School Community

GENESEE, MI — Genesee High School’s 50-year tradition of keeping the location of its junior-senior prom a secret held strong this year on Friday evening.

Bridget Shaw, a Genesee High School English teacher, chose the prom destination: the three-story Michigan Princess Riverboat in Lansing. The theme was “Hollywood.”

Students were taken via charter bus to the boat.

“It was exciting trying to figure out where we were going on the expressway,” said junior Andrea Saunders, 17. She said students conjectured their destination might be Michigan State University when they took the Lansing exit.

That prom would be held on a boat was a rumor at the high school, but it was shadowed by the other rumors flying around the school.

“We were just shocked to actually see (the boat),” Cassidy Schaub, 17, said. “To see it come to life was really cool.”

As students entered the riverboat, the DJ played popular movie theme songs. The decorations included red carpets, a city skyline on the walls, a Hollywood sign, camera reels and dangly stars and lights.

The first floor housed a hard wood dance floor, the dining room was located on the second floor and the third floor was open to the air.

“The weather was splendid,” junior class president Ramzy Abueita, 17, said. “There was a spectacular view across the river.”

He said as junior class president, he was responsible for helping pick the theme, decorations and food but was just as surprised as everyone else.

“It was better than what anyone expected,” Saunders said.

For many students, the occasion was bittersweet.

“It was the final thing together before the seniors leave,” Schaub said. “The junior and senior class were really close.” 

Enlarge Genesee County Proms – Week 2 gallery (104 photos)

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Emily Jamison of Limavady High School has won a coveted role to write for The Guardian newspaper after beating off tough competition from pupils at schools throughout the whole of the UK.

Emily won a place on a project that will see her travel to London and interview Paralympic athletes and then report on their challenges and success for the newspaper.

The position was created in a bid to increase awareness of the Paralympics and Emily’s published piece is expected to be exposed to some five million readers.

Emily will also attend the Paralympics closing ceremony, the Limavady Chronicle reported, after which she will be trained by journalists at The Guardian.

Her by-line will feature in the Saturday edition of the paper during August.

It is very important to know not only about the food we eat, but how and when and under what circumstances we should eat. People today do not want to take the time to eat properly. Your breakfast may consist of coffee and a piece of toast. A naturopath and skilled practitioner, Dr. Eric Bakker supposes, the way we eat today is probably the most important factor predisposing to all Candida, we tend to eat on the run while trying to do other things. It is called “multitasking“, a term that may be much more dangerous than we used to think.

Today, we live in a fast-paced world and our digestion suffers. The sugar content and starch content of many meals today is far too high with a minimum of fruits and vegetables consumed. This way of eating can make you susceptible to fermentation, especially when stressed to the time.

Many naturopaths and nutrition researchers such as Dr. Richard Schultz, Mark Pedersen, Eric Bakker and James A. Duke stress the importance of eating a lot slower than we do today, and especially chewing each bite slowly and deliberately several times before swallowing and in addition, not to eat when we are stressed or tired. Do you eat your main meal later in the evening, perhaps eight or nine after a glass of wine? This is a common situation, especially for city dwellers.

Many people in countries like Spain and France still take their time with meals that allow their digestive systems to work more efficiently, with faster production of digestive enzymes to digest their food before they return to work.

The main recommendation is increase the quality of your food and decrease the amount of your food.

A group of Belfast school children are aiming to keep their place in the record books by fielding the highest number of teams in the Belfast Marathon.

Methodist College has so far entered a record total of 20 relay teams for this year’s run in May but they plan to recruit even more before the entry deadline on April 6.

If they succeed, the school will scoop the 1000 cash prize offered by marathon organisers – just like last year when their school colours were in the majority among the thousands of runners.

While other schools are being encouraged to sign up as well, Methody sixth form pupil Siobhan McDonald told the South Belfast News: “We find that taking part in this big event is an excellent team building exercise for those involved.”

First year university students in Northern Ireland could be forced to reside in university accommodation, under radical new plans to tackle the issue of student housing.

A new independent report recommends that the 7,000 first year full-time undergraduates who attend Queen’s University, the University of Ulster’s Belfast and Jordanstown campuses and the two teacher training colleges at Stranmillis and St Mary’s every year could be “compelled” to reside in “university provided/affiliated/approved accommodation”.

However, the Holyland and Wider University Area Strategic Study acknowledges such a move could be open to legal challenge.

Belfast City Council, the Department of Employment and Learning and the universities are to “prepare a brief for testing the legality of obliging first year university students to reside in university accommodation”.

It is just one of a series of recommendations in the 114-page report that has been two years in the making and came about following the ongoing issues impacting the Holyland area of south Belfast.

But both Queen’s and Ulster have little or no capacity in their purpose-built student accommodation. Queen’s has 2,200 places, which are almost full, while UU has 868 spaces at Jordanstown, with just 19% unoccupied.

There is also the issue of cost. Many students opt to rent accommodation in the private sector as it can be cheaper than the 90 the universities charge per week.

The report, commissioned by the council on behalf of a number of agencies, also sets out a long-term strategy to ‘reclaim’ the Holyland by encouraging a better mix of housing in the area and making it a more desirable place to live.

Councillor Pat McCarthy, chairman of the council’s health and environmental services committee, said the report would be a “blueprint” for driving positive change in the Holyland area and in transforming Belfast into a learning destination.

“The council and all the partners involved in this study are determined that this report won’t gather dust on a shelf,” he added.

Factfile

• the absence of a coherent policy on student housing has resulted in over-reliance on private rented sector,

• more focused planning policy needed with regards to provision of purpose-built student accommodation.

• The full report is available on the council’s website .

Embattled residents welcome study

By Lesley-Anne McKeown

Homeowners in Belfast’s student heartland say they are “optimistic” problems there can be solved if Stormont politicians act on a new report’s proposals.

The Holyland and University Area Strategic Study has called for the creation of a city-wide housing strategy and the provision of more purpose built student accommodation to help long-suffering residents ‘reclaim’ the area.

Liam Kielty, who has lived on Rugby Avenue for over 30 years, said noise pollution, crime, anti-social behaviour and traffic management were among the major issues facing householders.

“I am pleased that the report has finally been generated. I believe that providing bespoke student accommodation will help alleviate the numbers of students planted in the Holyland and prevent a Holyland II situation developing.”

Landlords have given a cautious welcome to the proposals for a management scheme. However, they say forcing students into halls of residence instead of private accommodation in the Holyland is impractical.

“The fact is students continue to choose to live in the Holyland and other areas in and around Queen’s University,” said property owner and manager Declan Boyle.