9 minute read
4 Steps to Prevent Kidney Stones
By Brian Steixner, MD
Kidney stones form when the urine becomes too concentrated – either from too much “bad stuff” in your diet or not enough water – and small crystals form. The crystals slowly grow into large stones and can be quite unpredictable. If a stone gets stuck and blocks the flow of urine, it can cause severe pain. And to make matters worse, people who form stones once are at higher risk of having a second episode.
While there are different types of kidney stones, there are some general steps you can take to prevent their formation.
STEP 1: Drink water—lots of water. Aim to drink at least two liters of water each day. Never let your urine become dark yellow; this is a sign you are dehydrated. STEP 2: Get juiced. Citrus juice helps prevent the bad components of your urine from bonding and forming kidney stones. Adding a small amount of lemon, orange, lime, or other citrus juice helps decrease the chance of stone formation.
STEP 3: Lay off the salt. Sodium causes calcium to be pushed from the kidneys into your urine. Since calcium is the biggest component of kidney stones, too much salt can be a problem. Limit daily sodium intake to around 2,500 mg.
STEP 4: Limit meat. Eating too much protein, mostly from meat or seafood, can increase your risk for kidney stones. Try going vegetarian one day a week (Meatless Monday!) or keeping your portions of meat to the size of a smartphone.
Dr. Brian Steixner, Board-certified urologist at Barton Health. To make an appointment, call (530) 543-5400 or visit bartonhealth.org/urology.
Mary Knows Incline Village
Resident of Incline for over 25 years
Mary Jurkonis
Broker-Salesperson, Dickson Realty M » 775-772-1514 E » mjurkonis@dicksonrealty.com
NV LIC: BS.145621
IVCBA
Youth Education
Year after year, our school systems in Incline Village Crystal Bay continue to take top honors – and with good reason. They are supported by a caring, active, and very giving community that focuses on our children’s future. Mirroring a ‘college-town’ perception, it is all about supporting the kids in our community. No matter what time of the year it may be, there is always a fund-raiser underway – and all are family friendly events!
Thanks to our small year-round population, our preschool and K-12 enrollments allow for smaller classes and individual attention from our award-winning teachers. Within Nevada’s rankings, Incline High School is listed within the “Top10 Best Public Schools.”
We are fortunate to have a selection of charter schools and a private school as well that is praised by their peers for their dedication to creativity, nurturing disciplined minds, and creative spirits.
Home schooling is also a popular option – especially for families who choose to travel or invest in their children’s passion for sports. In fact, many of the athletes on the US Ski Team took their first runs on our local slopes.
After graduating within our K-12 system, our youth have the option to attend our nationally accredited university that is ready to welcome them to lifechanging learning through four core disciplines: Entrepreneurial Thinking, Professional Preparedness, Liberal Arts, and Sustainability.
Unlike city life, our quaint community is wrapped with endless opportunities for our children to enjoy the great outdoors while participating in hands-on environmental and sports programs. Thanks to the assistance of our significant volunteer base and private funding, The Duffield Youth Center, Homework Help club, IVGID programs, as well as others, keep our children engaged and advancing in their various studies.
Adult Education
Incline Village is the home of Sierra Nevada University, the only private undergraduate school in Nevada. While many local students attend, it also attracts students from Scandinavia to Asia. Its winter sports teams are world famous. SNU partners with our schools and offers our community adult education, particularly through the Holman Arts Center.
Crab Feed Fundraiser
The recent Incline High School Booster Club Crab Feed “fun-raiser” netted about $200,000, which will be used to buy a new outdoor scoreboard and to meet other scholastic needs.
Millhoff estimated attendance at the March 18 virtual gathering to be a record-setting 260 people. Typically, the annual fundraiser happens at the Hyatt Regency. But with pandemic protocols to consider, event planners staged the 39th Crab Feed online.
Enriching Education for Our Village
By Mary Danahey
LATE LAST YEAR, the Incline
Education Fund (IEF) was launched to support the Incline Village public schools in their effort to help students acquire the knowledge, skills and opportunities needed to reach their fullest potential.
The challenges toward that mission became amplified during the pandemic, and one issue in particular stood out. Not every Incline Middle School student had access to a laptop computer, a tool required for learning in the 21st century. In fact, over 1/3 third of our students had to share a device with a family member, making the challenges of remote learning even more difficult.
Incline Education Fund saw the need and made a commitment to raise the funds necessary to provide enough laptops for every Incline Middle School student.
Thanks to financial support from Incline’s area REALTORS® and other benevolent community members, all those children will now have access to those essential devices. IEF ran a very successful “Tech Drive” and is now able to purchase 200 laptops for student use.
