Oak Lawn students' numbers line up for new football stadium ticket booth
Their latest undertaking is a ticket booth for the school's football field. They did all the work with a little help from teachers Sara Strelow, who teaches geometry, and Kyle Kowalski, a career technology educator.
The students previously had created a shed, so for the ticket booth, teachers modified the plans to add windows, and graphic design students will be recruited to design the door.
'Students were up on the roof doing electrical, painting. It's all basic fundamentals, Kowalski said. But it's definitely a case of learning by doing. 'You've got to be okay screwing up.'
Part of what's made the class work, according to the two teachers, is the students' motivation.
'They always do their stuff,' said Strelow. 'In other classes, it's like pulling teeth.'
'They outperformed my regular geometry class on every assessment,' said Strelow.
The two-period class starts each session in Strelow's classroom, where students work on the math needed to construct the projects. Then they move into Kowalski's workshop or even outside.'
Math lessons sometimes include the Pythagorean theorem with its A squared plus B squared equals C squared to help calculate angles for roofing, as well as volume and surface areas.
Kowalski said they also incorporated artificial intelligence into the process to calculate the costs of building materials.
Some of the actual construction took place at the football field.
'The school allowed us to purchase battery powered tools so they can be moveable,' Kowalski said.
The class had its beginnings three years ago when math chair Chris Newton and the two teachers traveled to a conference in St. Paul, Minnesota where the idea was presented. Then they adapted it to OLCHS, after spending a year on the planning.
Math isn't Kowalski's thing, nor is construction Strelow's, and the two have completely different personalities. Kowalski is spontaneous and Strelow says she's very 'Type A and plans everything.'
But the two make it work. Kowalski said he brings ideas to Strelow and she may put it into a document to try.
'We're both willing to give up what we're used to and try something different,' said Strelow.
Kowalski said he's even taught a few of the math lessons and has taken tests with the students as a way of showing he's part of the team.
'They kind of enjoy watching that,' he said. 'They sometimes beat me.'
They also learned to collaborate as a way to bring out the best in students and help them succeed.
Students get a small electrical unit in his class and also learn about drywall and plumbing. They've made saw horses and a miniature golf course. The teachers are hoping to get industry professionals to speak to the students, host events and offer financial support.
There were 22 students in the class, including eight females. But the class is a popular one and enrollment has increased each year.
Once the new field house is complete, the two said they'll be able to move their space to one of the gyms.
The class appears to be bringing out the best in many students, even the ones who aren't pros at math or construction, according to their teachers.
'They're all different, from AP honors, regular and even remedial,' said Strelow. 'It's interesting to see the kids you thought were going to struggle, flourish.'
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Chicago Tribune
23-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Lawn students' numbers line up for new football stadium ticket booth
Students at Oak Lawn Community High School got hooked on construction, incorporating what they learned in geometry classes to create new structures and other items around campus. Their latest undertaking is a ticket booth for the school's football field. They did all the work with a little help from teachers Sara Strelow, who teaches geometry, and Kyle Kowalski, a career technology educator. The students previously had created a shed, so for the ticket booth, teachers modified the plans to add windows, and graphic design students will be recruited to design the door. 'Students were up on the roof doing electrical, painting. It's all basic fundamentals, Kowalski said. But it's definitely a case of learning by doing. 'You've got to be okay screwing up.' Part of what's made the class work, according to the two teachers, is the students' motivation. 'They always do their stuff,' said Strelow. 'In other classes, it's like pulling teeth.' 'They outperformed my regular geometry class on every assessment,' said Strelow. The two-period class starts each session in Strelow's classroom, where students work on the math needed to construct the projects. Then they move into Kowalski's workshop or even outside.' Math lessons sometimes include the Pythagorean theorem with its A squared plus B squared equals C squared to help calculate angles for roofing, as well as volume and surface areas. Kowalski said they also incorporated artificial intelligence into the process to calculate the costs of building materials. Some of the actual construction took place at the football field. 