School can be a difficult place to go for five days every week and when the season of sickness comes around, it doesn’t get any easier. Here are a few tips to help you avoid getting sick, or a few precautions to follow to prevent others from catching viruses that travel around the school.

Get enough sleep. It has been scientifically proven by scientists and conducted experiments, that individuals who get more sleep are less likely to get sick from a simple cold or more complicated virus. But why? Nobody is exactly sure, but sleep, especially for about eight hours, offers a sort of protection from the day to day common cold lurking just about everywhere in a busy place like school.

Wash your hands. I think it is common knowledge that washing your hands is an important thing to do because it gets rid of the germs on your hands. But, making sure you wash your hands regularly, especially during the school months, is very important to avoid getting sick.

If you are at school when you are sick, take precautions to prevent contaminating other students. If you are sick you know how awful and fatigued you feel constantly for days on end. So, if you are sick, everybody, including your fellow peers and teachers, would appreciate it if you could cover your mouth when coughing, cover your nose when you sneeze, and throw away your own tissues. These minor actions could prevent others from catching the same sickness and save them the hassle of being a sick mess for a week or so.

Stay home if you are sick. Lastly, if you believe you should stay home because you are sick, then you most likely should. Nobody knows exactly how you feel, meaning you have the best opinion of the right solution for you. Also, missing one day of school is not going to ruin your whole school career. It would help everyone, including yourself, to rest for a day so you can come back feeling better.

A part of Highland’s course credit system says you are required to take a gym class. Gym class pushes you to your physical limits (not really), makes you a better athlete (most definitely not), but most of all it makes you sweat.

These are tips for boys to look, smell, feel, and be presentable for class after gym class.

Wear deodorant

This is probably the most crucial aspect to boys hygiene in any situation. Deodorants are used to kill odor-producing bacteria, while antiperspirants block sweat glands to keep you from sweating. Many products today contain both. In other words, it prevents you from sweating and smelling as much as you would if you weren’t wearing deodorant. Wear it. It’s just the right thing to do.

Extra shirt

When you sweat it obviously makes your skin wet, and when you’re wearing a t-shirt, all of your sweat gets soaked in your shirt till it sticks to your back. Having another (CLEAN) shirt in your backpack to change into after will make you feel way more comfortable, look better, and you won’t smell terrible. Also, it prevents you from getting back acne (bacne) in comparison to if you wore your sweaty shirt around all day. 

Sweatin’ Towel 

This step is not completely critical, but it can make your life just a little less sticky. Having a towel to wipe yourself off with before you put on your new shirt will make you drier and prevent old sweat from soaking into your new one. This will leave you with a completely dry shirt!

Shower supplies

If you’ve got the time, you could take a shower after gym class. Highland Park Senior High has showers in the boy’s locker room. You can bring body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and whatever other shower products you’d like. Then, bring a towel as well for afterwards so you can dry yourself off. This would be the most effective way out of all these steps for having the best hygiene in school.

I hope that these tips will help you look, smell, and feel cleaner and fresher after grueling gym class.

Until my next article, I’ll leave you with this one.

Now that we teens are getting older, we start to feel the need to have money. Our parents can only cover for so much of our impulse buys, so they stop buying them for us. They tell you that you need a job. A job, I know. Never in a million years did I think I’d hear that sentence so soon. To get a job, you need to apply for one.

Here are the common steps you’ll take to apply for a job.

1) Find local businesses that are hiring 

Go around your town, or city, and look for businesses that are hiring. Very often they will have a sign outside the store saying that they are hiring. You should be more interested in local businesses because they usually are more likely to hire you and pay more than corporate organizations. 

2) What you need

Besides a good attitude and a firm handshake, things that you legally need to bring when you’re going to apply for a job are: a form of ID (school ID, Gov ID), your social security card, and any other form of identification. Also, you need to be 16 years of age or older (usually).

3) Ask for an application

For most businesses, you can walk inside and ask any worker for an application. They will get you an application or direct you to where you can find one. Applications are normally a paper packet but at some corporate businesses they are online. On these applications you would fill out your personal information, and questions specific to the job. 

