16-year-old sophomore from Linden High School

My family: parents, Tom and Jennifer Studt and I have three siblings, Gary Tiffany and Gracee.

What sports and leisure activities do you enjoy? Bowling.

My dream car is: an Enzo Ferrari.

My dream travel destination is: Hawaii, just to get away.

My all-time favorite movie is: Happy Gilmore, because I like Adam Sandler.

My earliest memory is: when I got my first dirt bike for Christmas, I was 5.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Super speed, so I wouldn’t be late for anything.

I always: Try my best.

I never: Quit.

If you could make one rule everyone has to follow, what would it be? No fighting, because I’m not really a big fighter.

Is there an event in your life you would like a ‘do-over’ for? I’d redo my regionals for bowling, we did terrible.

If you could travel back in time to witness one event, what would it be? World War II, because my grandpa was in it and I would want to see what he was like.

If you had to walk through downtown all day wearing a sign, what would it say? Have a nice day, because that’s what I would want people to do.

What is an upcoming event you are looking forward to? Graduation, because I’ll finally be done.

Front row seats and backstage passes. Who are you seeing? Metallica, because they’re my favorite heavy metal band.

What has been the best day in your life so far? I’d say a day from the summer I spent with my dad.

What are your plans after graduation? I’m going to a small community college like Mott.

How are you preparing for college? Working hard and keeping my grades up.

YOUNG people are being invited to sign up for an Easter holiday packed full of sports fun.

A range of activities are on offer at a series of full-day camps organised by Hartlepool Borough Council’s sport and physical activity team.

Football camps for five to eight-year-olds and nine to 13-year-olds will be based at Grayfields Sports Pavilion on Monday, April 2, and Wednesday, April 11, and at Brierton Sports Centre on Thursday, April 5, and Friday, April 13.

Camps for young people aged eight to 16 that will provide opportunities to take part in a wide range of activities, including multi-skills, kwik cricket, badminton, football and tennis, will take place on Tuesday, April 3, and Tuesday, April 10, at the Mill House Leisure Centre, and Wednesday, April 4, at Headland Sports Hall and Thursday, April 12, at Brierton Sports Centre.

Sport for All Camps aimed at children with a disability, siblings and friends in the eight to 18 age group will offer activities such as boccia, kurling, cricket, orienteering and trampolining. They will take place at Brierton Sports Centre on Monday, April 2, and at the Headland Sports Hall on Wednesday, April 11.

Sport and physical activity officer, Rachael Pringle, said: “Our Easter holiday programmes of sport and leisure activities have always proved popular in the past and we are expecting this year to be the same.

“We would advise people to book up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.”

All camps cost £16 for a full day and run from 9am to 5pm. To book a place or for more information contact Ms Pringle on (01429) 284414 or email sport.recreation@hartlepool.gov.uk

Although the Society’s lease of the site from GCC stated it was only to be used for leisure activities, the lease to Watermark abandoned this clause, potentially giving scope for development.

Although consent for the agreement was granted by GCC under the system of delegated powers, which complied with the council’s policies, Mr Garbutt said in the report that no financial advice was
sought, and there was no evidence that any consultation took place regarding the agreement.

“I have searched paper and electronic files for evidence of this process but have been unable to find anything relevant,” he said.

SOCIALISING with friends, playing with a pet or even just enjoying a glass of wine are factors that experts say can contribute to a long and happy life.

To celebrate Seniors Week, longevity expert Nicola Gates will present a free lunchtime workshop on how to maximise your well-being in Sydney on Thursday, March 22 at the Wesley Conference Centre, 220 Pitt Street, Sydney.

She also cites a network of friends and brain activity as factors that lead to longevity.

Here are some more of her tips:

- Friendship is vital: having a network of friends can result in a longer lifespan, reduced stress, and better coping skills.

- Diet: a healthy diet is vital for a long and healthy life. On the flip side, studies show that including dark chocolate in your diet will make you feel happier, and a glass of red wine could help your heart.

