illness.
-Joshua Bowen On Jan. 12, a fire broke out on Keith Drive in a Raleigh home. Russell, a cat, was severely burned when the home caught on fire. The owner of Russell has severe burns on her hands and arms from trying to save all of her pets. The fire caused one cat and one dog to die, another cat was presumed dead (Russell), and one cat was unharmed. Russell was presumed to be dead after going missing after the fire, however he returned on Jan. 15 with second and third degree burns on his face, ears, paws, rectum and body. The fur on his entire body was singed off and he was very dehydrated. He was rushed to the emergency clinic after being found. Doctor Vicki Sanders says Russell is improving each day and he is a friendly cat. A PayPal account has been set up to help cover his medical expenses, and over $2000 has been raised.
-Shawntel Tulpan Feb. 13 was the Black History assembly at Overhills High School; set up my Mrs. Council and Kevin Henry. The assembly started with the JROTC Color Guard presenting the colors, followed by Nick Torres who sang the Star Spangled Banner and Rosemary McPhaul who sang the Negro National Anthem. After that, there was a slide show with live music about well known African Americans and their accomplishments such as Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King JR., Garret Agustus Morgan SR., Maya Angelou and George Washington Carver. There were three dance performances by Darrius Fields, Juan Council and Genesis Martinez, who did a mime dance.
-Katelyn Goodell On Feb. 13, the Overhills JV and Varsity cheerleaders hosted a Valentine's Dance following the Varsity basketball game against Jack Britt. The event started immediately after the game and lasted until 11:45 p.m.Tickets were $3 for singles and $5 for couples. All profits went to help the cheerleaders raise money for their next competition. Many students came out and had a great time. There was food, drinks, and all types of music. Students gathered in the center of the dance floor to have a "dance-off" and some students even participated in the "best dressed couple" contest. The best dressed couple was Alyssa Derenzis and her boyfriend and they won a cash prize of $50.
-Heather Barker This school year has been one of the hardest in North Carolina on employing teachers. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, teacher shortages have been prominent. Jeff Nash from WNCN, states that it is not because of the school or district but it is a state wide issue. Many teachers from different counties have begun to resign due to working conditions. Resignations increased by 20 percent. North Carolina is ranked 46 in the county for the worst places to work as a teacher. To help fix this problem, the districts are starting to do out-of-state recruiting and are small pay raises to select districts and teachers. North Carolina's education system is predicting that this will help eliminate this issue.
-Shawntel Tulpan The murder trial of the man accused of killing the real life American Sniper began on Feb 11. Marine Corps veteran, Eddie Ray Routh, is accused of killing Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. Routh pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Doctor Michael Dunn, a forensic psychiatrist who reviewed Routh's medical records said, "It was clear he was psychotic". Other defense witnesses portrayed a man who was clearly not himself- scattered, depressed, and paranoid. Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments on Feb. 24, and will be asked to decide whether Routh knew right from wrong at the time of the shootings. -Heather Barker Overhills Highschool is participating in Credit by Demonstrated Mastery for Biology and Civics and Economics for the 2014-2015 school year. Credit by Demonstrated Mastery, or CDM, is the process by which schools can award student credit in a particular course without requiring the student to complete the classroom instruction for a certain amount of seat time. CDM was approved in 2013 by the State Board of Education. The local educations agencies employ a body of evidence to award a student credit in a certain course. The deadline for applications was Feb. 11.
-Shawntel Tulpan Science Olympiad has been taking the school by storm this past week. Our very own Overhills Science Olympiad team has made it state! Josh Bowen is on the varsity team of Science Olympiad this was his first competition and he already has made it to the state tournament with his team. Josh Bowen gave us an inside look on this regional competition.
