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Lifestyle

Exercising daily is important for teenagers

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By Victoria Riggs

People are reminded everyday about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.

Eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly play a big part in being fit.

The latest technology trend in fitness are devices, such as Fit Bits, which challenge adults and teens to make exercise a part of their daily routine.

People cannot argue that exercise is wise for teenagers as they tend to spend more time inside watching television or playing video games and less time being active. Exercise is not only good for the body, but it also makes a person feel good on the inside as well. Teens should try to spend at least 60 minutes doing moderate physical activity each day.

Exercise benefits every part of the body because it causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person feel happy and increase self­ esteem. Exercise also promotes restful sleep.

Regular exercise enhances thinking and learnings skills, which may improve performance at school. Lastly, it can also give a person a sense of accomplishment when a certain goal is achieved.

Exercising improves appearance and assists in maintaining a healthy body weight as it burns more calories and develops a toned body; however, the amount of high ­intensity exercise needed to lose weight does vary with people. Some people may need to do more than 150 minutes of activity per week, and some may need to do less.

Diseases, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer and stroke, which are found mostly with adults, are now becoming more common in teens. Exercise and maintaining a healthy weight helps reduce the risk of these medical conditions.

Working out will also help lower blood pressure and increase good cholesterol. Brisk walking, running and other weight ­bearing exercises strengthen bones which helps prevent loss of bone density.

Staying active as a teen is extremely important. Becoming involved with a sport or other activity will encourage regular exercise.

There are three components that make up a well­ balanced exercise program: aerobic exercise, strength training and flexibility training. Aerobic exercise gives the heart a good workout as it gets the heart pumping and quickens breathing. Team sports provide a great aerobic workout; however, biking, swimming and running are some examples that can be done individually. Strength training exercises, such as push­ ups, squats, leg raises increase muscle mass and help to build strong muscles.

When muscles are used, they become stronger and can increase endurance. Flexibility training activities helps the muscle and joints stretch easily and reduces the risk of sprains. Some activities like karate, ballet and gymnastics help a person stay flexible.

Staying fit and active is one of the biggest challenges teenagers face. If one is already exercising now, try to keep it up as it becomes more difficult to do as the schedule becomes busier.

News

DECA takes part in annual competition

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By Bayley Patterson

On Jan 26, DECA, the international business career program, competed at Akron University against many different schools to decipher if any competitors would move on to states.

Both junior and senior DECA students competed in the competition. Students chose to either work in groups or work individually, and then they were given topics such as hospitality, sports and entertainment, and even travel and tourism.

For each event they were given a role to figure out a problem. Once they figured out the problems, competitors had to market their ideas off to the judges.

“It was my first time competing so I felt nervous talking to the judges, but I also felt very confident in my answers,” junior Kim Schirra said.

If competitors received a placement, and if one is placed in the top five, then they move on to states. If one does not get placed then they do not get to move on.

There are many new students involved in DECA this year, so there is a big change to how the students work and interact with each other.

“It was Allie Tinkler’s and I’s first time competing so we were really nervous and intimidated. We didn’t know what to expect and we really wanted to make it to states so we had a lot of pressure. We worked really hard and used our time wisely so I think we did well,” senior Maddie Mills said.

Although they have not received the results yet, all the competitors are very excited to know how they did. DECA will receive their results on Feb 29.

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Online report cards cause loss of excitement

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By Maeonne Phillips

With another grading period ending, students await the revealing of their report cards once again. This time, the grades are only to be seen online rather than be handed out on paper as normal.

While online report cards can be an easier practice, it causes complications that dissatisfy many students and parents.

Although it is such a big role in many people’s lives these days, not everyone has technology. Even if technology is available, there is always a form of difficulty in the process, such as when certain grades cannot be viewed or when the website is not working correctly.

While it seems online grades eliminate the downsides of paper report cards, the simplicity of receiving grades officially on paper disappears. Trying to find not only quarter grades online but final grades as well can be a pain while navigating progress book since the website may not always be easy to use.

Progress book has been known to crash at times, and teachers will complain of the website not corresponding.

Students are also losing the excitement of receiving a report card in class. There is no time to be proud of the work that has been accomplished and no sign of a break in between grading periods.

With the grades online, students lose their interest in seeing their report card and leave their parents to find it later as at the moment it is just not that important to them.

Some students even know how to change the letter grade on their computer without affecting their actual grade, making it easier to trick their parents into thinking they’ve received grades they have not actually received.

Any student can view their current grade online at any point in the grading period, so eliminating paper report cards practically eliminates the idea of a report card all together.

They are not even recognized as a big deal since they are just there online anytime a student or parent feels like taking the time to log into Progress Book and navigate to the digital “report card” tab.

While the internet makes things convenient, it takes away the meaning of education and the simplicity or classicality of receiving grades at the end of a long and hard grading period.

News

El Nino provides nationwide climate changes

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By Victoria Riggs

Ohio is in the middle of December and are experiencing record temperatures. Last weekend, temperatures peaked in the mid 60s. The 2015 El Niño, or “little boy,” is hitting the country strong and could drastically affect weather patterns across the country going into next year.

El Niño is a set of major weather changes. This term was originally used by fisherman to refer to a warm ocean current that usually appears around Christmas time and could last for several months. During the time of warm water intervals, fish are less abundant, the fisherman spend less time fishing and would often work on repairing equipment or spend more time with their families.

Over the years, the term “El Niño” has come to be reserved for these unusually strong warm water intervals that not only disrupt the normal lives of fisherman but also bring heavy rain.

El Niño is caused by changing wind patterns over the Pacific Ocean that push unusually warm seawater eastward towards America. The warmth of the water shifts the flow of heat and moisture around the planet.

In El Niño conditions, the trade winds are weak and may even blow in the opposite direction from normal. When this happens, warm surface water piles up near the west coast of South America and colder water remains deep in the ocean causing more surface clouds to form over the warmer surface water.

This phenomenon affects weather patterns all over the world. Areas that typically see drought conditions experience extreme amounts of rain. Unusual temperatures changes, like Ohio saw last weekend, are seen throughout the country.

El Niño events occur every three to five years. This year, the weather changes were noticed in March, and is the first event experienced since 2010. Scientists predict this could be one of the strongest seen in decades. It has a 90 percent chance of lasting through the entire winter and an 80 percent chance of carrying into the spring.

If the 2015 El Niño proves to be long lasting, the major weather shifts could bring global changes. The western Gulf Coast of the US will probably see record rainfall. This could mean a lot of extra rain for the southern California region which is typically impacted by droughts.

El Niño may change storm activity, causing stronger hurricanes in the Pacific and quieter hurricanes in the Atlantic. The strongest effects are experienced in the winter season. Countries in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Brazil, have seen less rain. For the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, winter may be drier than usual, meaning a milder winter season. The temperatures are forecasted to be 40 percent above­ normal the first three months of 2016. There is also a 40 percent chance there will be less than normal precipitation or snowfall during this time. If El Niño keeps getting stronger as it is expected to, 2016 could be one of the hottest years on record.

If one was looking for a white Christmas this year, unfortunately it was not likely. The latest forecast from the Climate Center are showed Ohio had a 90 percent chance of seeing temperatures above normal on Christmas Day.