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VOLUME 51 ISSUE 14 1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Harmony group, CFHS supports fight against muscular distrophy Maya Amjadi Staff Writer
Colorful flocks of people of all ages with team t-shirts and walking attire gathered at Crossroads in Waterloo on Saturday, Jan. 29, to walk for and support those they know in the community who are struggling with muscular dystrophy. Organizing the event was the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), which provides services for victims and their families with muscular dystrophy and helps raise awareness and raise money for the disorder. Tammy Frahm, a resource teacher at Cedar Falls High School, attended the event. Her daughter Halie has muscular dystrophy and led the walk around the mall. Halie started the event by giving a statement and cutting the red ribbon. Halie and her supporters’ team name was Halie’s Comets. “It is really cool,” Halie said. “There are all these different team names, and I am one of them.” Halie is a third grader attending Cedar Heights Elementary this year. The hardest thing about having muscular dystrophy, according to Halie, is not being able to do everyday things the same way other people can. For example, in school she has to sit “totally straight up” in the chair to be able to write while everyone around her lounges back. People also treat her differently sometimes. “I’ve noticed people being nice to me just cause I’m ‘special,’ but it makes me kind of sad because I am still a normal person.” Halie said she just wants to be treated the same as everyone else. Halie was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, specifically congenital myopathy, when she was three. The symptoms of this type mostly affect her balance and endurance. She visits physicians in Iowa City two times a year and is evaluated by a physical therapist every three months. Halie said her main supporter is her mother. But a lot more people showed up to walk, displaying her name on
Tracy Lukasiewicz Photo
Backed by her CFHS and community supporters (also known as Halie’s Comets), Halie Frahm opened the public awareness event at Crossroads Mall on Saturday, Jan. 29. Halie is the daughter of CFHS resource teacher Tammy Frahm. their t-shirts. The team consisted of friends, family, neighbors and students and staff from the high school. Several CFHS students know Halie from the Harmony club where she has come to talk about muscular dystrophy and were invited to join her team. “She is really fun,” senior Alex Huffman said. “She needs as much support as she can get.” And that is exactly what made Huffman and senior Kelsey Morris walk in the fundraiser. They walked for the entire hour with the other team members from Halie’s Comets who talked and held signs showing their support while music played and different booths handed out water and balloons. Junior Kelsey McCrea is Halie’s cousin and had a table set up for face painting. Junior Hannah Dailey, another Harmony member, found out about the walk through her Facebook page. She commented that she has been trying to do more Harmony activities and thought this would be a really cool event to attend. “I think its important that they’re trying to find out ways to alleviate the problem [of muscular dystrophy], so the more people helping out and show-
ing support is important,” Dailey said. Frahm said that her main reason for advocating for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is her daughter, Halie. “We look at advocating as educating. The more we educate others, maybe the more understanding there will be towards any person that has a disorder or illness,” Frahm said. “Our perspective towards life is the same. We have always felt that each day is a gift. You can rejoice about what you have been given each day, or you can be saddened by what you don’t have. We have been given a great deal, and we choose to rejoice.” Halie has done multiple interviews and given talks to KWWL, KGAN, the Waterloo Courier and the Waterloo Bucks. In February she will talk to the Black Hawk County Firefighters and Fareway managers from across the state. She hopes that by sharing her experiences and knowledge she can educate others and raise awareness. With the pledges and donations collected from this walk, advances could be made in the search for a cure. The walk is an annual event; the hope of all those walking is that next year they won’t have to walk because a cure will have been found.
20 students graduate early Jessica Dally Staff Writer
Graduating early may not be for everyone, but this year 20 CFHS seniors decided to jump start the the next phase of their life by graduating early. Seniors Jarek Bakken, Aubrey Caruso and Cadi Trask were three of the early grads, and they shared about their next steps. Bakken is currently enrolled in classes at Hawkeye, which started the week after Jan. 7. “I feel ready and prepared to move on from high school and get a head start on college”. Bakken did not have to take any extra classes or take any special routes to graduate early. In his spare time, he is going to work on his main love and passion, music. Senior Aubrey Caruso decided to head out to the West Coast and attend the Art Institute of San Diego. Caruso plans to pursue a career in baking with hopes of becoming a pastry chef. “In order for me to graduate early, I always took a full schedule and took Hawkeye classes when I had the opportunity.” Caruso feels ready to move on from Cedar Falls and go start her life. Senior Cadi Trask decided to veer away from the norm and not embark on the college road immediately. Trask stated, “I’m going to a discipleship training school in New Zealand. It’s school for three months, and then for the last two and a half months we will be spreading God’s love.” Trask is unsure of her college aspirations, but she feels this journey will point her in the right direction. This years’ early graduating class had lower numbers than usual. The guidance office said that if graduating early is something students are interested in, they have to start thinking about it sophomore or junior year. Students also have to inform their guidance counselor and parents. All the high school credits must be met on time, and sometimes the student must double up on courses to meet the requirements.The counselors also say that everyone who signs up isn’t going to graduate early; it’s a long process that needs to be considered with care.