Cody alum mentors students, fights for coaches
(12/16/15 2:16pm)
By Shanika Kelly and Emier Metcalf The Cody Connection
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By Shanika Kelly and Emier Metcalf The Cody Connection
By Alisha Reeves The Cody Connection
By Dervon Thompson CT Visionary This year marks a clean slate for the boys’ basketball team at Cass Tech. The hiring of new head coach, Steve Hall, represents the move towards hope of a brighter future. Hall is also the school’s new athletic director and has high expectations for the athletes at CT. Being a former Technician, Hall set records and was a basketball standout in 1988, when he averaged a little more than 30 points a game. His success followed him to college where he played at Virginia Tech. “My high school and college years were memorable, we had a lot of success as a team, I had a lot of success as a player, and it was some of the best memories of my life.” Hall said. That success easily transitioned into his coaching career, being one of the most accredited coaches in the Public School League. Hall took Detroit Rogers to consecutive Class D state titles in 2003-2005, then led Detroit Northwestern to their first Detroit Public School league title in 2008; and was named coach of the year. Steve Hall coached college ball for Duquesne and Youngstown State from 2009-2015. Hall is excited to bring all of his experience back to his CT roots. “Cass Tech was the only high school job that I considered when I was at the college ranks,” Hall said. “The fact that this is the school I went to and I have obvious attachments to Cass and a desire to see Cass at the top.” With the season approaching, Hall is walking in expecting nothing more and nothing less. “It’s a work in progress, learning every day; going into a new situation you know it’s going to be challenges,” Hall said. “My expectations are just to get better every game and by February ideally be able to compete at a championship level.” Hall has an experienced Cass Tech team by his side. With five returning seniors, guard Michael Farmer is one of the returning seniors looking forward to get the season rolling. “We are very excited but understand there is more work to be done,” Farmer said. “We just want to continue to improve and make progress everyday as the season goes on.” When asked about working with new head coach, the senior guard was even more excited. “Coach Hall is tough, but I feel that he is preparing us for the next level,” Farmer said. “He constantly throws new things at us and brings out the best in all of us.”
By Ananda Irving CT Visionary Cass Tech’s robotics is offered as a class and as a club after school. The program opens many doors for students interested in careers related to engineering. Technology is changing so fast and robots are being using in many aspects around the globe. There are many different majors in college and many scholarship opportunities in the robotics field. From computer engineering, mechanical engineering and even electrical engineering; the robotics program is an awesome field of study or club to join. CT senior and robotics team member Avery Shaw said, “There is also an undeniable need for technology in this rapidly growing society.” The CT Robotics Program consists of two separate teams. The first is VEX Robotics, which deals with five robots that are entered in competitions during the fall competition. The first competition was Nov. 21 at Cass Tech. The next will be Dec. 19 at Cranbrook. “We had a great run at our last competition,” CT junior Jordan Tucker said. “Though we did not win the competition, we did get five robots to compete and gather lots of experience and knowledge of how to improve our designs.” The second team is FIRST Robotics, which takes place during a hectic six-week season of building during January and February. There are 17 other Detroit High Schools involved in the FIRST Robotics team that participate in this competition. Finally, the international competition takes place at the Michigan Engineering Zone (MEZ), which the University of Michigan sponsors. After the release of the theme for the competition there are only six weeks to put together a robot with a $1,500 spending restraint, 120-pound requirement weight restraint, as well as a design restraint. “Students have the opportunity to succeed in this field,” said Cass Tech’s robotics adviser Karl Balke. “We give them ideas to use very similar to the actual engineering design process. We utilize STEM to creatively solve problems. It’s an intricate process to go through, until you find something that works.”
