NOCTILUCA January 2018

NEWS Appleton, Wisconsin January 2018 Volume XXIII

Issue III

Page 2

Students create movement to ‘rethink’ homelessness

Clark , How to, from page 1 3. Avoid those with influ- enza Now, this seems really rude at first glance since it is not always possible to avoid your best friend for two weeks be- cause they have the flu. Just do not share that new Pepper- mint Mocha from Starbucks that your best friend ordered if you know they had the flu recently. Chances are that you will contract the flu within a week’s time if you do. Is that Starbucks drink really worth it then? If you see someone coughing, make sure you do not walk in their path imme- diately afterwards. You will probably get sick that way as well. Just be careful when you are around those you know have been sick recently. However, what do you do if you already caught the flu? Katie Minnis, a junior at Ap- pleton North, got sick with superficial cellulitis. This may not be the flu, but she missed many days of school because of it. Her biggest tip to those missing school because of the flu is: Ask for your homework from your friends or email your teachers ahead of time. That way, you can do your homework at home and get ahead of the stockpile of work you are sure to have when you get home. However, what do you do to avoid getting your entire lunch table sick with the flu? Here are four more tips from Fors and Minnis about how to prevent getting others sick if you have already gotten sick. 4. Stay home This one may be an obvious tip, but it is another one that is not often heeded. Some people will come to school with a high fever or a super dry and loud cough simply because

they don’t want to miss a test or a certain class that is harder than others. What that is doing is allowing the flu to spread around each of your classes throughout the day. Just do yourself and others a favor and take a day off of school. You can always email your teach- ers and reschedule that test to a later date or get your home- work and notes from a friend. 5. Cover your mouth and nose You have probably been told this one a thousand times whether it be by your elemen- tary school teacher, your par- ents, or your grandparents. It is, however, a good way to prevent the spread of the flu. This may be pretty disgusting, but when you cough or sneeze, the saliva or mucus has a ten- dency to go everywhere and on anyone you are near. This obviously causes the spread of germs and the spread of the flu. So if you do come to school with the flu, try to cover your mouth when you cough, and your nose when you sneeze into your elbow. 6. Wash your clothes When you get sick, you are probably going to be cough- ing or sneezing into the el- bow of your shirts or all over your clothes, depending if you cover your mouth and nose or not. “If I wear a sweatshirt and I’m coughing then I take ex- tra precaution when washing that sweatshirt,” says Minnis when asked about her methods to prevent spreading germs and illness. This gets rid of the germs that washing your hands doesn’t get rid of. Hopefully, you will use these tips to prevent the spread of influenza. Do not forget to get a lot of sleep, drink plenty of water, and eat healthy food along with these tips to keep yourself healthy and free from the flu season blues.

Claire Rettler (left), Lucy Morris (right), and other members of DECA stand in front of a Christmas tree at a RETHINK event. Photo courtesy of Claire Rettler

have learned about busi- ness, nonprofits, and, most importantly, about them- selves and their strengths. Learning happens to our teenagers when they em- brace their passions and tal- ents and make good work happen,” said Pavelski. After much consider- ation, the trio chose home- lessness as the issue their project would service. They recognized that homeless- ness is a prevailing issue in the Fox Valley community, and that teenagers needed to be more aware and edu- cated about the rising prob- lem. “We felt that teens and community members would benefit from our cause by learning more about the is- sue and “rethinking” com- mon stereotypes placed on individuals or families ex- periencing homelessness,” said Claire Rettler, one of the creators of RETHINK. In order to make their idea a reality, the trio contacted a local shelter, Homeless Connections. They learned about the shelter and how it benefits the community.

Over the summer, they met with the Community Rela- tions Director at Homeless Connections, Beth Servais, and created a curriculum for the RETHINK project. They also volunteered at many events for Homeless Connections and met its di- rectors and board members. Since starting the proj- ect, there have been visuals, such as posters and banners, hung up around school. There was also a Food Pov- erty Simulation, which was run by the UW Extension, held in the LGI that helped 40 students learn about the issue of homelessness. Af- ter the simulation, the stu- dents made posters using magazine cut-out words to describe what they learned. The posters now hang up outside of Pavelski’s room to create the “Wall of Hope.” Another way the trio has helped their project is through a supply drive. The supply drive was in part- nership with the Holiday Giving Campaign through the Compassionate Home HealthCare Inc. They col- lected and bagged personal care and cleaning supplies to be given to over 300 families for the holidays with 20 of the bags going to Homeless Connections resi- dents. With passion and hard work, the trio will continue to promote their project and help prevent homelessness in the Fox Valley. Listen to the announcements for any other drives the RETHINK project will have and help combat homelessness in our community.

Members shine light on prevalent issue at North

By Maddie Clark

After competing at the Wisconsin DECA State Career Development Con- ference, three Appleton North juniors came up with an idea for a campaign to change misconceptions be- hind a prevalent issue in Appleton. The idea for the RETHINK project was cre- ated by Lucy Morris, Josh Agius, and Claire Rettler back in March after they saw the success of other projects done in their chap- ter. They wanted to find the passion these projects had for their own project. Mrs. Cyndi Pavelski, the Appleton North DECA ad- visor, always encourages her students to find an is- sue that they are passionate about. “Without passion, movements do not happen. Without passion, Lucy, Claire, and Josh would not have learned all that they

The nurse’s office has 20 to 25 kids coming in every day during the flu season. Photo by Olivia Molter

The Rethink campaign was created by Claire Rettler, Lucy Morris, and Josh Agius. Photo courtesy of Claire Rettler