- Exercise: its so good for your health and can make you smarter by building new brain connections and by improving your brain performance.

- Leisure activities: finding fun new things to do makes life more interesting. They can also be challenging, social and educational. Identify activities that you want to do — it may be a hobby you loved as a child, or something new youve always wanted to try.

- Brain activity: being mentally active stimulates blood flow and brain metabolism. Try mentally-challenging games like chess or Bridge.

- A good nights sleep: sleep is crucial to feeling good. Fatigue or lack of good quality sleep can reduce a persons overall brain functioning, leading to mistakes, forgetfulness and clumsiness.

- Laughter: when you laugh endorphins and other positive natural brain chemicals are released into your system. These reduce stress, increase immune functioning and, importantly, make you feel happier.

Workshop entry is free but bookings are required.

Details: Phone: 9240 0797 or TAGEnquiries@tag.nsw.gov.au.

Mar 16-18

32nd Annual Southwestern Michigan Home, Garden and Leisure Show

Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 10am-5pm

Lake Michigan College Mendel Center

1905 Foundation Dr, Niles

269.982.4030. swmhomeshow.com

This years show features over 80 exhibitors and special guests representing multiple aspects of home improvement, finance, landscaping, interior furnishings, leisure activities and more. One special exhibit by the Red Cross features a beam from the World Trade Center. The Red Cross will be accepting donations to help create a special permanent display for the 9/11 artifact. The first 1,000 attendees will receive a free environmentally friendly show bag.

MORE EVENTS

This weekend is a dream come true for Derry Township School District students.

Besides having an extra day off for Presidents Day, administrators have declared a homework-free weekend for all students.

Modern students are growing up in a highly structured environment. Even leisure activities are scheduled be it play dates or sports, dance and music. Free time is at a premium, spokesman Dan Tredinnick said. But having unstructured time is important for adolescents, if for no other reason than allowing students to decompress from all the pressures they feel are placed upon them.

The idea to give students a weekend free of extra work came from the award-winning documentary Race to Nowhere, by Vicki Abeles. The film investigates the high-stakes, high-pressure culture of American schools and the toll modern education is taking on children nationwide.

This is a pilot, and well see what impact it has on everything from instructional practice to morale. Right now, the reaction has been largely positive. Students, not surprisingly, love the idea, Tredinnick said.

The district sponsored a screening of the documentary a year ago and then screened it again in the summer for administrators, teachers, school board members and other residents.

The internal dialogue about the role, nature and frequency of homework has been very interesting and the entire subject merits more exploration, Tredinnick said.

Last month, officials surveyed parents for their input on the role, relevance and rigor of homework. Students and teachers are taking a similar survey.

As collaboration between home and school is vital to help launch students successfully into the 21st century, we wanted to hear more about homework from parents perspective, Tredinnick said.

First-time filmmaker Abeles, a mother of three and former Wall Street lawyer, became aware of the extreme challenges students face when her daughter became sick with a stress-related illness.

She highlights what she calls a silent epidemic in our schools, that leads to widespread cheating, burned-out teachers and ill-equipped students.

The End the Race to Nowhere, nationwide movement spawned by the film established the Homework Pledge: Homework-Free Holidays and Weekends to encourage schools to give students a much-needed break.

Instituting homework-free weekends and holiday breaks helps students reach a better balance in their lives with work, family time, sleep and entertainment. Ultimately, it leads to an overall healthier lifestyle.

Research studying the correlation between homework and academic achievement consistently reveals a surprising fact: Most homework doesnt increase learning, raise test scores or prepare students for academic success, according to the website.

So far, more than 600 teachers and principals nationwide have agreed to work toward implementing the pledge.

Obviously, we cannot assign how folks use the homework-free time theyll have this weekend, but its our hope they use it for family leisure time. Doing nothing special might be the most special thing of all, Tredinnick said.