By Dominique Jackson CT Visionary On Nov. 23, the CT Visionary Newspaper staff and journalism classes visited the WDIV-Channel 4 newsroom in downtown Detroit. The aspiring young journalists got first-hand experience to see the broadcast of “Live in the D” broadcast and tour the station. Local broadcasters Rhonda Walker and Evrod Cassimy along with meteorologist Brandon Roux spoke with producer Greg Robinson about how professional the demeanor of the CT students and stand-out football team members were during the tour. Robinson organized the tour with CT journalism teacher Anita Crouch and told Crouch: “Rhonda, Brandon and Evrod and I were talking and we were all very impressed with the students,” Robinson said. “They asked relevant questions, and seemed to be genuinely interested in journalism. Our general manager Marla Drutz, is a huge supporter of Cass Tech and really believes in what they are trying to do there.” Walker spoke in depth about her career journey to become an anchor woman and the student’s interest was surely peaked when she began to answer relevant questions about her career. “I think the most important thing in this career is to stay at it,” Walker said. A lot of times you are going to hear how tough it is to get a job and how much this industry is changing. But if you really have a passion for writing, and finding out what’s going on, and getting involved in the community, and you really have a love for storytelling and meeting people, then don’t let anything discourage you.” Walker also talked about what made her stand out as a broadcaster, which helped her become who she is today. “I use to wear suits every day; that’s how I was raised; you wake up and get every little hair in place, and make sure that your clothes are good and tailored, and that showed that I made an effort,” she said. Dana Session, Dajheonna Perry and Ebony Tyson contributed to this report.
By Alyson Grigsby CT Visionary Harvard, Yale, Brown, Stanford. As the regular decision deadline for many colleges quickly approaches, the names of these highly-selective, world-renowned schools as well as many others attract tens of thousands of applications each year, and this year is no exception. However, to any student from a low-income or minority background, applying to any of the eight Ivy Leagues or any other highly-selective school seems like a lost cause, and is much less likely to apply. In fact, out of a study of 900 different valedictorians from various American public schools, only about half of those from lower-middle or working-class backgrounds had applied to selective schools, even when they had the same credentials as the 80 percent of upper-middle or upper-class students who had applied to similar schools. The reasons why many high-achieving, low-income students do not apply is due to many reasons, one of them being the high cost of attendance, which can reach to more than $250,000 over four years. Other reasons may include a lack of information about the schools, or because they may be the first in the family to attend college and do not know about the additional benefits or resources these schools may bring. However, applying to an Ivy League school if you are low-income is obtainable, even without the Gates Millennium scholarship. Many Ivy Leagues such as have adopted very extensive financial aid packages for low-income applicants. In fact, for any students accepted into Harvard or Yale with an annual income of less than $65,000, there is no expected family contribution, and universities such as Brown and Swathmore offer financial aid packages without loans for low-income students. As well as the extensive financial aid packages for low-income students, fellowships and other scholarships are also available for low-income and/or minority students, such as the Nasir Jones Hip-Hope Fellowship, created by both HipHop Archive & Research Institute and the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard University in order to help students “who demonstrate exceptional capacity for productive scholarship and exceptional creative ability in the arts, in connection with HipHop.” An Ivy League education is not completely unattainable for low-income or minority students. However, as students continue their college searches, it is important to not forget our historical black colleges and universities who have been excelling in pre-med and law programs. Schools such as Howard and Spelman have been ranked in the top five schools for entrance into medical school and into law school.
By Gregory Freeman The Diagnostic At Benjamin Carson High School, along with a portion of the student body, health careers and forensic science teacher Curtis Valasek founded the school’s very own Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), or Spectrum. “This GSA allows student to speak about LGBT issues that cannot be easily spoken about at home or at church,” Valasek said. “It is a safe zone for students of the LGBT community.” At one meeting, the discussion centered on how each member of the club can provide support for one another. Most of the students were brought together by Spectrum’s president, BCHS junior Daylon Shelton-Clark. “We would like people who either support or are themselves in the LGBT community to be a part of the membership,” said Shelton-Clark. LGBT Spectrum designate leaders in the club to tackle specific issues in the LGBT community. BCHS junior Nadia Dearing said she believes GSA can unite everyone so that bullying and hatred toward the LGBT community can stop. Spectrum meets every Friday from 3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m.
