The Newest Epidemic?

"Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a bacterial disease that spreads through the air and makes it difficult for people to eat, drink and breathe by blocking their airways. The disease tends to yield milder effects among adults and older children than infants, for whom whooping cough may lead to severe seizures, respiratory infections and death. (Whooping Cough)"

On Friday we received a paper from our school informing us that someone in our building had the whooping cough and we were to take necessary precautions to prevent from contracting it ourselves. This seems to be becoming an epidemic; maybe not among adults but among children. This disease seems harmless enough; it's just a cough. However, this cough can lead to many other medical complications which are very dangerous for small children to have. My advice would be to get the vaccine that many hospitals and health providers are providing.

The End Has Come

Friday night ended our 2010 football season. It was freezing outside, with some sleet coming down at the beginning of the game. The boys played hard but the other team had more motivation than we did and in the end that's what won them the game. The final score was 41-14. Unfortunately we went out on a loss but we still ended the season 6-4; which is not too bad of a record. I'm still disappointed that we never lived up to expectations but it is what it is. Now instead of spending my Friday nights under the lights cheering on the football team, I'll spend those nights with friends. As much as I hate to see this season end, I'm ready for some extra free time. And now on to competition, basketball, and wrestling season. It seems like life never slows down for me in the cheerleading department.

The End Is Near...

Tonight at 7 pm., I will cheer in my final high school football game. Our record so far is 6-3, and we hope to make it 7-3 tonight; finishing off our season with a win. This game will be bitter sweet for us seniors. On one hand we'll finally get our Friday nights off and have more time to spend with our friends, but also it will be the last football game of our senior year; for most of the seniors it will be the last time they play this sport on a team. I plan to cheer in college so for me, this is just another end of a season; but for some of the girls this is the last Friday night they'll spend cheering on the sidelines under the lights. I'm sure after the clock runs out in the fourth quarter, no matter what the outcome, there will be some tears. Even though we've had a winning season, we're not going to the play-offs. This is also a huge disappointment to us seniors, who watched the seniors our freshman year make it all the way to the state quarterfinal play-offs. I cheered for varsity my freshman year and actually cheered at that game. We played Strong Vincent in Erie. It was Saturday December 1, 2007 and the snow was falling. We had just come off a game which we won 54-0 and expectations were high. Unfortunately we lost the game, but our team went down in history as the only team from our county to advance that far in the state play-offs. My four years I've been cheering for the school have been four great ones; I've gained friends and watched our team go from an amazing year to two rebuilding seasons to this year, which I thought was going to be a repeat of my freshman year. I won't lie, I'm a little disappointed that we won't have the chance to move on but all good things must come to an end.

5 Ways Your Cell Phone Can Save Your Life

"1. Program your cell so people can find you

If you're lying unconscious somewhere, how would anyone locate you? Verizon, Sprint and AT&T all have locators where you can find members of your family. In addition, you can do a search on iTunes for applications that use your smartphone's GPS to let you know where you are.

2. Put your "in case of emergency" contact into your cell phone

The trick here is to put your "ICE" information into your cell in as big and obvious a way as possible. Connie Meyer, the incoming president of the National Association of EMTs, suggests putting the "ICE" information into your contact list under "ICE." "Most EMTs know to look for that," says Meyer, a paramedic and registered nurse. "And make sure your ICE contact is someone who really knows your medical history."

3. Put your medical information on your cell

If you have a particular medical condition or are taking certain drugs, emergency workers need to know. You can put that information in the same place as your ICE contact, and you can also get an app that stores it. Choose an app that puts the information (or an icon leading to it) on the front screen of your phone so it's easy to find. Jared makes one for your BlackBerry and Polka makes one that goes on the front screen of your iPhone, which will work even if your phone is locked.

4. Get an app that teaches you first aid and CPR

Several groups, including the American Heart Association, have an app for that.

