RHAM Juniors and Seniors Participate in Wellness Day

Earlier today, Juniors and Seniors at RHAM took part in Wellness Day. During periods three and four, students attended a variety of seminars, including meditation, ballroom dancing, vegetarian cooking, and tai-chi. All students then returned to the Auditorium to hear a presentation. The students were entertained by acrobatics and feats of juggling while they listened to the story of one man's struggle to overcome alcohol addiction and its associated problems.

According to Principal Leslie, the purpose of Wellness Day was twofold. First, the state of Connecticut requires that Juniors and Seniors be educated in certain health-related areas. This requirement was met by the variety of seminars offered during Wellness Day. The second aim was to remind students of the dangers of alcohol and drug use before both Junior and Senior Proms took place. The Junior Prom takes place this Saturday and the Senior Prom about three weeks after that.

Wellness Day has become an annual event at RHAM, and judging by the success of this one, it will continue to be so in the future.

Swine Flu Emerges Worldwide

In the past several days, a certain strain of swine flu has spread from Mexico to the United States, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, and several other countries worldwide. As of Tuesday, April 26th, the Mexican government had reported 152 fatalities in cases with flu-like symptoms. However, only seven of these have been undeniably confirmed as being the result of swine flu. Also, the United States had 64 confirmed cases as of Tuesday evening. The main characteristic that differentiates this flu from other strains is that it targets people mainly between the ages of 20 and 55, as opposed to targeting the elderly and infants. The latter two groups are those who usually suffer worst from flu viruses due to weakened immune systems.

As a result of the 64 cases in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released one quarter of their stockpiled anti-viral drugs to those states that have residents infected with swine flu. Additionally, as a result of the worldwide spread of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the level of its pandemic alert from phase 3 to phase 4. This effectively means that the disease has shown the ability to transmit itself from human to human to the point where it could conceivably cause "community-level outbreaks". The WHO has only raised its alert to the highest level, on a handful of prior occasions. These instances include the infamous 1918 flu outbreak.

However, among all the hype, there is one thing to keep in mind: the regular flu kills about 36,000 every year, according to cnn.com. The swine flu on the other hand, has not yet been responsible for any American deaths and is suspected to be the cause of under 200 death in Mexico. What separates the swine flu from the commonplace flu is that the swine flu tends to target those who traditionally have healthy immune systems as opposed to those who do not. While a traditional flu will be most prevalent among the elderly and the very young, the swine flu thus far has proven to be more common among those aged 20-55.

RHAM News will have more information as this story develops. Stay tuned to RHAM TV and blog for updates.

Sources: www.who.int/en ; www.cnn.com ; www.cdc.gov

Boys Tennis Defeats Berlin

Earlier today, the RHAM Boys Tennis team played an away match against Berlin. The final score of the match was 6 to 1. Jason Driscoll won his first match of the year at the 1 singles spot by a score of 6-4, 6-1. RHAM also won at 2 singles, 3 singles, 4 singles, 2 doubles, and 3 doubles. The only loss that RHAM had was at the 1 doubles spot. Anders Bloomquist and Kyle Fromme split the first two sets with their opponents and sent the third set into a tiebreaker. Eventually, however, they lost the tiebreaker. Nonetheless, the day was a decisive win for RHAM.

Box Office Kings

Here is an update on the American Cinema box office for this past weekend at the movies:


1. Obsessed (2009)- $28.6Million


2. 17 Again (2009)- $11.5Million


3.Fighting (2009)- $11Million


4.The Soloist (2009)- $9.72Million


5.Earth (2007)- $8.83Million


6.Monsters vs Aliens (2009)- $8.52Million


7.State of Play (2009)- $6.85Million


8.Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)- $6.44Million


9.Fast & Furious (2009)- $6.2Million


10.Crank: High Voltage (2009)- $2.62Million


For more information, please visit www.imdb.com

Girl Creates Game About Disease

On Friday, April 24 in Aptos, California a young girl changed the technological world in a most interesting sort of way. The girl had a rare disease known as histiocytosis which is an excessive number of white blood cells. It can attack the liver, bones, central nervous system, muscles and more and is very deadly. Sofia Wardle suffered most of her young life in the hospital while battling this disease but, before she passed away, she and her father wanted to design a maze that presented users with a sense of understanding about this hard to cure disease. It is called "SofiaMaze" and according to her is, "made up of pictures that take you on a journey that starts at my home in Aptos." The game interacts with people and educates them about the disease. It also raises money for for further research on histiocytosis. The objective of the online game is to arrive at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital while also making frequent stops at Sofia's favorite places along the Santa Cruz County.


Sofia assisted in making color schemes and fonts and by creating catchy logos. Although Sofia tragically passed away, her father continued to add to the interactive computer game and says, "she wanted to make sure no one else was going through what she was going through....so I thought I could make a difference for her and other kids who are diagnosed with it every year."

Her father released the game the day that Sofia would have turned eight years old and he is proud to know that he is educating the world about something so tragic that will also honor Sofia for many many years to come.

Spelling Bee a Success

The RHAM Education Foundation, a recently-created organization that promotes local schools, held its first fundraiser last night. The first Annual Adult Spelling Bee went off with hardly a hitch in the cafeteria, attracting sixteen teams and dozens of spectators. Teams of community members and school administrators, sporting names like the "Phighting Philologists" and "Magic Spell", tried their knowledge against words like "buccaneer", "braggadocio", "daffodil", and "apartheid", among many others. The organizers encouraged the audience to participate, to be entered into an audience raffle.

The Foundation also held a silent auction for gift baskets, massages, gift certificates, and Red Sox dugout tickets donated by local businesses and individuals. They also sold tickets for a 50-50 raffle, in which the proceeds were split evenly between the winner and the Foundation, a total of $203 for each. State Representative Pamela Sawyer presented the Foundation with a congratulatory and supportive message from the Connecticut General Assembly. Both visitors and competitors had a great time, and planning for next year's bee is already underway.

Some of the silent auction items


The Bee judges


The teams arrayed for competition


Spectators enjoying the show

A team in uniform


The victorious team, which won on the word "mistletoe"

Career Day at RHAM

Yesterday the entire junior class of RHAM High School attended Career Day in various different locations at the school. During this event students listened to people who have experience with different jobs located in Connecticut. These presenters talked with students about their careers, and their experiences in their jobs. Afterwards they would each let students ask questions about their jobs and what the work entailed, or about the prerequisites acquired to become a part of that career. The presenters also talked about how much money they make on average for a year and what a typical day in their offices is like. Each presenter was from a different career. Two of the presenters were from the medical field. One of the presenters started and currently owns her own buissines. The other presenters that were present were graphic designers from ESPN and an accountant.

The goal of each of the presenters was to inspire the students with thier own enthusiasms about their jobs and try to see if any other students may be interested about these jobs as a career path.