On Feb. 4, scientists created a robot that goes on the U.S. Naval ships to keep the sailors safer. The robot is called the Shipboard Autonomous Fire Fighting Robot, but they call it SAFFiR, pronounced like sapphire, for short. SAFFiR is a man sized robot designed to limit sailors' exposure to smoke and flames in the ships' tight confine SAFFiR can identify overheating equipment, walk, open doors, handle a fire hose and has light detectors, so it can find it's target through thick smoke. In addition to fire fighting, it has other duties on board like scanning the ship for leaks and identifying malfunctioning equipment. However, SAFFiR needs more work before it is put on board, for example, SAFFiR is not even fire proof or water proof yet and it's pretty slow. Scientists plan to continue working on its communication, intelligence, battery life, capabilities and fire and water proofing. -Katelyn Goodell The day of Feb. 7 started very early for Stephanie Creech and the members of the Overhills High School Science Olympiad team. All of these gathered just before 6 a.m. in the Overhills High parking lot to begin what was to be a long day of science and teamwork. Our team was the first to arrive at Campbell University where the Buies Creek Regional Tournament has held. In the cold, the team waited patiently for the doors to open, and as soon as they opened the team went to work setting up the home base. Once the base had been setup, every member began to gather their materials for the events in which they were assigned to. Impounding began for the morning and the day started for many members. The rush to get to events began, and tensions began to rise. As the morning progressed the events moved, and so did the members from each team. Lunch brought a much needed break for most, but not all. The afternoon impound was at the same time, so many members had only enough time to grab a plate and keep moving. This was the determination that fueled this event. The excitement began to mount, two events were down and only two more stood between everyone and the award ceremony. The afternoon was just as rushed as the morning, but the levels of excitement were twisted. Many were ready for the awards, but just as many were exhausted from running through many events. Finally the last events ended, and a tired excitement filled the campus. The volunteers began to set up the podium and the awards ceremony began. Joy filled the convention center as the names of teams were called. Tears were shed and screams of happiness could be heard echoing. This same excitement filled our Overhills team. The varsity team placed in many events and earned a total of three first place medals. Following in these footsteps, and going a step further, the junior varsity team placed first in four events. Our team managed to earn a total of 30 medals, with the lowest placing medal being for fifth place. I spoke with long running Team Captain Anita Handrick on the events of the day;
Bowen: “How did you feel about the teams today?” Anita: “Honestly, going into any competition, regardless of the teams, you are going to be a little nervous. We had a great group of kids on both JV and Varsity; it was really just the time crunch that concerned myself and Mrs. Creech. Last year, our regional competition wasn't until the middle of March. This year it was at the beginning of February. That left us a little scrambled, but we were both confident that our teams could come out with several medals and, of course, a position at the state competition.” Bowen: “Were you happy with our teams in their events?” Anita: “I was very satisfied with the teams. I've worked with several of the members on Varsity for the past couple of years, but even the new members were very passionate and I knew they would do well. As for JV, well we only had seven members on that team, but they all earned their spot and fought hard at competition. There was never a doubt in my mind that any one of these members wouldn't earn at least one medal at competition. I was very pleased to have such a hard working team this year who fought hard, stayed positive, and was passionate about everything Science Olympiad.” When all of the event medals had been handed out the most anticipated awards were up next. These were the trophies for state level qualifications, and the Spirit Award. Names were called out in ascending order, and everyone waited on the edge of their seat to see if they would move on, or if today was the last for this year. The Overhills team waited patiently, to see if they had earned one of these spots. Then the announcer said the words, and it was all over. Overhills placed second overall at the Buies Creek Regional Tournament, and would be going to NC State University to compete in the state level tournament. This Trophy was accepted with a rush of excitement and joy. They then waited for the next award, the Spirit Award. This award shows the true nature of the team. It is selected by various event leaders based on sportsmanship, kindness, respect, behavior, and overall spirit during the tournament. Our team won this award, marking a seven year win streak for this award. Overhills High will now move on, with three other teams from this tournament, to the state tournament. These students truly show Overhills High’s ambition and pride in all that they do. -Joshua Bowen Ella Baker was born Dec. 13, 1903, in Norfolk, VA but grew up in North Carolina. She was highly inspired by her grandmother’s pride, it encouraged her to fight for their freedom from slavery. As a Shaw University student in Raleigh, Baker thought policies were dishonest. Right after graduating college, she moved to New York and joined an activist organizations. At age 27, she the Young Negroes Cooperative League. The reason for this organization was to mature black economic power by joined planning.