“This means a lot for us,” said Incline Middle School principal Kari Michael. “Many IMS families are just unable to provide a laptop for their children. A good many of these students were falling farther and farther behind. In turn, this was impacting the educational progress of all IMS students, every day.”
To reach our fundraising goal, IEF approached Incline Village REALTORS® “Good Neighbor Committee” for support. IVR President Trevor Smith and Bryan Wallpe enthusiastically agreed to help and quickly made a video to explain the issue to their members. Dave Colarchik, Tahoe Lending Group Branch Manager and an IVR affiliate member, learned about the project through that video and decided to pitch in. He proposed a challenge to the other IVR members by offering a $15,000 match, in addition to the $2,500 donation that he had already made. That effort created a buzz within the IVR group and led to them bringing in a combined $54,700, and to Incline Education Fund meeting its $100,000 goal. Kendra Murray, RCE CEO at Incline Village REALTORS® said, “we are lucky to have been able to participate with IEF, IMS and the larger community in getting these essential laptops to our local students.”
“Students need laptops the same way they need pens, pencils and papers. They are essential tools for learning in today’s economy,” Colarchik said. “Getting these laptops is an essential step for all students to have an equal opportunity to learn ... It’s teaching them how to fish.”
Incline Education Fund believes that education is the best investment we can make in our community. By coming together to help give kids the tools they need to learn, it proves that collectively, we can make a difference in our communities. It gives us optimism for further efforts to support our schools and to help build a better place to live.
For more information, go to: www.inclineeducation fund.org. Incline Education Fund is a non-profit organization focused on promoting academic achievement and skill development for Incline Village students and providing support for our parents and educators. We are building and endowed K-12 education foundation to provide long-term financial and leadership resources for our schools and community.
WTP Going to Nationals
By Mary Danahey
AFTER AN IMPRESSIVE SECOND PLACE showing
at the state competition in February, (four points shy of first place on a 1,080 point scale) Incline High School’s (IHS) We the People team will compete as the wildcard squad in the event’s national finals via Zoom next month.
The Incline team made the finals despite having just 10 members, the smallest it’s ever had.
This marks the 14th time in 21 years an IHS team has been in the championship round, which typically takes place in Washington, D.C. Approximately 1,000 students from 48 classes around the country participate in the simulated congressional hearings.
With pandemic protocols in place, this year’s 2021 finals will be online April 23–26.
The debate competition and related Advanced Placement U.S. Government class focus on the history and principles of the United States Constitution and government.
Students are placed into six different units, each of which has a different focus. Those include the philosophical roots of the nation’s political system, the Bill of Rights, and 21st century challenges facing American democracy.
At the national level, the students have been tasked with preparing two testimonies per unit, which they will present in a mock congressional hearing to an impressive panel of judges followed by eight minutes of cross-examination questioning.
IHS Senior Max Rock said, “We the People helps you dive deeper than just knowing how government works. You get to understand the processes, how history has led up to this moment in politics and why it is so important. It is easily the most important and impactful class I have ever taken and has taught me so much about what it means to be an active citizen.”
With just a 10-member team, each student on the IHS squad had to take on two units rather than the usual one, doubling their workload. The team competed against others three times its size. Because of COVID-19, this marked the second time the competitions have been held virtually.
IHS Senior Tiffany Krolick said, “Although only having 10 of us gives us more work, it also makes us closer as a team.” Conrad Drewes added, “It’s the only class I’ve ever had where the work doesn’t feel like work.”
Senior Chase Corman echoed Krolick’s sentiment about how impactful the class is and added, “I will forever cherish the memories and knowledge I have gained from this class.”
Anne Schrage, a volunteer coach and alum of the program, said this years’ crop of students has shown an entirely new level of commitment.
“They did the work that comes with the We the People journey, with much less of the reward in terms of traveling for competitions, night meeting potlucks and the in-person atmosphere that typically defines this class,” Schrage said.
To watch the competition, go to this link and click on “Hearing Schedule”. Incline is in Division D. https://www. civiced.org/national-finals-2021-teams
“This year, we had a small team of (only) 10 students, the smallest we have ever had at Incline HS. They might be small but they are mighty… students that want to compete and are dedicated to the class and to each other. They did not get to travel to compete…no bus ride to UNR to compete in districts, no trip to Las Vegas for the State competition, no trip to Washington for Nationals, but they see the value in the competition and the preparation for it. Our students know they are involved in something special and that the community is
behind them. —MILT HYAMS, WTP INSTRUCTOR, INCLINE HIGH SCHOOl
