Jesus Vargas
Bravo HOSA Club
This month HOSA club has officially started. The club members are very enthusiastically are looking forward to newcomers! HOSA, also known as Health Occupations Students of America is an organization that promotes career and skill development among students. This is done through the HOSA club as students learn skills in STEM, and can even choose to engage in competitions to practice and evaluate these skills. There are different competitions that include: presentations, poster boards, quiz bowls, tests, and more. They cover a broad range of topics in STEM, for example, medical terminology, medical assisting, behavioral Health,
medical law & ethics, nutrition, cultural Diversities & Disparities, medical math, pathophysiology, dental terminology, clinical nursing, sports medicine, veterinary science, and etc. HOSA is restricted to STAR & EHA students, however, non-HOSA members are still allowed and encouraged to attend guest speakers sessions. Registered HOSA members may choose up to 3 and a minimum of 1 competition to engage in. This year there will be in-person competitions in Long Beach from March 24th to 26th 2022. HOSA competitions alternate between Long Beach and Sacramento, so any 11th graders interested in joining will also be able to attend the conference in Sacramento next school year. Students will be able to spend 3 nights in a hotel, which will most likely be paid for, given that HOSA is able to find funding. During these three days, students
will be able to tour around the city and will meet with students from across the entire state. They will also attend the conference and go to competitions.
Students that are registered members of HOSA can even continue to engage for years to come, meeting lifelong mentors and friends. They can do this by continuing to social network with the professionals that they met through HOSA as well as peers and other mentors that they meet during HOSA conferences. Students may also continue on with HOSA club and with competitions throughout college and can even go on to be judges, club sponsors, volunteers, and etc.
For students, who are not yet in 11th or 12th grade and are interested in joining HOSA next year, they may be eligible by joining the biotechnology pathway or the STAR & EHA program. This pathway offers numerous benefits beyond HOSA, such as being able to work at labs as a 12th grader. In STAR & EHA, for their first year, students take Intro to Biotechnology, where they prepare to work in a lab, by learning basic lab skills like pipetting, lab safety, writing lab reports, PPE protocol, and so much more. During their 2nd year, for their 5th and 6th period, students will be able to attend lab. There are many more advantages for students who make it to their second year of STAR & EHA, where there are opportunities for summer internship, mentorship, college recommendations, referrals to companies and other labs, and even may get to publish and/or coauthor in scientific journals.
Both, the STAR & EHA program and HOSA are amazing opportunities for students interested in STEM and definitely stand out among the broad array of other STEM programs Bravo offers in the diversity it has with its competitions and professional speakers. It makes it the perfect club to help prepare students to make the journey of discovering what they want to do for their future. For students who are eligible and interested, feel free to sign up in Room# 414 with Ms. De La Cruz!
Karina Davis
October College Updates These are all the names and dates for Bravo College Rep Visits ❏ 9/30 @10:25 - UC Santa Cruz ❏ 10/6 @10:25- UC Irvine: Register for the visit ❏ 10/7 @10:25- UC San Diego ❏ 10/15 @10:25 Dartmouth ❏ 11/03 @10:25- UC Riverside: *new date ❏ 10/27 @11:00am CSULA: ❏ 10/29 @10:30am - UC Merced
Two very important Oct dates are the opening of the CSU Application on Oct. 1 and the Common App and FAFSA apps on Oct. 1: ❏ CSU ❏ FAFSA ❏ CADAA Sauda Afrin
Homelessness in California
In recent months, homelessness in California has continued to skyrocket, and housing has become a larger issue. Even before the pandemic, housing was already an existing problem in California. This crisis has only worsened over the months, causing state officials to address the problem.
California has the highest rents in all the United States, and with the pandemic affecting employment, many haven't been able to meet monthly housing payments. The eviction moratorium that protected California households behind on rent officially ended on October 1st. Though afterward, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a set of bills that included 22 billion dollars to protect low-income families and the homeless. Newsome's package plan included building 84,000 affordable housing units, with 44,000 of those units being specifically for those houseless. Low to moderate-income homeowners would also be granted permission to build additional housing units on their property.
The pandemic isn't the only reason this problem exists. For example, mental illness, drug abuse, and poverty are all issues that can cause homelessness. The estimated total of homeless people in California by the World Population Review is 151,278. Among those, there are large numbers of veterans, disabled, POC, etc. Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed the idea of strengthening California's mental health care system in an approach to lower people's chances of becoming homeless. Now that the issue has finally been addressed, hopefully, the issue will improve.
