Feature 7

Red Cross focuses on Hurricane relief this year

ritvik Jilala | Staff Writer
Teacher Hala Boles began her journey with
the Red Cross in 2012.
“I sponsor this club be-
cause I support the mission of the
American Red Cross,” Boles said.
The American Red Cross is a
humanitarian organization led by volun-
teers. It will provide relief to victims of
disasters and help people prevent, prepare
for and respond to emergencies, as stat-
ed in the official Red Cross website. It is
a large club at Huron High School, and is
headed by president Sujai Jaipalli, junior
Anisha Sharma, and senior David Lee.
Red Cross members help save
lives through the many activities the mem-
bers are involved in. Huron members have
participated in Blood Drives, Classroom
Safety Presentations, Holiday Mail for
Heroes, Disaster Relief Collections, Fires
Safety Campaigns, and a Swim-A-Cross.
Junior Sujai Jaipalli is one of the
leaders of Red Cross.
“ I became a member during my
freshman year of high school,” Jaipalli said.
“The reason why I am a member and why I
joined is that this club was actually found-
ed by my brother. I remember when I was
a kid, around 10 or 11 years old, I would
be working on this little Red Cross post-
er where I would color in the letters with
red paint. I used to come to school for my
brother because we had to pick him up,
and I really got acquainted with the club.”
The board members were chosen
through the shadow program. This is a pro-
gram prepares underclassmen to take over
the club from upperclassmen.
“I was one of the shadows in
the club, and what I did was work re-
ally hard. When the upperclassmen left
Huron last year, I applied for the presi-
dency and I was voted in,” Jaipalli said.
Red Cross is very strict with their
organizations. In fact, Huron Red Cross
is not even allowed to design their own
t-shirts. Besides limitations from the na-
tional organization, our Red Cross is facing
a few of their own struggles.
“It is difficult to motivate 80 peo-
ple because everyone is busy,” Jaipalli said.
“Everybody has APs, SATs, and stresses in
their life, making it hard to get them involved.
You have to craft activities that work with
our size and also work with the involvement.”
Public image is an issue for any
organization, including Red Cross.
“We are trying to move away
from the image of ‘this is a club for blood
drives. You can come here and log your
hours,’” Jaipalli said. “We are trying to ex-
pand and do more things. A big problem
we had last year was with what people as-
sociated Red Cross with, most commonly
‘Oh Red Cross, that’s blood. I don’t like
giving blood.’ I believe that Red Cross
is so much more than just blood drives.”
New activities are on the rise
for our Red Cross. One of them is a RAID Members of the Red Cross Club pose for a photo at one of their recent meetings. Photo taken by Ritvik Jillala.
Cross. The RAID Cross is an activity which
focuses on humanitarian aid. It has stations, the community.” members is significant as well. Valuable life giving.
and will probably be held outside the Hu- He is planning to host a fundrais- lessons have also been learned. “They see you raised 56 pints of
ron High School chapter. These stations will er for Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Har- “I have learned that the little blood,” Jaipalli said. “They know what that is
teach kids on what it is like to be a humani- vey, and the money raised would go partially things go a long way,” junior Virgil Watkins used for. Having tangible numbers, like $4000
tarian aid worker in a war-torn country. to Rotary and partially to Red Cross. said. “Doing small things have a large im- from the Swim-A-Cross, really causes people
“In addition to this, we want to “There is a lot more to fundrais- pact. For example, just donating some blood to consider our club to be more than a club.”
connect with the other volunteering clubs so ing than what you may think. It shouldn’t be can help save a life.” “We are saving lives out
that there is no sense of animosity,” Jaipalli like ‘Here’s a cup, here’s a jar,’” Jaipalli said. The hard figures that Red Cross there,” senior Zoey Rostami said.
said. “We are all trying to have an impact on The impact on the individual creates also helps them see the aid they are

Hoco 2017!..................................................................... Career prep

