J.L. Mann or Greenville Tech Charter High School Where Do I Go For Senior Year?

It’s a hard decision when it comes to high school; especially if you’re in my shoes. For my freshman and sophomore year in high school, I attended J.L. Mann High School. All my friends were going to Mann to get away from the khaki and navy uniform that Langston Charter Middle School students wore. I was so happy when I could finally wear whatever I wanted and extremely happy to finally be in high school. Well I had to leave Mann because guys were not treating me with respect. Every guy that I meet or met has always wanted me for the wrong reasons. Not a single guy will take time to get to know me, like me for me, respect me, and date me because they like me for who I am. I’m now a junior at Greenville Tech Charter High School and have 2 months left until summer. Next fall I will be a senior in high school, but the problem is that my friends at Mann want me to come back for my senior year so we can graduate together and my GTCHS friends want me to stay because we have so many laughs and memories together. This is making my head spin out of control because I don’t know what I want to do for my senior year. I really want to be able to graduate with my best friend Heather Carithers and have fun our last year of high school. Yet I don’t want to leave all the friends I’ve made here at GTCHS even though I feel like I don’t fit in around here. I just wish picking schools wasn’t so difficult. I know GTCHS is the best for me, but I can’t seem to fit in around here. At Mann we got to wear whatever we wanted and I felt like I could free and could tell my best friend Heather anything. We always have each other’s back and listened to each other when we had a rough day in school. We knew exactly how each other felt. At GTCHS I feel like I can’t tell everyone my problems. I feel closed in a box and hide my emotions because I don’t want to be a cry baby. I have to hide my tears from everyone so they can’t see the pain I’m in.

Junior Ring Ceremony

On April 15, 2011, juniors at Greenville Tech Charter High School will be attending the Junior Ring Ceremony at the Hilton in Orchard Park. Juniors will be leaving school at 11:40 am to be transported to the Hilton hotel for the ceremony. Parents and grandparents are invited to attend this special ceremony for juniors and everyone will be provided with lunch at the Hilton. Tylar Woods was interviewed and was asked “Are you going to the ring ceremony?” Woods said “Yes!” Another junior named Kayla Bridwell was asked the same question. Bridwell replied “Yes. It’s the only way to get out of going to school all day Friday.” Sounds like all the juniors are looking forward to getting out of school early to attend the ring ceremony.

Greenville Tech Charter High awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award

            It was just a regular school morning on Thursday, September 9, 2010 at Greenville Tech Charter High.  Students were busy learning and doing class work.  While the students were working hard, Mr. Crawford, the principle of GTCHS was on the phone with U.S. Department of Education.  The U.S. Department of Education told Mr. Crawford that Greenville Tech Charter High was awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award.  The National Blue Ribbon Award is an award that recognizes both private and public elementary, middle schools, and high schools that are high performing or students who improved achievements to high levels.  Greenville Tech Charter High was the first charter school in South Carolina to be awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award.

            There were other schools in South Carolina that were awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award.  Those schools were; Howe Hall Arts Infused Magnet School in Berkeley County; Ballentine Elementary School in Lexington/Richland District Five,  and Charles Pinckney Elementary School in Charleston County.  After the phone call, Mr. Crawford went to each class and told them that they have won the National Blue Ribbon Award.  Students were excited and proud that their school won the award.  Ninethgrader, Alex Ohly said “this is totally awesome, I love Charter!”  A celebration will be held on Friday, September 17, 2010 at the Student Center during Advisory.  Physical Science teacher, Mr. Schmidt said “I want some chocolate cake.”  Unfortunately, the type of cake remains a mystery until Friday.  Greenville Tech Charter High students and faculty will hold their heads up high and show off the pride that their school won the Blue Ribbon Award.  Everyone is so proud of what the students had accomplished, but it’s all to the teachers who help the students become who they are to make Greenville Tech Charter a great place to learn and to be awarded the Blue Ribbon Award. 

Can a Headache Really be a Sign of a Brain Tumor?

16 year old sophomore John Tonich noticed short and sharp pains in his head on a Sunday in February after a wrestling match. John's parents thought he must have had a concussion from being slammed down to the mat during the match. John was taken to a doctor two days later when the pain didn't go away. Of course the doctor diagnosed John with dehydration. His parents didn't seem concern since they knew he was drinking less water to fit in a lower weight class for wrestling. The doctor drew blood and told John to drink Gatorade. John was feeling nauseated after the headache went away two days later. His mother Debbie took him back to the doctor asking if it could be a concussion while John was thinking in his head that maybe its an aneurysm. Of course the doctor said its just the stomach bug because it was going around, and handed them a prescription for a CT Scan just in case. John left school early and was taken straight to the emergency room after he texted his mom saying he was feeling dizzy. When they got to the emergency room, John had a CT San and MRI done. Test results showed that John had the worst possible cancer and maybe only live a year. John was loaded into an ambulance and sent to Cleveland Clinic. The doctors there found out that he had medulloblastoma which is a brain tumor that is diagnosed in about every 1,000 people every day. The doctors were able to successfully remove the tumor. John is recovering in the clinic from both chemotherapy and radiation. So there's really no way to tell if a headache is a brain tumor, but doctors do take red flags. Like if the headaches are new to you, headaches are accompanied with other symptoms, headaches start in the morning, they get worse over time, and if something just doesn't seem right. Sometimes you may have none of the symptoms but if you feel like something is wrong, then maybe something is seriously wrong and you need to get it checked out.