By; Angela Alvarez
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS AT BRAVO ❖
Dia de los muertos is a holiday celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November. It originated not only in Mexico but also in other parts of Latin America, especially by people of Mexican heritage. Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death, and it is celebrated with colorful calaveras (skulls), calacas (skeletons), flores de cempasúchil, pan de muerto and in most places a glass of water or cup of hot chocolate is placed as well!
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At Bravo this is something that is very appreciated and celebrated by students, faculty and staff. Just this month we have seen decorations pop up all over the school in respect and appreciation to this celebration.
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Additionally, this month members of the Folklorico club designed and decorated sugar skulls in colorful paints, jewels, and flowers for teachers of their choosing here at Bravo.
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These claveras were used as a sign of appreciation and a token of thanks teachers here at Bravo!! Thanks not only for being here during these hard times but as a sign of thanks for their hard work. This really helped connect them more to this holiday and made it great and enriching.
HOW TO SAFELY TRICK OR TREAT DURING HALLOWEEN Esmeralda Martinez-Lopez
Covid-19 has turned our lives upside down and has brought forth many new challenges, especially to our old traditions such as trick-or-treating. Now with Halloween just around the corner many of us need to consider a safer way to trick or treat especially since children under 12 can't be eligible for the covid-19 vaccine as of now. Yes the activity will be safer to be done outdoors rather than indoors but traditional trick-ortreating is still done in large groups and there is still potential for cross contamination, such as grabbing candy). So we need to consider new ways to adapt to our new normal.
Wear a mask This one may be one of the easiest since most Halloween costumes already include maskshowver make sure that your child is also using a 2-ply face mask and that they can breath comfortably while using it. The CDC recommends their usage when social distance is challenging to enforce. Parents should also wear masks.
Social distancing Although it's fun to trick or treat in a group it's not the safest way to travel, we recommend avoiding traveling in large groups. Avoid gathering at a neighbors door and visit fewer houses this year as well as participating for a brief amount of time.
Those giving away candy may want to place candy inside the pumpkins or the bags directly to prevent reaching into the candy bowl, standing at their front door, at the end of their driveway or yard. Another option may be to set up a table and leave separate bags of candy to avoid cross contamination. While making the goody bags remember to wash your hands with soap and water before, after and during the process if possible. Make sure to bring hand sanitizer or sanitary wipes, since you will come in contact with other surfaces.
Stay Home
If your child is exposed to covid-19 during the time that halloween is around the corner you should still continue to quarantine, to not only keep yourself but others safe. Alternative activities ❏ Pumpkin carving ❏ Virtual costume contest ❏ Decorate as a family ❏ Outdoor parties were participants wear two-ply or fabric face masks and are social distancing ❏ Pumpkin Patch were masks are enforced ❏ Outdoor Horror Movie night ❏ Halloween themed treats like frosted cookies
Other Safety Precautions ❏ Make sure costumes are bright/ reflective and can be seen ❏ Make sure costumes are labeled “Flame Resistant” ❏ Avoid sharp objects such as long swords
Origin of Halloween Halloween is a holiday that consists of many different activities including dressing up, putting up scary decorations, eating candy and carving pumpkins. This is what we know Halloween as being, however, this holiday was not always like this, in fact, the holiday was just a Celtic festival that was known as Samhain. The Samhain festival took place in England and Ireland almost 2,000 years ago on the 1st of November. In this festival any participants would gather around bonfires that they considered to be sacred, it was believed that these rituals would calm any malevolent spirits and protect the people from them. Those gathering around the fire would dress up in animal costumes, sacrifice food and animals, and even make carved turnips shaped like spirits.
The festival of Samhain was eventually merged with the festival for the goddess of trees & fruit because of the Romans. The Samhain festival became a festival day for Pomona, it was celebrated with a feast. The feast for the Roman goddess Pomona only went a few hundred more years before it was changed again, this time by the Catholic Church. The religious group merged the feast with their own holiday known as All Saints’ Day. Together these holidays were the start of All Hallows’ Day. The day before this holiday was All Hallows Eve. Components of the goddess Pomona feast were changed, for example, offerings were now given to the poor. At this point not many traditions were left from the original festival of Samhain that was started up by the Celts.
The Halloween that we know today happens to be a blend of all these previous holidays. All Hallows Eve became what we know today as Halloween because of the American influence that was integrated since some Puritans believed that the holiday was too Catholic and wanted to change it up to fit more of their beliefs. Eventually All Hallows Eve became part of the American calendar. At one point in the 1920’s stores started to see the opportunity to make money through premade costumes and a few decades later the tradition of dressing up and trick or treating became more common and widespread. All Hallow’s Day was eventually shortened to what we know today as Halloween.
Janeli Cruz