By Joy Johnson and Whitney Vaughn The Diagnostic
By Zahid Salam and Gregory Crawford The Diagnostic Benjamin Carson High School, students are getting involved with the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross is well-known for its emergency assistance and disaster relief as well as their quick response in the face of many disasters, such as the tsunami that hit the coast of Japan in 2011 and the earthquake that hit Nepal in 2015. The members of BCHS’ Red Cross Club aim to spread awareness locally on topics such as fire safety and basic CPR, but have also organized many events to raise money and collect blood for those in need. Suma Taher and Nyah Kidd, BCHS juniors and the Red Cross Club president and vice president respectively, look for new and inventive ways to raise money and awareness. “Our goal is to fundamentally follow the official Red Cross mission which is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors,” Taher said. The members of BCHS’ Red Cross Club have certainly stayed true to that mantra, raising nearly $200 for Nepal and collecting 22 pints of blood from donors in last year’s efforts alone. This year, the club takes a new preventative approach toward local disasters by aiming to spread awareness for fire safety while still organizing the occasional fundraiser. The club aims to reach out to neighboring schools and give talks about fire safety measures in an effort to curb the rate of local fire incidents. The members would also like to be certified for CPR, however the main goal of the Red Cross Club is to organize several blood drives with help from American Red Cross and the donors, including parents, teachers and students at BCHS. The Red Cross Club is the start of something new at BCHS and showcases the desire for students to get active in their community and in their school. “I plan for the BCHS Red Cross Club to continue to help the school and the community,” says Nyah Kidd.
Students learn about options for college at BCHS fair By Tarek Miah, DeiVion Drew and Deontay Cobb The Diagnostic College events brought a great opportunity for Benjamin Carson High School students to speak to university, college, and technical school representatives. Students learned about different scholarships and financial aid programs and, afterward, felt even more inspired to attend college. Dr. Derschaun Sharpley, the founder of the Clinic for Success and college transition adviser, started these events to expose students to college early. “Since I’ve been with the district for 15 years I’ve built relationships with the college admission reps I’ve gotten to know them, so what I do is just go through a list of all the local and out of state colleges and if I know that rep I’ll ask them to come,” Sharpley said. These model events provide students with a more advantageous experience that helps them to choose the right college for them. “My experience was great,” Benjamin Carson junior Mozella Henderson said. “I learned about the different opportunities each college had to offer,” said Henderson. She said she felt it was an inspiring and beneficial event and rated it 10 out of 10. “Attending these fairs opened my eyes a lot in choosing which college is suitable for me” junior Angel Hargrove said. Students like Angel are finding these events as an eye-opening adventure for planning out there future. Not all schools have the benefit of these opportunities like these, so Benjamin Carson students are positive about taking every advantage that comes their way. Overall, the majority of students from Benjamin Carson gave positive feedback and felt motivated about what the events had to offer and look forward to similar events in the future.
By Myeasha Perry, Jonathon Ramseur and Sabrina Thurmond The Diagnostic
By Sydneah Burnett RHS Stentor As the season draws to a close in early November, the Renaissance boys soccer team took time to celebrate their success. With a record of 11-8-1, the boys reflect on the season and what they could’ve done better. “We’re one of only two schools in DPS to ever win a state playoff game, and one of the only schools in DPS history to win more than 10 games in a season,” said coach Hassan Mussawir. The team has many seniors on its roster and there have been concerns about how the team will continue to be a dominant force in the league when they graduate. “There’s going to be a lot of holes to fill, without a doubt. The third and fourth place goal scorers were sophomores so we should be fine in terms of putting points on the board,” said Mussawir. “My biggest concern right now is just filling the roster in terms of having the talent, acquiring players, getting kids that actually play the sport to come and dedicate themselves, to come to Renaissance as oppose to going to Cass.” Senior Christofer Smith, who had a total of two points and 11 steals this season, was a served as a supporter when it came to helping out his younger teammates. During the season, he mentored the underclassmen on the team. “I mentored those that needed it by providing a positive role model for the freshmen on the team and blocking goals,” Smith said.
By Keely Cruse CT Visionary
RHS Stentor
Cass Tech College Transition Adviser Keisha Boyd assists CT Seniors on Oct. 28 for the Michigan College Awareness Week across the State (Oct. 26-30). This is the week that many college application fees will be waived for Michigan area colleges and universities. On Oct. 31, CT hosted the Decision Day symposium, in the Arena. Detroit area students applied online to colleges and were admitted on-site at the event.
By Kaelyn Collins Staff Writer
By Jahaira Maxwell Staff Writer