Tag: Care Center

  • Possibility of Care Center Closing

    Possibility of Care Center Closing

    Is it true that the C.A.R.E Center closing, as people have been saying? Could the one safe place for some people on campus really be going away? Well the rumors are somewhat true. Sadly, as far as it is currently known the C.A.R.E Center will be closed for the 2018 – 2019 school year.

    On January 30, Poly’s School Site Council, which makes recommendations to the LBUSD School Board, held a meeting in which they talked about various topics. One topic being providing money to staff the C.A.R.E Center. School site council and the school board unanimously voted to not fund the C.A.R.E. Center next school year, in part by voting to fund other positions.

    At the February 27 School Site Council meeting about 30 students and a few teachers showed up to make statements in support of the C.A.R.E. Center. When asked about what the school could possibly do to provide funding for the C.A.R.E Center, junior Brandon Corza stated, “There should be a lot more active fundraising.” Clubs and sports can do fundraising and something as important as the C.A.R.E Center should be able to do some fundraising to help keep money flowing so it will not be at risk of closing.

    Michael Gray, C.A.R.E Center counselor, mentioned that people have been getting together to help raise money for the C.A.R.E Center. Students, parents, and even community members are coming together to help raise money. The downside of fundraising is that it would require producing a large amount of money every year.

    During the wellness week a fair was held in which some booths even had petitions students could sign. The petitions were for the C.A.R.E Center, mentioning that it is an important place on campus that students need and it should not close.

    History teacher Michael Tinsley discussed the importance of the program:  “If the C.A.R.E Center closed, our problems will be bigger. We would have an uptick in absences, potentially more students failing, social and emotional problems among students, and potentially something dangerous to staff and students.”

  • ‘One Out Of Five Young People Have A Mental Disorder’

    C.A.R.E. Center counselor Michael Grey appeared on 93.5 KDAY for an interview about America’s Education System. The interview was about 38 minutes long. Joining Grey during the invterview were Hershel Dennis, Poly class of 2002, head trainer and chairman at Team Hustle, and Arlana Walton, Poly class of 2006 and current professor at Long Beach City College.

    To start the interview off everyone introduces themselves and shares what they do. Then Grey shares shocking statistics. Grey said, “1 out of 5 young people have a mental health condition, 1 out of 8 people have an anxiety disorder.” That means anyone around you could have a mental health problem. Family, friends, or even you could have mental health disorder.

    Grey also mentioned in the interview that most mental health disorders are developed around the early age of 14 years old. “The average time that people usually get help is between 8 – 10 years after they find out. 15% of students 14  years and older end up dropping out of high school.” Kids are dropping out due to mental health issues maybe because they are being bullied due to those mental health issues. People should get help as soon as possible and not wait 8 or more years to finally get the help that they need.

    “Suicides have tripled among 10 – 14 year old young women since 2007,” Grey said in the interview. Walton said, “I realized we needed more for our youth…what if we do not sing or dance? What if we do not do sports?” Society is mainly focused on the fancy rich life which mostly focuses on the dancers, singers, actors, and sports players. But what about the rest of us? We grow up hearing about all those famous people but not the important jobs. We should pay attention to the more realistic jobs so the youth can see the other things we can do in life.

    Dennis said, “That is why we paired up with Mr. Grey to spread the importance of the academics.”