Happy Halloween  from the staff of VOXSTA

 

As you go out tonight, be safe, have fun, be aware of your surroundings, don't steal little kids' candy.....and if you happen to run into a zombie, send up your Bat Signal and John Tomaro will come to your rescue! For real.

A SUCCESSFUL PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE DAY AT SUCCESSTECH!!!

by the VOXSTA News Staff

 

The board in Ms. C's room welcomes parents to this fall's Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Over 40 parents and family members came to our school yesterday to check on the progress of their STA scholars. This set a school record for attendance and it shows that our parents really care about our education. Ms. Jackie Hicks, the mother of VOXSTA Staffer Jaquain Williams, said, "I'm very proud of the teachers because they encourage the students to reach their potential." That is high praise for our teachers and reflects the fact that, like our parents, our teachers truly care about us and want us to succeed. "It feels great when our parents engage in our education. It takes a team to help us achieve our goals," VOXSTA Editor Dee Starling reflected, "and this being just the first quarter shows us we can get that number from 40 to 60 to every parent!"

 Chief Secretary Mrs. Johnson proudly shows our record-setting Parent-Teacher Conference sign-in sheets!!!

EDITORIAL: VOTE "YES" ON ISSUE 4

by the Staff of VOXSTA: The Voice of SuccessTech Academy

 

 

     On November 4, the citizens of Cleveland will have a chance to make a difference by voting for Issue 4, which will prolong a current tax that helps CMSD fund school buildings and other improvements.

     The staff of VOXSTA is recommending that our readers vote "YES" on Issue 4 because we know that we need the money to build more up-to-date schools to help our students learn in better environments.

     "Many of us came from schools that our parents went to, so they were old and decrepit," says VOXSTA News Editor McKayla Edmonds says. "My mom went to Nathan Hale and when I went there it was raggedy and old. Now it's brand new and I wish it was like that when I was there. It hurts a little to see the new Nathan Hale and know that I lost out on the chance to go to a better school, but I'm glad that now other kids have that chance."

      When told about the ballot issue, sophomore Chivon Gant perked up, offering, "When I went to East Clark, it had paint coming off the walls and it didn't feel good to be in a school that was broken down. A lot of us didnt feel valued because of what we saw around us."
     Responding to Mr. Gant, VOXSTA Editor-in-Chief Devonte Owens added, "Coming from Iowa Maple, one of the oldest buildings in CMSD, and knowing that it may be rebuilt with this tax makes me feel good in a way I can't explain." We believe Mr. Owens speaks for many CMSD K-8 alumni who want their little brothers and sisters to have better opportunities than they did.

     Perhaps sophomore Dee Starling sums it up best: "Coming from a bad environment, sometimes schools help us build our confidence. If we go to a raggedy, broken-down place, it makes us feel like raggedy, broken-down people. That's why we need to vote YES on Issue 4. Every kid in Cleveland deserves a great place to learn."

 

 

 



Ebola Comes to Cleveland....(but don't panic!!!)

We found out Wednesday that a nurse from Dallas who took care of a man with Ebola contracted the virus herself and then visited family in the Akron area. She also took a plane from the Cleveland Hopkins Airport back to Dallas. It made a lot of us anxious, scared, and a little paranoid. The good news is that Ebola is a very difficult virus to get and the person here in the area was not showing symptoms, which is required for the disease to be contageous.

Yesterday, several area schools stayed closed as a precaution, including Cranwood @ JFK in CMSD. JFK cleaned their whole school with a bleach-mix and students returned on Thursday. The District's actions were precautionary measures to prevent the spread of this terrible virus, even though the likelihood that anyone in Cleveland has Ebola is very low and the virus cannot live long outside of the body. In a statement to VOXSTA, SuccessTech Principal Sara Kidner said, “It is important for our students to have factual information so they have an understanding, although there are general percussion that we can take to prevent this."


We should be aware that Ebola is NOT the only virus out there. For example, 36,000 people die in the U.S. every year from the flu virus. Other viruses like hepatitis and many different STDs are far more likely to affect us. Many of these viruses, like Ebola, only get spread through direct contatct with bodily fluids. Therefore, it is really important that we avoid contact as much as possible with other peoples' fluids...even though that sounds really nasty, it just makes sense. One thing we see a lot at STA is people drinking out of other peoples' pop bottles. We shouldn't be drinking out of our friends' pop bottles--even "air drinks" can spread viruses. Know the facts, wash your hands often and use common sense, and you should be OK.

For more information about infectious diseases, visit www.cdc.gov!

Ebola: What You Need to Know

Illustration by VOXSTA Art Staffer Khalil Williams

 

 

The Ebola epidemic is the largest in the history, affeting multiple countries in west Africa. Althoughthe risk of an Ebola outbreak in the U.S is very low, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and partners are taking precautions to prevent this from happening. Even with such precautions, however, a nurse in Dallas contracted Ebola last week from a patient from Liberia she was treating. We at VOXSTA thought we should inform you of the signs and symptoms of Ebola to fight against some of the rumors.

 

The signs and symptons can show anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, although the average is to 8 to 10 days. They include:

• Fever (greater then 101.5F)
• Severe headache
• Muscle Pain
• Weakness
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal (stomach) pain
• Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

Even though Ebola is highly contageous, you cannot get it through the air, like a cold.  It is transmittable only through direct contact with an infected person's body fluids into an open membrane (such as a cut, or the eyes, nose, or mouth).

Recovery from Ebola depends on good medical care and the patient's immune response. People who recover from Ebola infection devolop antibodies that last at least ten years.

Again, it is unlikely that an Ebola outbreak will happen in Cleveland...but if it does, at least you'll know what to look for.

ANI-TECH (Vol. 1): A Video Blog about all things nerdy.

technical issues

      Sorry ladies and gentlemen, we're experiencing technical issues with our podcast, so we'll try to upload it tomorrow. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

                                                     -Editor-in-Chief, Devonte Owens