Yup. Thats what well be doing in our house. And loving every minute of it.

Living on the edge can be a hard habit to break. Soldiers coming home from a deployment may find it hard to adjust to the relative peace and quiet of Fort Polk. Thats when they turn to Warrior Adventure Quest. This is a training tool that introduces recently redeployed soldiers to activities that serve as alternatives to potentially destructive behaviors.
The program combines existing high-adventure recreation activities such as whitewater rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, paintball, skeet shooting, canoeing, laser tag and go-kart with a leader-led after action debrief developed by Army medical professionals.
All of the activities are structured and monitored by Family Morale, Welfare and Recreations outdoor recreation division in a controlled setting, usually scheduled within 90 days of returning from combat.
The goal is to prevent soldiers from seeking high-risk adventures on their own by introducing them to safe, structured adventure activities while keeping them surrounded by teammates who help ensure safety remains a top consideration.
During combat, soldiers become used to a high tempo from continuous recognition and response to fear. WAQ incorporates resiliency training to assist redeployed troops in adjusting to a calmer-paced lifestyle than the one they left behind. Experts say such psychological resilience-building programs, like WAQ, help mitigate the cumulative effects from a sustained deployment. They assist soldiers in mentally preparing to reintegrate during the redeployment, post-deployment and reset portions of the deployment cycle.
Soldiers who participate in WAQ are expected to incorporate team building with skills learned or reinforced during the program and walk away with a new-found passion for leisure activities that can enhance their overall quality of life.
So far, the program has served about 37 platoons, for a total of 932 soldiers, at Fort Polk.
Across the Army, an initial data check of nearly 10,454 soldiers that participated in a WAQ program found that there were 50.4 percent fewer accidents that resulted in fatality, or permanent or partial disability, compared to a similar-sized cross section of soldiers who had not participated. They also reported 32.8 percent fewer accidents resulting in restricted work ability or one or more days away from work.
Units that would like to schedule a Warrior Adventure Quest day, call Nate Greene at 531-9734, (337) 353-3419 or send an email to nate.greene1@us.army.mil.

JUNIOR footy in the eastern suburbs is being given the boot as boys in an increasingly multicultural population choose playing piano over pursuing the pig-skin.

Glendal Saints Junior Football Club at East Burwood Reserve is in danger of collapse because it cant attract enough children to field a team on Saturday mornings.

Club vice-president David Gubbels said changing demographics meant the clubs catchment area was mainly Asian and Indian and that recruiting new players was increasingly difficult.

gt;gt;HAVE YOUR SAY:Are changing migration patterns affecting leisure activities? Tell us below.

Theyre not really interested in playing football, theyre usually doing extra-curricular activities, Gubbels said.

Theyre either doing non-contact sports or … music lessons or additional study.

The club has had to borrow players from its opposition teams to ensure the children who turn up get to play.

Monash University sociology expert Dr Bob Birrell said the strong Chinese influence in Monash was changing recreation patterns.

You wouldnt expect people arriving from China and South-East Asia to be pushing their kids into playing junior football, Dr Birrell said.

Theyd have no knowledge or interest in that kind of thing (so) the traditional sports activities are waning.

But Gerard De Filippis, who coached the Northvale Mulgrave under-13 Swans side that boasted 12 nationalities in its 27-member squad last year, said background mattered little in attracting junior footballers.

Demographer Bernard Salt believes educating children will take over from sport in Melburnians priorities by 2020 because of changing migration patterns.

Chinese and Indians are focused on education – they see education as a pathway to success.

I think there will be greater emphasis on academic excellence, less on Australias obsession with sport, Mr Salt said.

To join the Glendal Saints, phone David Gubbels on 0412 204 647.

gt;gt;HAVE YOUR SAY:Are changing migration patterns affecting leisure activities? Tell us below.

Leisure activities generate millions of jobs and billions of dollars across the country.

