Nate Geckler, Gage Thorn, Noah Poldberg, Cooper Jordan, Natacha Inaty and Anita Gale, Retired Boeing engineer who worked on Space Shuttle program, Current CEO of National Space Society (NSS), and founder of competition.
PANORAMA STUDENTS TAKE NASA TRIP
By Bjoërg Skovgaard, sophomore, staff writer
A group of Panorama students traveled to Texas in March for the NASA trip. While on the trip, the students were able to hear, learn and design on their own. They participated in The Space Settlement Design Competition, which allows students to begin with a design idea, problem-solve and present their idea to a panel of professionals. The competition is a high-intensity simulant event, where students get professional roles and are given specific challenges. They have to give and come up with realistic solutions. The competition is STEM-enriched and rigorous. Students interested in applying have to explain how they have been successful.
The event spans over a few days. Professionals volunteer to support the students in designing a futuristic space settlement and help with their pretend company. In each company, students are then divided into four engineering divisions. One company is crowned champion, and a portion of the company will advance to an international finals. From Panorama, Cooper Jordan, Noah Poldberg, Natacha Inaty, Gage Thorn and Nathan Geckler participated in the space competition. They all did a great job together with other students from Iowa and Texas.
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HOST AN EXCHANGE STUDENT
By Bjoërg Skovgaard, sophomore, staff writer
Did you know that you could host an exchange student? Well, here’s the reason why you should. There are so many young people in other parts of the world who would love to come to America to experience high school. Both the student, family and school can learn from this experience. Some of the main goals for exchange students are to learn about culture and improve their English skills. While hosting, you build friendships, understanding and cooperation. The exchange students allow people to get a better understanding of differences and appreciate similarities.
There are many benefits to host, and you can even change the world. Exchange students and their families usually keep in contact even years later and may visit each other. You will feel like you adopted a new family member and will, most likely, have a special bond with them. But it also comes with a lot of responsibilities. The students will be prepared to help out the family by doing chores and showing appreciation for the family by making food or showing you their culture.
There are a lot of different agencies that can help you if you are thinking about hosting. Pan Atlantic Foundation, Rotary International, CIEE and EF are some of them. They will help you with choosing a student who fits you and your family and guide you through the process. There are lots of students from all over the world waiting for you to host them.
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SLEEP IS IMPORTANT
By Addie Astley and Peyton Walker, sophomores, staff writers
Do we all need a good night’s rest? Yes, sleep is essential for the body, as it affects our mental and physical health the next day. Getting enough sleep every night helps reduce stress, maintain a healthy weight, lower the risk of health problems, get along with people, think more clearly, and improve memory. Lacking sleep can make you hungry through imbalances in the body. Your ghrelin levels go up and your leptin levels go down, which leads to increased hunger.
Ages 6-12 should be getting nine to 12 hours of sleep per day. From ages 13-18, you should be getting eight to 10 hours of sleep. Ages 13-18 years old need about eight to 10 hours of sleep for every 24 hours. Adults 18 and older need seven or more hours of sleep each night. It’s important to get the right amount of hours for your brain, mood and health.
Some students think their parents are lying when they tell them to go to bed early. They’re just trying to help them so their mental health and performance are better. When students go to sleep earlier, they have proper brain function, and it improves concentration and academic performances. Sleep is important for student athletes because they have to do all that work during school and then after school have sports practice. Children who don’t get enough sleep struggle with mental problems, and they fall asleep during school and compromise their education.
Schools could be teaching proper sleeping habits to show what’s happening. Parents could help by taking devices early and showing them proper sleep schedules by doing it. If children don’t want to listen, parents could have them go to the doctor and have the doctor tell them.
Information for this article was gathered from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sleep.htm#:~:text=Students%20should%20get%20the%20proper,concentration%2C%20and%20improve%20academic%20performance.
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GIRLS CONFERENCE TRACK MEET
By Maddy Carstens, junior, staff writer
The girls conference track meet took place May 1. Its original date of April 30 was postponed due to bad weather. The meet took place at West Central Valley, and the participating teams were ACGC, WCV, Panorama, Woodward Granger, Earlham, Des Moines Christian, Van Meter, Madrid and Ogden. With a tough conference, the Panorama girls competed their hardest to win some relays and races.
With Panorama’s girls entered in almost every open and relay event, competition was fierce from other teams. Some of the relays that placed for Panorama were girls distance medley, who placed sixth overall, along with girls 4×8, who placed third overall. For individual placings for Panorama, Arilyan Steenblock placed second overall in discuss, Mary Fett eighth overall in the open 800, Laicey Lutz eighth overall for girls 1500, and Kylee Rochholz sixth overall for girls 1500. Everyone worked their hardest and fought with the terrible weather on the first day of the meet. However, with the meet being postponed to the next day, May 2, the weather brought sunshine to allow the running and field events to have a good end to the conference meet. For Panorama, three of the events set new best season performances, and six girls set a total of eight new personal records. Great work, girls!
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DRIVE SAFELY AND STAY ALERT
By Lillie Greenlee, freshman, staff writer
It’s important to drive safely. Not driving safely can put you and others at risk. When driving, you should be giving your undivided attention to the road. For example, you shouldn’t be on your phone whether it’s texting or watching videos of. Even if you think you’ll be fine doing that, being on your phone for even a second can end with disaster.
You should also not drive if you feel sleepy or just feel like anything would keep you from giving your full attention to the road. Driving while you feel sleepy can be just as bad as driving drunk. When you’re sleepy, you will fall asleep a lot of the time, which is obviously dangerous when you’re driving. You should be awake and alert to avoid any accidents. It’s important to not be distracted, so you keep yourself, and everyone else on the road, safe.
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MAKE YOUR END-OF-YEAR PREPARATIONS NOW
By Marlee Herring, eighth grader, staff writer
Summer is coming, so you need to prepare for the end of the school year. Classes are coming to a close, and that means everyone needs to be turning in late or missing assignments. Library books also need to be turned in the week of May 13. No library books can be checked out after May 6. There are also many end of year tests, so be prepared to study. Make sure to keep learning this summer and come back next year full of new knowledge.
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ARE ENERGY DRINKS TERRIBLE FOR YOU?
By Maggie McCarthy, sophomore, staff writer
Many people wonder if energy drinks are terrible for you. An energy drink is a carbonated drink that contains caffeine and other ingredients that boost energy levels. Monsters, Alani, Prime and Red Bull are considered energy drinks, but coffee and some sodas are not. Furthermore, studies have shown that caffeine is not bad for you. However, too much caffeine can cause increased heart rate, nervousness, insomnia and other side effects.
What does caffeine do to the human brain? When a person consumes beverages with caffeine, that caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in the brain. These receptors are proteins in the cells of the brain that contribute to the conception of feeling drowsy. When the caffeine blocks the receptor, it doesn’t activate the energy in the cell; it just takes away the feeling of being drowsy. However, when the caffeine wears off, it piles up on the receptors, and then you get what is called a crash.
In conclusion, drinking energy drinks only temporarily helps with feeling drowsy.
Information for this article was obtained from: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2qNZtxqMU&pp=ygUtU2lkZSBlZmZlY3RzIGFuZCBiZW5pZml0cyBmcm9tIGVuZXJneSBkcmlua3Mg