'The school allowed us to purchase battery powered tools so they can be moveable,' Kowalski said. The class had its beginnings three years ago when math chair Chris Newton and the two teachers traveled to a conference in St. Paul, Minnesota where the idea was presented. Then they adapted it to OLCHS, after spending a year on the planning. Math isn't Kowalski's thing, nor is construction Strelow's, and the two have completely different personalities. Kowalski is spontaneous and Strelow says she's very 'Type A and plans everything.' But the two make it work. Kowalski said he brings ideas to Strelow and she may put it into a document to try. 'We're both willing to give up what we're used to and try something different,' said Strelow. Kowalski said he's even taught a few of the math lessons and has taken tests with the students as a way of showing he's part of the team. 'They kind of enjoy watching that,' he said. 'They sometimes beat me.' They also learned to collaborate as a way to bring out the best in students and help them succeed. Students get a small electrical unit in his class and also learn about drywall and plumbing. They've made saw horses and a miniature golf course. The teachers are hoping to get industry professionals to speak to the students, host events and offer financial support. There were 22 students in the class, including eight females. But the class is a popular one and enrollment has increased each year. Once the new field house is complete, the two said they'll be able to move their space to one of the gyms. The class appears to be bringing out the best in many students, even the ones who aren't pros at math or construction, according to their teachers. 'They're all different, from AP honors, regular and even remedial,' said Strelow. 'It's interesting to see the kids you thought were going to struggle, flourish.'
Chicago Tribune
29-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Oak Lawn high school students eye downside of energy drinks, processed food
Energy drinks became a thing for Maha Jaghama and her friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they dove in looking for a buzz to distract them from dreary days and isolation. A couple of years afterward, they decided to find out how those kinds of beverages were affecting them and their peers through an interactive project at Oak Lawn Community High School. And in the process, Jaghama and her classmate Bridget Berkery discovered the caffeine and sugar-packed drinks are almost like a drug that can do more harm than good. They were among the English Honors 2 students who read Eric Schlosser's 'Fast Food Nation' to learn about how what we eat impacts our health and culture, and then took their project outside the classroom to students and teachers at the school, as well as businesses in the Oak Lawn area. They did interviews, taste tests with peers, surveys and research before presenting it to their peers as the school year drew to a close. Among their discoveries was that up to 70% of energy drinkers are teens, according to studies, and the beverages are marketed to teens based on packaging, design, taste, color and other elements. They also learned the American Academy of Pediatrics advises children and teens avoid energy drinks because of their high caffeine content. 'The recommended caffeine is 100 mg daily,' Jaghama said. 'A single can has 160 mg.' During their research, the two asked students which energy drinks they liked best — Celcius, Red Bull and Monster were favorites. The two interviewed nearby gas stations and store owners to see how many teens bought the drinks there. The results: many. They also looked at the ingredients in the drinks for unhealthy additives. 'We learned about how much society tries to hide what's in them,' Berkery said. 'We want to share that with other teens … we want to change their perception. They don't know what is going into their bodies.' Beyond warning them away from potentially harmful beverages, the project had a side benefit of getting the students outside of the school, brushing up on their interview skills and developing a sense of the world outside of the classroom. 'Doing the project helped us be social with the public,' Berkery said. Jeff Vazzana, their English teacher, said the assignment was a capstone project that could help prepare them for next year's AP Language course. 'It was a cool way for kids to show their mastery of what they're learning and apply it to the real world,' he said. The project, titled 'How can Oak Lawn build a healthier, more sustainable food culture?' sparked student interest, the teacher said. 'I had them think about issues they cared about,' Vazzana said. 'They all have a buy-in — everyone eats. And it's timeless, there are always issues with food.' Fellow students Laith Abbasi, Gabriel Fudala and Dylan Jones were part of a group that looked into the dangers of processed foods. 'We're all athletes, so looked at what we're putting into our bodies,' Abbasi said. They scoured ingredients and decided if they couldn't pronounce the first few, the food was most likely processed. Health teacher Scottie Miller told them high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring also are red flags. 