4) Ask for the manager

Once you are done filling out your application, ask an employee if his or her manager is available to talk to. If they say yes, their manager will come out and talk to you. Usually they ask about yourself, what hours you could work, if you’ve had jobs in the past, and usually general, easy to answer questions. Talking to the manager can set a very good first impression. If they are not available (very unlikely), it’s no big deal, it might just take longer to find out if you got the job or not.

5) Apply for more

Just like applying for college, you don’t just apply for one. It’s always good to apply for multiple jobs, therefore you have options and also a rebound if you don’t get the first job you applied for. It’s a little extra work, but it’s worth it if you want a job.

I hope that these steps will help you apply for jobs in the future.

Until my next article, I’ll leave you with this one.

By Charlotte Lane

Have you ever wondered why the flu shot is important? Or have you wondered if it even works? I sure have; why would I ever voluntarily get a SHOT!? 

My entire life I have gotten a flu shot but recently I have been curious as to why. 

The reasons I hear people say they don’t get the flu shot is because they don’t need it, they don’t believe it works, or they think it causes the flu. The truth is if you’re reading this article you should get a flu shot. 

Who me? I don’t need it. 

Actually, you probably do need it. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends everyone over the age of 6 months receive a flu shot annually.

Flu schmoo 

The CDC estimates that the flu shot reduces your risk of getting the flu by 40-60%. Even is you do end up getting the flu, if you got the shot, your symptoms with be significantly less painful.

But…I’m Healthy 

The last excuse people use for not getting the flu shot is they believe it will give you the flu. This isn’t the true. Despite rumors the flu shot is not a live virus, it is made up of dead viruses and cannot give you the flu.

I recommend this flu season you do yourself and your loved ones a favor, and take the shot. 

Fall is here, which means leaves are changing, the weather is cooling down and it’s a great time to go places before winter comes.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

Visit the Apple orchard- Visit a apple orchard farm. Minnesota is a great place to get fresh apples from farms like: The Orchard Hill, Aamodt’s Apple Farm, Fischer Croix Farm Orchard, and Victoria Valley Orchard.

Visit a pumpkin patch- A pumpkin patch is where a garden of pumpkins are planted. Minnesota has around 140 pumpkin patches, some of them have rides, corn mazes, petting zoos, and some give you the opportunity to carve scary faces into pumpkins or bake and eat the seeds. Some pumpkin patch places provide a variety of different activities like: Schiltgen Farms LLC, Dehns Pumpkins, and Lendt’s Pumpkin Patch.

Duluth- The season is changing  in Duluth, and the change comes with beautiful colored fall leaves. Duluth provides a variety of things other than to watch the leaf changes colors too. While you are there, you can head up to Spirit Mountain, tour the beautiful grounds at the historic Glensheen Mansion, explore Canal Park, Leif Erikson Park, the Duluth Rose Garden, and you can also take the train to the Hidden Pumpkin Patch on October 15–18.

Hiking- Hiking is when you go for long walks, especially in the country or woods. Hiking helps you build some strength in your quadriceps, hamstrings, and the muscles in your hips and lower legs. St. Paul has some great hiking places like:  Winchell Trail, Shadow Falls Park, and Hidden Falls Regional Park.

Hayride- A hayride is a fun outdoor activity to get into the fall spirit. It involves a recreational ride in a wagon or cart pulled by a tractor, horses, or a truck. The wagon or cart is filled with hay, for it to be comfortable when seating, hence the name, hayride.

For more information, please visit these sites:

https://www.exploreminnesota.com/travel-ideas/10-things-fall/

Though the message is clear about the overwhelming use of plastics, some other product’s consequences are not quite as widely known. To be more knowledgeable, for the sake of the Earth, continue reading about these three deceiving products. 

1. Soap

You may want to think twice about what kind of soap you are using the next time you wash your hands. Contrary to what you may think, soap is actually a substance that threatens the environment because of a toxin, triclosan, contained in it.