5. Find help nearby

Several apps, such as iTriage or DocGPS, will direct you to the nearest emergency room."
(5 Ways Your Cell Phone Can Save Your Life)

In today's day and age pretty much everyone, even children, have a cell phone; so this is a great idea. This could help out not just in car wrecks but also in missing person cases. Say a child is kidnapped; if they have their cell phone on them and it's programed with a locator, the police on the case could use this to find the child more quickly and easier. Programing your phone with these easy tips and downloading these apps for your smart phone could maybe one day save your life; so take these tips to heart.

Competition Season Is Right Around The Corner...



Typical Cheerleading Gym - pretty much just a
giant building with a large blue mat



Next Saturday my squad will compete in our first competition of the season. Every Wednesday starting last week and ending next week, we travel about half an hour to practice on a full spring floor. At our school we don't have the money or storage for a full size competition floor so we have to travel to practice on one; this is what we have been doing every Wednesday to make sure we have our spacing right and so that we may practice our routine full out. These are the practices that take endurance and perseverance because this is the first time this year we have run this routine with all the tumbling and stunts, so the first few times will seem like a real workout. Also, these are the practice that we really need everyone to attend because like my coach always says, "no one sits the bench in cheerleading."

All-Star Competitive Cheerleading

Along with High School Competition squads, there are also All-Star squads. All-Star squads have their own practice building and consist of kids from a surrounding area, not just from one school. They practice only once a week and each All-Star "company" has different levels of teams. Each level has special regulations that tell them what stunts and tumbling they are allowed to perform. (Regulations For Level 1-6 All-Star Cheerleading) They have to have a two minute routine just like high school competition squads. The only difference is they do not have to have a cheer; usually they have a voice over in their music of a short chant. All-Star squads usually have anywhere from 20-40 members on a team; this is the most significant difference from a high school squad. Also their uniforms are noticeably different. While high school squads have more clean cut and simple uniforms; All-Star squads have flashy and usually mid-drift baring uniforms. Another difference from high school squads is the cost. You must not only pay for your uniform but you must pay to just simply be on the squad. The cost can range anywhere from $25-$100 per month. Some also require you to pay for each competition you attend; which usually is around $100 per athlete. Besides the cost, another significant difference from high school squads is they must also provide their own transportation to and from competitions. Also All-Star squads definitely put more emphasis on the tumbling aspect of cheerleading, where in high school it's great if you have it  but it's not required to make the team. Also I feel this should be obvious but it might not be but All-Star squads do not compete again high school squads at competitions; they are in their own division. The divisions in All Star cheerleading are: Mini Level1 (this squad consists of 3-5 year olds), Youth Level1-3 (this squad consists of elementary school aged children and the level varies depending on the experience and talent of the squad; however, they usually do not go higher than a level 3 due to difficulty of stunts for children this age), Junior Level1-5 (this squad consists of middle school aged kids and level also varies depending on ability), and Senior Level 1-6 (this squad consists of high school aged kids, with level again depending on ability). The All-Star competition season is also from November through March. So that means this month starts the season and I personally can't wait.

Teens Are Losing Sleep From Texting

"A new study out of JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey finds that teens and tweens are texting when they should be sleeping and it may be causing mood or learning problems. In the study, 40 kids treated at the medical center's sleep clinic were surveyed. These are kids who came to the clinic complaining of trouble falling asleep and daytime sleepiness. Researchers found those kids sent an average of 34 texts a night and woke up once a night to answer a call or a text.  Dr. Peter Polos of the JFK Medical Center said, "Unless you take the cell phone away from the child, they are really at freedom to do whatever they want, sort of, whenever they want." In addition, kids who reported texting or using the internet at night were more likely to say they suffered from anxiety, depression, a-d-h-d and learning difficulties. However this study did not say texting or surfing the web actually caused those conditions." (Teens Lose Sleep From Texting)

This is very true; I can remember countless times when I myself have been woken up on a school night by a text or call from a friend in the middle of the night. However, I do sleep with my phone on my pillow; teens that keep their phone on a night stand may be less likely to wake up due to not hearing the phone go off. This does seem to be becoming an issue, especially since it's taking away from the hours of sleep a teen needs to function. However, this is an easy fix; turn the phone on silent when you go to bed. You may still use it as an alarm and sleep with it. This easy fix will keep you from being woken up in the middle of the night again.