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Whooping cough cases emerge at MCHS
The McHenry Health Department is looking into a surge in Pertussis cases at MCHS and in the
Affton Ingraffia Feature Editor
MCHS has recently brought to light the news of a confirmed case of pertussis, or better known as the dreaded whooping cough earlier this week whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection If you were to catch this infection, symptoms include an uncontrollable dry cough followed by a deep inhale in an attempt to catch your breath where you make a high-pitched “whoop” noise resulting in a choking feeling
As symptoms can take around five to twenty days to appear, the illness starts out as a common cold and slowly develops into severe hacking
“Whooping cough is most commonly spread through physical contact along with contact of contaminated items that anyone infected coughs or sneezes on MCHS sent out an email to inform parents of the news, there has clearly been more cases than in previous outbreaks
“We want to inform you,” MCHS says, “that there have been confirmed cases of Pertussis (Whooping Cough) within our school community ”
If you are informed that you have a whooping cough, you have to stay home and quarantine for at least five days and complete antibiotic treatment
One away to prevent getting this sickness is to plan ahead and get a vaccine As some students were vaccinated when they were younger others haven't gotten it for various reasons However, MCHS encourages this method of prevention
“I'm a firm believer in vaccines that have been proven to work,” Registered Nurse at MCHS Tawnee Oates says, “and that's something that I feel sometimes people aren't very fond of, but there are vaccines that have eradicated disease and that's why we get them ” The Pertussis vaccine (Tdap) is generally very effective in preventing the disease or decreasing the severity of symptoms Tdap suggests a booster every ten years
“My only tip is to do your research,” Oates says, “and if you don't want to be vaccinated, know what the risks are for that and why ” When MCHS sent out the email, it got people talking Few became more aware than others
“They're making it seem like it's a big issue,” sophomore Leah Atkinson says “So I'm guessing it's getting more common because they had to blast out an email ” Despite there being only a few medically confirmed cases, germs can still linger It's better to be safe than sorry
Finding the perfect balance
MCHS’s AP student athletes are constantly trying to keep a balance between their homework and their sports practice, and the workload can weigh them down
Mchenzie Woods Staff Writer
A student starts getting ready for practice right after school in the cold school gym They begin thinking about all of the homework that must be finished before the night ends and the AP classes they are taking; they don’t want to fall behind, but they have to focus on their practice so they athletically perform to the best of their ability
Many students at MCHS are in sports, and a lot are also taking AP classes Those students have a big workload and have harder classes that they have to be successful in, but they also want to be successful in their sports
“Because of my workload and the amount of classes I'm taking,” MCHS student athlete Makenzie Haynes says, “it takes about an hour each night to do my homework ” By the time students are done with practice for their sports, it’s already late They have to be able to balance the little time that they have in order to get all of their things done, and it’s not even just their school work
“During the season, after practice, it's straight to doing homework and eating dinner,” MCHS student athlete Aiden Ramirez says, “then trying to get it out as quickly as I can, so I can go to sleep and get rest ”
Cases of Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, has been identified at MCHS The extremely contagious respiratory tract infection can spread quickly through communities that are not vaccinated |
Photo by Afton Ingraffia
Student athletes have to think ahead about what they have to get done so they are ready to have another successful day
The U.S. failed Harris on Election Day
The United States could have elected the first female President. Instead it voted for a convicted felon with a record ot taking rights away from the American people
Grace Bellavia Staff Writer
The current Vice President of The United States, Kamala Harris, ran for President and lost 139 million votes were counted, and as of Nov 7, there are still some left to be counted, however it is clear that opposing elect Donald Trump will be the winner The U S had the chance to vote for a strong woman that could help our country and could be a historic leader for us, but instead they voted for a felon, and the guy who was found liable for rape The U S has failed Kamala Harris and the young women that call it home She could've been the first female President in our history Harris is a daughter of immigrants living in Oakland California, her mother was from India and her father is from Jamaica Harris was inspired by her mother, as she was a breast cancer scientist and a pioneer that had her own right to come to the United States at age 19 Fast forward, Harris started off as a District Attorney in San Francisco during 2004 where she was a national leader in the LGBTQ+ rights movement She also established the office's environmental justice unit In 2010, Harris was elected Attorney General of California where she was in charge of the largest justice department in the country In 2017, Harris was sworn into the United States Senate, and in 2021 Harris was sworn in as Vice President for Joe Biden being the first woman, Black American and South Asian American to be elected in this position All of this made her a qualified candidate, but it wasn’t enough for the American voters this past Tuesday
Harris supported women's rights
Donald Trump handpicked certain judges for the Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom that women need, and most of the members are men Harris stood and helped women “I support Roe v Wade being put back into law by Congress,” Harris told CBS News, “and restoring the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body ” The U S could have chosen the first woman president who would restore the rights that were taken away from women, but they didn’t
Harris also supported LGBTQ+ rights The Biden-Harris administration has sued states to block anti-trans laws and policies; they also asked the supreme court to lift bans on medically necessary health care for trans kids Harris helped represent the LGBTQ+ community and was representing tons of kids and adults whose family don’t accept them for who they are As a 16 year old young girl that's a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it hurts me to see that my rights could be taken away just because I love who I want to love Once again, the U S chose to elect a candidate with a track history of rolling back rights instead of protecting them
Finally, Harris was a qualified presidential candidate Trump has 34 felony counts, 6 bankruptcies, 2 impeachments, 2 cases pending and he has been found liable of rape Though he has distanced himself from it, Trump’s former team created Project 2025 for his administration Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda, which means sets of problems or certain subjects that are viewed as important by the people involved in policy
making This project is a long list of policy recommendations almost affecting nearly every aspect in American life Such as Abortion rights, free speech and racial justice, basic rights all people should be awarded But, again, Americans voted for that instead of a woman with an agenda that could help them
These next few years, we don't really know what Trump can and can't do He could change his mind on certain things Some of his decisions could be good for America Trump is on good terms with foreign countries like Russia and North
Korea, and says he can resolve foreign conflicts easily
On Tuesday, America failed not just Harris, but itself America is hurting And wanting to know how we all let the felon win This country could have had the first woman president even if it was for one term Harris showed young girls they could be a leader and be strong and get through things There was so much hope for her to win from people around the country, even from around the world Instead, voters chose the felon with a track record of taking rights away
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Dominic Burnett Puzzlemaster
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris departs the stage after conceding the election during a speech at Howard University on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2024, in Washington, D C |
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