Students get into the Homecoming spirit with a week of fun and games begins now
Takayla Pugh-Henderson | Staff Writer
When you first arrive at high
school, the first thing you think about is
not college, or if you are going to get into
the college of your dreams. Many of you are
thinking about making new friends. Fresh-
man year is important for a strong start, as
it is critical to build a good GPA. Most of
you know the feeling of starting off strong,
and then you get involved with activities
either inside or outside of school. Many of
you have to balance many activities, and
it can be challenging. College is the next
step after high school for many people, and
it can be difficult for people to find what
colleges will accept them and best fit them.
Huron offers help at the college and career
center, offering insight about what colleges
look for in students, what you need to be
prepared, and how to be successful in high
school.

Mr. Wright is a college advisor at Huron

1 High school. He has provided insight about
commonly asked questions below.

Q: How long have you worked at Huron
High School?

A: I have worked at Huron High School for

9 years.

Q: What does your job entail? How do you

help students?

A: I have spent several years immersed in an

amazing, diverse and academic environ-
ment while I have served as the College and
3 Career Counselor at Huron High School. I
have enjoyed having the freedom to create
programs to help students perform in
their academic setting. I work with college
students to assist high school students after
school. I have created an after school ACT
prep class that has helped students prepare
well for the assessment and helped test
takers improve upon previous test scores.

Q: What grades do you assist?

A: Throughout my experience at Huron, I

have formed relationships with an abun-
dance of colleges and universities. Each year
2 4 5 I bring over 100 institutions to the school
for the purpose of educating and informing
the students about the choices that are
available. Juniors and seniors often engage
in these college visits, but it does not stop
there. Often there are on-site admission op-
portunities, master classes, college lectures,
parent information and financial aid nights
offered.

Q: What programs do you offer?

A: Beyond traditional programming, I have

used film and social media to connect, pro-
mote, and market our programs to a diverse
student body and parent population. Hu-
ron High School has given me the platform
to create programs to serve parents and
students. Here are a few college Podcast
shows: College Rush, The College Experi-
ence Tour, The Celebrity Showcase, and the
Huron High Yearbook. I am responsible
for scheduling over 100 college visits yearly,
ACT testing including staff training, stu-
6 7 dent scheduling, scholarships, and creating
financial aid workshops.
1. Senior Gillian Tibbetts throws cheetos at senior Jackie Underwood’s whip cream covered face. The point of the game was to see how many cheese puffs her partner could get to stay on her face. “It
was kind of gross but funny when the whipped cream started sliding off of my face and all over the floor,” Underwood said. 2. Students from all grade levels participated in the limbo game, put on by the Mr. Wright is also Michigan Merit ex-
Junior Executive Board. 3. Friends since the beginning of grade school, freshman Jake Watkins, Michael Hill-Carruthers, Jack Den Houter, Matthew Kozma and Ben Den Houter gather at Dixboro Park amination administrator and 11th Grade
before the Homecoming dance. 4. Junior Aniya Johnson was nominated by her class to be on the Homecoming Court. As part of the pep rally games, she participated in the lip sync battle. 5. One of the Student advisor and is available to answer
most memorable moments of the night was the decorations in the middle of the dance floor. There was a table with a foot tall vase with glitter and flowers in it. There was a barrier of velvet ropes around any further questions. The College and
it. “Slowly but surely the barrier got smaller and smaller,” senior Trevor Dial said. “I was dancing and somebody knocked me into the table and I stared at the vase going back and forth. It fell down and
then I ran the other way.” 6. Huron’s River Rat mascot made his first appearance at a pep rally with senior Shamim Warambe. 7. Although juniors Callie Hastie, Sylvia Giger, Rena McRoy, Claire Bott Career Center is the next step in the future
and Karley Misek chose not to attend the dance that evening, they had their own fun. “We took pics at the arb, had dinner at Mediterranos, then went and did mini golf and go-karting,” McRoy said. for most of you, so make the most of it.
Photos by Adele Middaugh and courtesy