Maya Angelou was an African-American author with many other talents, such as: play-writing , poetry, dancing, acting, and also singing. She published 36 books, including volumes of poetry and three books of essays. Angelou was deemed for producing and acting in multiple plays, musicals, movies, and television shows, however, she is best known for her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings published in 1969. The book tells the tragedies of Angelou's traumatic childhood. James Meredith was raised on a farm with nine siblings in Mississippi. His first experience with racism occurred when he and his brother rode the train from Chicago back home. When the train arrived in Memphis, Tenn., Meredith was demanded to give up his seat and move to the” crowded black section”. He then had to stand the rest of the way home. Meredith promised that he would dedicate his life fighting for equality for all African Americans. -Shalaia Wilson After more than 50 years, the travel ban between the United States and Cuba may be finally coming to an end. This policy was proposed by a group of bipartisan senators. If passed, the human rights and democracy on the island may be impacted.The easing restrictions proposed by President Obama means that the few who were apart of the 12 approved groups to go to Cuba would now have an easier time traveling for business, journalism, cultural exchange and the other nine groups. Although it is not yet approved, if the ban is lifted, beach tourism would bring in many advantages in Cuban economy and way of living. A few major players like MasterCard and AmericanExpress have already announced that their cards would be allowed to work in Cuba. Quite a bit of interest has been expressed in the matter and as soon as a decision is made, we will be able to see the change if the policy is passed. -Brianna Boahn The Rosa Parks collection the Library of Congress opened on Feb. 4, which is also her birthday. In the collection you can view over 7500 manuscripts and 2500 photographs. Parks' collection is on loan to the library for 10 years from the Howard G. Buffett foundation. Since Parks held onto everything her collection is quite large. Some of the articles could be postcards, medals or other artifacts. The collection is now open to the public and will be an experience to die for. this is sure to be an epic event that will go down in history. Hopefully this collection of greatness will be respected by much of the younger and older community. -Jamie Huymaier When it comes to donating blood there are a lot of fears and misconceptions. This week Ms. Hulsey cleared up the misconceptions for us.
Ashley: “What makes a perfect blood donor?” Hulsey: “A ‘perfect blood donor’ is 16 years of age or over (16 with parental consent), meet height and weight requirements based on the body mass index scale. We also want donors to have high iron levels. We appreciate teacher support too!” Ashley: “How much does the school and each person donate?” Hulsey: “It depends on how the person donates, double donors will donate 2 pints, single donors donate 1 pint. Last year we had 180 people sign up to donate but certain people can be disqualified so our goal last semester was 110 donors. We were on a roll! In 3 hours we had 70 donations we would have met our goal but with the school emergency release, it became complicated.” Ashley: “So, what can disqualify a person?” Hulsey: “If a person is sick or has a cold, has been out of the country, if they are on active antibiotics, like a z pack, long term or sub antibiotics are okay and most commonly low iron.” Ashley: “How can donors prepare for the donation?” Hulsey: “Lots of iron rich foods, leafy greens and meats. Lots of fluids and water. Eat before the donation! A good breakfast should be fine.” Ashley: “How can you expect to feel that day, after the donation?” Hulsey: “Little tired. They can still do normal activities but I would not advise strenuous activities.” -Ashley Taylor On Feb. 7, Anderson Creek Club hosted a Fun Walk/Run to the community. Many members from Overhills and other counties came together for this event. Gabbie Nesbit ran a time of 33:37 in the 5k. Kiersten Radford ran a time of 27:22 and achieved 1st place. Victoria Glockzin ran a time of 31:43 and made 2nd place. Kelsey Rice ran a time of 32:47 and achieved 3rd place. Runners of all ages participated in this activity and did their best. Come out and sign up for the next race.
-Shawntel Tulpan Just recently, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has released grades for all schools within the state. The grade scale is from A-F, and the shocking part is most of the schools received a “C” letter grade. Apparently most schools thought that they were surprised to see their grade - they expected worse. However, most parents were expecting more.
We've heard of people going down Niagara Falls via barrel, but as if that wasn't dangerous enough, two very daring ice climbers have become the first to ever climb up this extraordinary waterfall. Canadian ice climbers Will Gadd and Sarah Hueniken ice picked their way up a 30-foot-wide ice ledge that had formed along the Horseshoe section of North America's largest waterfall. The climb was 45-meters led by Gadd, 47, and was finished shortly thereafter due to her having to take cover from falling chunks of ice. They also had to take care to avoid the 50000 tons of water flowing over the crest at 100 kph every minute, making the trek even more dangerous from the mist steadily descending upon them.