'I think it was more highlighting just how bad processed foods are for your body and why people use them so much,' Abbasi said. 'It's appealing, convenient and saves time … most of the processed foods are efficient in how you eat them.' They also said processed food seemed more prevalent than in the past, causing more health concerns. 'In the past couple of years, the rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease are really soaring,' said Gabriel Fudala, linking the high salt and sugar content to health problems. The group did taste tests of fries at various fast-food restaurants to see what made the popular side dish more appealing. 'It can have an emotional connection to people,' Zain Mousa said about the draw of unhealthy fast food. 'There's aggressive marketing, catchy slogans and it's targeted to (certain) populations.' The students said during their presentation reading labels and cooking at home with fresh ingredients would help. Many of the students showed a concern for how the food was affecting other people including younger generations. 'I'm concerned about how this would affect people across the globe in the long-term,' Abbasi said.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
Fungi on Your Skin Could Produce a Potent Antibiotic to Fight Infections
A deadly superbug that sometimes claims the lives of more than a million people globally a year may have a nemesis that lives right under your nose. Quite literally. It dominates your skin microbiome, where it seems to keep staph infections at bay. The overlooked agent is a species of natural yeast, called Malassezia sympodialis – one of the most prevalent microorganisms on healthy human skin. New research suggests that as it cleans oil and fat from your body's exterior, the fungi can produce a fatty acid that stops the development and growth of a staph infection. According to lab experiments, led by scientists at the University of Oregon (UO), M. sympodialis can antagonize Staphylococcus aureus bacteria through its acidic byproducts. Because the yeast-produced acid is often present in healthy skin, researchers think it stops S. aureus from over-colonizing the microbiome. S. aureus is a normal component of the skin microbiome, but if it takes over, or if it penetrates the tissue or bloodstream, it can seed dangerous infections. Skin and soft tissue infections involving result in approximately 500,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States, and the bacterium is capable of becoming resistant to every class of antibiotics we currently have in our arsenal. This means new drug therapies must be continuously put forward to stay ahead of its deadly toll. The fact that our skin microbiome has natural defenses against staph infections is worth exploring further. "There are lots of studies that identify new antibiotic structures," says lead author and evolutionary biologist Caitlin Kowalski from UO, "but what was fun and interesting about ours is that we identified (a compound) that is well-known and that people have studied before." The compound in question is called 10-hydroxy palmitic acid (10-HP), and in the past, scientists probably overlooked its antimicrobial powers because it only unleashes its toxic effects in a low pH environment, like the skin, and not under normal lab conditions. Using human skin biopsies from healthy donors, Kowalski and colleagues found the acid was produced by resident Malassezia yeast. "It was like finding a needle in a haystack but with molecules you can't see," says Kowalski's adviser, biologist Matthew Barber. In the lab, Barber, Kowalski, and their colleagues tested how M. sympodialis yeast impacts various strains of S. aureus. After two hours of the yeast treatment, most S. aureus strains showed greater than a 100-fold reduction in viability. Over time, S. aureus strains developed some resistance to M. sympodialis' 10-HP, and the dangerous bacteria did so in a similar way to how they develop tolerance to clinical antibiotics. Interestingly, researchers found that other species of Staphylococcus bacteria, which do not pose the same threat as S. aureus, had already figured out similar ways to coexist with the M. sympodialis yeast. "Given the prevalence of Malassezia within the mammalian skin microbiota, we are likely just scratching the surface of its roles in shaping microbial interactions and colonization resistance in this niche," write the authors. Kowalski is now planning to do a deep dive into the genetic mechanisms of antibiotic-resistant staph infections to better understand how the bacteria rapidly mutates to avoid a whole range of antimicrobial agents. "We still have a lot of work to do in understanding the microorganisms, and also finding new ways that we can possibly treat or prevent those infections," says Barber. The study was published in Current Biology. The First Synthetic 'Mini Prion' Could Help Study Diseases Like Alzheimer's Here's Why You Should Try 'Jeffing' to Run Longer And Farther Childhood Adversity May Damage The Brain's White Matter, Study Finds
