A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPEN FORUM SINCE 1924
The
Red ‘n’ Green
222 Memorial Drive Berlin, WI 54923
VOLUME 48, ISSUE 5
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
Sanderfoot finds rare match, donates bone marrow by
Mork also talked about Sanderfoot fitting the school’s theme of kindness. “I think that what he is doing is an awesome gesture,” Mork said. “Doing something for someone that has no idea who he is just shows that he has kindness in his heart and is willing to help.”
Julia Silloway
In college, science teacher Benjamin Sanderfoot was introduced to a sign-up drive to give bone marrow. To sign up for this, Sanderfoot had to fill out a lot of paperwork and swab his cheeks. Now years later, on Tuesday, Sanderfoot gave bone marrow to a patient that is suffering from aplastic anemia, which means that her bone marrow does not work properly. Throughout this process, Sanderfoot is not allowed to know who the recipient is. “It’s all up to what the patient decides,” Sanderfoot said. “After I recover they are allowed to anonymously contact me for a year and then after that if they want any other contact they will be able to. If not, then I will never know.” During this process, Sanderfoot had to go to numerous appointments with his doctors to explain the process and make sure he was ready to go. “I had a bunch of various appointments to make sure that everything was set for the procedure,” Sanderfoot said. At the appointment on Jan. 6, Sanderfoot had to do a lot of tests and meet with the anesthesiologist and surgeon to make sure that he was ready for the operation. “This appointment was an all day thing,” Sanderfoot said. “I had to do a basic physical, EKG, chest x-ray and a blood panel.” During the surgery, Sanderfoot was put under by the anesthesi-
Bone Marrow Donation Facts - More than 35,000 people have donated to a stranger without a single donor death. - Bone marrow donation requires less than 5 percent of marrow cells.
Science teacher Benjamin Sanderfoot holds up an x-ray that he had taken at one of his appointments prior to donating bone marrow. Photo Submitted: B. Sanderfoot ologist and then flipped over on his stomach. From there, they made a few small cuts above his hip and drilled through his bone to pull out the bone marrow. “I am nervous about how much pain I am going to be in after the operation, and how long it is going to take for me to be back to work,” Sanderfoot said. Because of the procedure, Sanderfoot is out of school for a few days. But, if it were up to Sanderfoot, he would be back in
school as soon as possible. To get his absences approved, Sanderfoot had to talk to Superintendent Dr. Eidahl who then presented it to the school board. “There will be no problem finding someone to fill in for him,” Principal Lynn Mork said. Yesterday, there was a Marrow Donor Registry Drive for all who are between 18 and 44 years old that would register to be on the bone marrow transplant list, like Sanderfoot.
- Only 2 percent of the population is on the national registry. - Thirty percent of marrow donations use the method of sticking the needle in the hip. - At any given time, about 7,500 Americans are actively searching the national registry for an unrelated donor. Source: instituteforjustice.org
Maintenance staff deals with minor damages around building by
Alyssa Thiel
Minor damages and broken things around the high school do not go unnoticed by maintenance staff. “There will always be things that need repair,” buildings and grounds director Christian Stemler said. “Sooner or later we try to fix everything.” Small repairs are the most common jobs the maintenance staff complete on a daily basis. “I’m always changing light bulbs, fixing doors, bubblers and toilets,” custodian Jeremie Schmidt said. “This time of year a big priority is usually plowing the snow.” Cost, time and weather can all play a role in the prioritizing of jobs to complete. “It also goes according to who tells you to fix it,” Schmidt said. “For example, if Mr. Mork asks for something to be done, I’ll try to get that
done for him right away.” Maintenance staff can only go so far before the type of repair is out of their capability. “Usually, when you actually have to change something it becomes out of our ability,” Schmidt said. “Or, if it has to do with refrigeration, we more than likely have to call the refrigeration guy to come in and fix it.” The maintenance department works out of several budgets. “We have operational budgets for things like roofs, sidewalks, cleaning supplies and equipment, parking lots, utlilities, etc.,” Stemler said. “Each area or item is kept in a separate account for tracking purposes.” The school building goes through a lot each day, and students do not always make the task of maintaining it easy. “It’s unfortunate when kids break things intentionally, especially the bubblers because those are very expensive,” Schmidt said. “Kids are
Custodian Jeremie Schmidt finishes fixing an office door by placing the cover back onto the door closer latch. Photo: A. Thiel always rowdy the first months of building to find a bubbler that works.” school, but then they usually calm Students are not always aware of down.” maintenance staff plans and their Students notice and have found reasoning behind them. small damages around school to be “Students continued to break those an inconvenience to their day. bubblers and so Mork decided to “The bubblers by the auditorium have them shut off,” Schmidt said. have been broken since my freshman “We have a plan to replace those and year,” senior Dillon Milner said. “I the bubblers by the locker rooms, don’t like having to walk around the hopefully this year.”
in This
Issue
-Students with parents at school pg. 3 -DIY Series pg. 4 and 5 -WIAA email pg. 7
Newsbriefs Academic Decathlon on the road to state
Academic Decathlon students competed at the Regional competition on Jan. 8 at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. BHS took fifth place as a school, qualifying them for state. Academic Decathlon adviser Susan Roubidoux will be taking students to the competition on Mar. 3 and 4. “I am excited that they are going to state because this is their first year going,” Roubidoux said. “They have a chance to do well, but it depends on how well they work to prepare themselves for the state competition.”
Mock Trial prepares for regionals
The Mock Trial teams competed in their scrimmage in Green Bay on Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Brown County Court House. “The students have things to work on before we head to regionals,” Mock Trial Coach Jennifer Leahy said. “They’re on the right track though for competing at regionals.” The scrimmage helped the new team members get a feel for what Mock Trial is and what to expect for regionals. Regionals is Feb. 13 in Wisconsin Rapids at the Wood County Court House.
BHS staff members participate in annual Polar Plunge
Special Education teacher Nicole LeDioyt made up a team with BHS staff members for the 2016 Polar Plunge event on Lake Winnebago the weekend of Feb. 19. “Mr. Arndt, Mr. Sanderfoot, Mr. Ruetten, Mr. Reise, Mrs. Ragus and I are doing the Polar Plunge this year,” LeDioyt said as of earlier this week. The teachers will be jumping Friday Feb. 19. “I love the bonding experience with the teachers and of course raising money for the Special Olympics,” LeDioyt said. One time jumping in the freezing waters of Lake Winnebago is enough for LeDioyt. “The water is very cold so we only do it once,” LeDioyt said. “Once a year is enough for me.”