Case in point, the chemical is very persistent. It does not die off by water treatment, meaning that it can reach the oceans and other waterways. Not only does it destroy a bacteria within bodies of water, but the very bacteria that makes up the base of the food chain. 

Luckily, in September 2016, there was a ban issued towards triclosan. It was said the products containing the chemicals were not ideal or safe for long term use.

Unfortunately, there are still soaps, deodorants, and kitchenware containing the toxin that should be avoided. 

2. Chopsticks

Do you think of chopsticks as a harmless wooden utensil used for eating? Sadly, you are mistaken, because China’s forests are sacrificing 1.18 million square meters to produce enough wood/bamboo to meet the demand, per year. 

Chopsticks were once a product, but should now be considered a habit. As demand for chopsticks goes up, 20 million trees in China’s forests come down. Each tree is used to make 4,000 chopsticks, meaning China is producing 80 billion chopsticks per year. Sadly, this factual number goes far past the 57 billion chopsticks, per year, that China’s national forest bureau estimates are produced. 

3. Sunscreen

Sunscreen, the goody two shoes of all substances, isn’t what it seems. Sadly, there is a salty secret behind the misty spray or white lotion you choose to use. 

The oceans are greatly affected by humans and all our plastic and chemical usage, and this is no different. Sunscreen is suppose to prevent harm and damage to humans, but in the oceans it seems the coral and marine life are facing the ugly reality of sunscreen. 

A common chemical known as oxybenzone, which is the main ingredient in sunscreen, is extremely toxic to young coral. The coral reefs’ development is affected by the toxin, which also damages their DNA. Their defenses against ocean bleaching is also lessened from exposure to oxybenzone.

Freshmen year of high school is a challenging year, it’s stressful when it comes to finding your way around the school and adjusting to new people and the new classes. Some days are going to be hard and others days are not, but it will get better, just be patient with yourself and it will feel like home in no time.

Here are few tips to help you have a great year. 

 Keep up your studies – To have a great freshman year keep up to date with your classes. High school usually comes with more homework, so figure out how to get good grades and you will be right on track.

Put together a calendar to manage your time with homework and your studies. High school will be harder and it requires a lot of hard work to have success, so if you are struggling, don’t be afraid to ask for help or get a tutor to help you.  

Challenge yourself – If you want to challenge yourself take one or two accelerated classes. To help decide which to take, look at the school courses and see what they offer.

Also, you can choose extracurricular classes to earn more credits. High school usually has great opportunities, so it’s a great time to try something new, like trying out for a sports team or joining some of our clubs here.

Choose something that your interested in and it will help you grow and take on a leadership role.

Adjustment – Another way to help you with freshmen year is making new friends. Sometimes, our friends from middle school are not always going to stay our friends so make extra effort to keep those friendships and also to make new friends.

High school will help you, it will introduce you to new activities that will help you to have a passion for something.

For more ideas and tips to help you during your freshman year, you can visit one of these sites:

• https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/what-to-expect-freshman-year
• https://atlantablackstar.com/2019/08/01/5-ways-students-can-prepare-for-the-first-day-of-high-school/
• http://blog.collegegreenlight.com/blog/expect-freshman-year-high-school/

Have you ever stressed out for days before you have to present in front of a class?

My name is Leo Brock, and I have struggled with all of these and many more. Over the last 2018-2019 school year, I have become a lot more confident with my public speaking.

Here are some tips for you to become a better public speaker!

1)Volunteer FIRST.

When the teacher asks if anyone wants to volunteer, go for it. There are absolutely no downsides to it when you look further into volunteering.

If you volunteer to go first, it impresses your teacher, you can get it over with right away, and there is nothing before you for your classmates and teacher to base your presentation on. You’ll be completely original.

2) Scan the walls

Alright, you managed to get in front of the class…you’re presenting…what do you do with those lovely big eyes of yours?

3)Speak with your hands

What I’ve always had the most trouble with is not knowing what to do with my hands.

Stick it.

Now… those feet of yours. When you go up in front of the class. Find a spot and STAY THERE. Don’t move your feet.

5) You made it.