-Brianna Boahn Justin Roby, an officer with the London, Kentucky police department, responded to a call reporting a shoplifter on Jan. 17.The shoplifter, a single dad, only stole one thing: baby formula. Roby couldn't bear putting him in handcuffs. Instead, he bought several cans of formula for his 6-month old son. The store also opted not to press charges in light of the circumstances. -Kat Van Nort This school year has been one of the hardest on employing teachers. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, teacher shortages have been prominent. Jeff Nash states that it is not about the school or district, but it is state wide. Resignations increased by 20%. To help fix this problem, the districts are starting to do out of state recruiting and are giving pay raises. North Carolina's education system is predicting that this will help the issue. -Shawntel Tulpan For the moment, North Carolina's high school grading scale is set at seven points per letter grade. Grades at 93 and above are A;s and so forth. In the coming school year of 2015-16, this grading scale will change. The new grading scale will be set at 10 points per letter grade, making any grade at 90 and above would be an A. Although this change will not affect any past grades in the years before, it will change the way GPA's are calculated for transcripts and class ranks. These changes are being made based on the advisement of parents and school officials because the seven-point grade scale put North Carolina high school students at a disadvantage against college applicants with a 10-point grade scale.This new scale will greatly help every student applying for college by increasing their chances.
-Brianna Boahn Valentine's Day has been around for a long time now, but it hasn't always been a holiday. In present day, Valentine's Day means romance, chocolate, cards, gifts, anything to show your loved ones how much they mean to you, but that was not the case long ago. The origin of this holiday was the feast of Lupercalia, a festival celebrated by the Romans. The festival lasted three days beginning Feb. 13. The men would sacrifice a dog and a goat and then whipped all of the women who volunteered with the hides of the animals just slain. It was believed that this would make the women more the fertile in the year to come. The men and women were then coupled off for the rest of the festival. The Romans may also be responsible for the name of the holiday. In the 3rd century A.D., Emperor Claudius II executed two men by the name of Valentine on Feb. 14 of different years. Over the centuries, the meaning of Valentine's Day changed, growing sweeter. Both Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized the holiday, resulting in a traditionally romantic day each year. -Brianna Boahn After a whopping 19 hours of playing WoW (World of Warcraft), a very popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), 24-year-old Wu Tai died. Although it is unknown to the specific cause of Wu Tai’s death, the exhaustion and seemingly lack of physical activity could tie into this. The gamer had been playing with his friends in an internet cafe during the time of his death.
Whilst Wu Tai was playing WoW, he suddenly began to cough and spurt up blood. His fellow comrades were alarmed at this and watched as he began to grab a napkin or handkerchief to clean the blood. His friends asked if he was alright and Wu Tai claimed to be fine, but due to the blood the friends called an ambulance. Minutes later Wu Tai died before the ambulance could make it to the building. One of the cafe’s video cameras caught footage of Wu Tai and his final moments before his death. - Isabel Hernandez McDonalds is trying to show more appreciation to their customers by giving free food for unusual things such as: taking selfies with employees, hugs, high-fives, calling family members and other socially connecting activities that would result in increasing their brand recognition to make stronger social connections. This quest will last from Feb. 2 to Feb. 14. ABC announced McDonalds 4.5 million dollar program as one of the highlight commercials during the Super Bowl Feb. 1. The purpose of the ad was to show customers they are valued. How will you show your McLovin’ today?
-Shalaia Wilson Ranson IB Middle School, located in Macklenburg County North Carolina, is being criticized for sending children home without their winter jackets in 30 degree weather. Over 20 kids brought jackets to school and got them taken away because they did not match school uniforms. Last year, the school was selling hunter green jackets to match the uniform, however, the school couldn't this year because the colors they wanted were not available in stores. A mother of a student who's jacket got taken away, called the school multiple times but said no one was willing to talk to her until she reached the media. The school released a statement the next day apologizing for the incident. -Katelyn Goodell |
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