IHSS Blog 2019-2020

Ariela Kluk and Sofi Savarese Mr Roddy IHSS 4/23/2020 Coral Reefs In order to learn more about coral reefs in Texas and the plastic around them, Sofi and I interviewed Kelly Drinnen. Kelly’s journey began in Florida wear she graduated college with a minor in Spanish and moved to Texas. She did not study Biology, she actually worked with computer science, but her passion for the ocean took over. She wanted to find a way to turn her love for the ocean into a job. She started working at Seaworld and gave tours to people. She worked her way up to being the director of the Education Program and led summer camps. She began working in an aquarium and a few years later got a job at the National Flower Banks Society as the education coordinator. She spoke to us about the beach clean ups she used to participate in. Kelly, her husband and her friends would clean up the beach once a month for four years. They mostly found straws from juice boxes, plastic bags, balloons and rop...

Henry Quillin Mr. Roddy IHSS 26 April 2020 My challenge project is the Obesity Epidemic in America. In my second interview, I met with Drusilla Rosales, who is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian who specializes in the treatment of adolescents with eating disorders, obesity, and athletic performance needs. Even though my topic is not specific to adolescents, I thought she would be a great resource to help me learn about the Obesity Epidemic and healthy eating. We first talked about why obesity is so common in America, compared to other countries. She explained that there are many factors, but she gave me some main reasons why the obesity rate is so high in America. Firstly, American cuisine is simply very unhealthy. Even considering very nice restaurants, it is very hard to get a healthy meal when eating out. Portion sizes are way too big, and most options are very unhealthy. American snack foods are also a huge part of the problem. If you go into a gas station in America, there...

Henry Quillin Mr. Roddy IHSS 23 April 2020 My challenge project topic is the Obesity Epidemic in America. Dr. Paul Gordon is a contact I found while researching this topic and was my first interviewee. Dr. Gordon is a professional with nearly twenty years of experience in the healthcare field. He currently serves as Professor and Chair in the Department of Health, Human Performances, and Recreation at Baylor University. His areas of expertise include research methods in physical activity and lifestyle-based research related to obesity and its comorbidities across the lifespan.  I first asked Dr. Gordon about why Obesity is such a horrible condition and what problems come along with having high body fat levels. He said that people who have very high body fat levels typically have a shorter life expectancy and suffer many health problems throughout their life. The most significant medical condition associated with Obesity is diabetes. People who are obese can al...

Emilio San Vicente HISS 17/4/20 Shootings Problem  These crimes can be generated by many facts. The principal reasons why this kind of teens do this is when they are stressed, this is the most common one but we can also find addictions for drugs, obsessive ideas, and inspirations from criminals. Drugs can affect the teen by giving to him or her the ideas that can be very dangerous. They became very obsessed with killing ideas after they consumed any substance or simply after watching someone killing making them think about how amazing an interesting experience would be to make that happen and feel power and freedom.  With this we end with Maine factores : endogenous and exogenous. The endogenous means that is from the inside that is provoked by the organism and by the disorder of the hormones, and the exogenous is when it’s provoked by the environment as I said before by any harm, idea, or people.  Dr. Blanca Cienfuegos  We can protect our schools ...

Ariela Kluk Mr. Roddy IHSS 4/22/2020 Plastic on Galveston beach In order to learn more about plastic pollution I contacted a regular traveler and home owner of a house in Galveston. I contacted Paige Penchas, a school parent and interviewed her asking questions about plastic and trash she has seen on Galveston beach. Paige told us that Galveston beach does a really good job about keeping the beaches clean, they have plastic and garbage bins throughout West Galveston beach. These bins are blue which catch the human eye helping to influence people to throw their trash away. She informed me that these bins were placed a few years ago and that she seems to believe that they have been getting closer to each other, the government and clean up groups have been placing more bins along the beach to keep it clean. She mentioned that the bins are about 50 feet away from each other which makes it easier for people to get to them, this influences the people to pick up that plasti...

Asher Forman Mr. Roddy IHSS 22 April 2020 Engagement Blog For my engagement, my goal is to provide awareness to the school and neighborhood about bike lanes in Houston and the positive effects that biking can bring. The way that I was originally thinking about doing this was through a flyer, but I feel it would be more meaningful if I did an infographic. This is because, in an infographic, I will be able to give clear and concise information that is appealing to look at and easy to read, which will hopefully lead to more people reading it instead of just throwing it away. Moreover, in this infographic, I want to include the bike lanes in the area of my neighborhood, the positive effects of biking, why someone should be biking during times of the virus, a part about bike safety, and finally something that talks about the greenhouse gas emissions. In the section about bike lanes, I want to talk about the benefits of having bike lanes, and then have a place for someone to go t...

Asher Forman Mr. Roddy IHSS 21 April 2020 Interview Blog      The next interview that I found really interesting was with Bill Mintz who is the founder of the non-profit organization Freewheels. Five years ago, this organization was nonexistent with Mr. Mintz having a job in corporate affairs. However, he soon retired and joined Bike Houston because of his love for biking and wanting to spread it elsewhere. At the time, Mr. Mintz was interested in immigrants and refugees as these groups of people were present all throughout Gulfton (a small town in southwest Houston), which is where he was living. Many of the refugees and immigrants had difficult times finding jobs as only a few were capable of speaking English. This caused money struggles as they had to put food on the table and a roof over their head for either themselves or possibly a whole family. Then if they were able to get a job, they were usually located far out of the town that required a long commute, whi...