The biggest key to a presentation is being confident. Even if what you’re presenting isn’t that good, just think that you volunteered to go up in front of the class and followed the last 4 steps perfectly.

I very much hope these tips have helped you, they have most certainly helped me.

There has been talk of the Earth dying for some time now. To try and stop this many people have decided that they want to spread the idea of a more sustainable living.

One easy and effective way to do this is by switching to reusable products. This helps reduce trash and saves your household tons of money. Imagine not needing to buy plastic baggies for lunch or sponges for dish cleaning again. Continue reading for some reusable item examples. 

Refillable Lotion/Soap Bottles: 

There are tons of different refillable lotion brands to choose from. What to do is you order your lotion from where you want, for example, like the company Plaine Products, and when it’s empty or almost empty you send the bottle back. The company then fills it back up for you. You can do the same thing for hand soap. This helps reduce all the plastic being used to make the lotion and soap bottles you buy only to than throw away.

Reusable Silicone Food Baggies:

Silicone food bags get you to save so much money. Instead of throwing away every plastic storage bag you use, you can buy multiple and use them over and over again. There are many different easy cleaning methods for them that take only a few quick minutes. These bags are durable, and so much more ocean friendly than plastic bags. 

Dishwashing Brush:

Forget about small sponges, purchase a reusable dishwashing brush instead. They are soft enough to clean delicate cups and plates but tough enough to get hard to clean pots and pans as well. A plus about these is that the tool comes with a handy wooden handle. These brushes last much longer than sponges do. They are much more reliable and they help reduce trash.

Silicone Baking Cups: 

These baking cups are a good alternative to paper or aluminum cups. They can be easily washed in the dishwasher or even by hand. You can place them anywhere from the microwave to the freezer. A benefit of using these is you wouldn’t need a muffin tin to help bake. They are durable, affordable, and easy to store. And of course they are better for the earth. 

 

Summer break is right around the corner, which for many teens means time to make money. Whether you’re saving up for college, spending it at the mall, or going to a concert, summer offers the plenty of freetime to make money. Here are a few ways you can do this:

Mow lawns. Since there is no longer snow on the ground, mowing lawns is the perfect opportunity to make easy cash. You can post an ad somewhere or go door to door to mow your neighbor’s lawns–just protect your information and stay safe.

Babysit. Babysitting or nannying offers flexible hours that fit your schedule. Sometimes it can make you just as much money as a part-time job. You can babysit children in your neighborhood or family friends as a way to start out.

Walk dogs. If you like dogs, this is the perfect one for you! You can set up a weekly or daily dog walking service and advertise it.

Clean houses. Plenty of people need someone to vacuum weekly or take out the trash. Offer a cleaning service with a set price, but only to people you know at first. It is important to stay safe when entering other people’s homes.

Declutter. You can sell things that you no longer need! Whether this be clothes or old games, you can sell them many ways. This could be through social media or at a physical garage sale.

Sell homemade goods. Maybe you have a hobby – such as baking or bracelet making. Whatever this may be, you can sell what you’ve made on social media platforms or from home. Just make sure to advertise.

Run errands. You can run errands for busy parents or older people, which is an easy way to make cash. This could be grocery shopping, filling up their car with gas, or picking up their favorite takeout.

Lifeguard. If you’re interested in becoming a lifeguard, or already are certified, you can lifeguard at your local pool or beach. Make sure that you have taken a lifeguarding class before applying for jobs.

Golf caddy. Apply to be a golf caddy at your nearest golf course. It’s a good way to make money, as well as meet new people. You can also receive tips for your hard work!

Garden or landscape. Offer to do challenging or boring landscaping tasks for people, such as weeding their garden or picking up sticks in their front yard. To get these jobs, make sure to advertise well, while still being safe about your contact information.

Included on this list there’s a few basic, and a few exciting, new tasks you could try to spice up your summer! From just running errands to trying gardening and landscaping, there’s a large variety of things you could do! This list certainly does not have all of them, so take this as inspiration and let your imagination run wild! Have an amazing summer everyone.