Consider these facts and figures:

o Eighteen metropolitan areas are home to more than 1,000 businesses in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector. Topping the list are Los Angeles with 12,500 establishments and New York with 10,500.

o A total of 1.9 million people are employed in the sector, which encompasses everything from museums and theaters to casinos and professional sports teams.

o The payrolls for these businesses are collectively worth $59 billion. Fourteen markets are above the $1 billion mark, again led by Los Angeles ($7.78 billion) and New York ($7.04 billion).

On Numbers analyzed the nations arts, entertainment and recreation businesses, using 2009 data from the US Census Bureau

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, the latest figures available for the private sector.

The following database provides breakdowns for 783 metropolitan and micropolitan areas. If you wish to winnow the list to a single state, use the tab.

The database can be re-sorted by any column. Just click the header. (Click it a second time to reverse the sort.)

The typical employee in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector earns $31,000 per year.

Los Angeles, the nations film capital, is the US leader at $64,700 per year. Next in the rankings (among places with more than 1,000 employees in the sector) are Statesville-Mooresville, NC, at $57,000 and Green Bay, Wis., at $55,200.

The figures for both runners-up are inflated by their professional sports connections. Statesville is the base for several NASCAR

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teams, while Green Bay is best-known for its Packers of the National Football League

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.

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR BREAKDOWNS (BY METRO AREAS)

January is Alzheimer Awareness Month. As demographics change, and the worlds population ages, the effect of Alzheimers disease and other related dementia becomes an increased concern, both personally and nationally.

In Canada, a new case was diagnosed every five minutes in 2011. The frequency of diagnosis will increase to every two minutes by 2038.

The question is: Does Canada have a plan for coping with the emotional, social and financial cost this development will bring?

The current financial cost of $15 billion is expected to climb to $153 billion by 2038.

Visit CanadaDementiaCrisis.ca and write to your MP to express your views and concerns.

KEEP WATCH FOR WARNING SIGNS

The prospect of developing Alzheimers disease or related dementia is daunting. There are some signs which indicate that a visit to the doctor for further investigation is in order. Forgetting important events and/ or information may happen occasionally but it is a problem if there is a pattern.

Some people may experience debilitation in the ability to develop plans, or work with numbers. They may constantly rely on family members to remind them or use reminder devices to assist them with activities which they always handled well on their own, for example, following a familiar recipe, or keeping track of monthly bills.

Difficulties with concentration may lead to longer work times for routine activities at home, at work and in leisure activities.

Confusion with time and place may lead to forgetting where they are or how they got there. Some may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining colour or contrast. They may not recognize themselves in a mirror.

People with dementia may have trouble following or joining in conversation. Constant repetition or use of wrong words may also be evident.

Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps as a coping mechanism is a cause for concern. They may accuse others of hiding or stealing the items. They may show decreased judgment when dealing with money, grooming or hygiene.

Withdrawal from work or social activities may be a symptom, or a way to hide the changes which they recognize are occurring. Or, they may just be weary of work, social and family responsibilities. Changes in mood and disposition may be a sign of Alzheimers disease and irritation can arise when routines or specific ways of doing things are disrupted.

Occasional lapses may be typical within the framework of normal aging but when you or others notice repeated evidence of deficiencies, its time to seek medical help.

A complete physical exam, including blood pressure, vision and hearing is required. Lab tests, including glucose levels, thyroid functioning and blood counts are needed to rule out other physical ailments. Neurological screening will include tests to measure attention span, co-ordination, memory and problem-solving skills, providing a more accurate diagnosis. MRI or CT scans may be used to rule out tumours or blood clots.

People with early-onset dementia may exhibit traits which people anticipate as more likely with advanced age. Forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty completing simple tasks, problems with communication and personality changes – in combination – may lead to a diagnosis of dementia. Treatment may include medications which may delay the progression of symptoms by six months to a year. People with an early-onset diagnosis may consider clinical trials for new medications.