By Melissa Barrett

Signal Mountain Middle High School produced several leaders at the YMCA Southeastern High School Model United Nations Conference (SHSMUN) held in early November. At this regional conference, Tennessee high school students learn about the United Nations by participating in a reenactment of the organization’s activities.

Signal senior Emily Perez served as under-secretary-general, the third highest office, at this year’s conference. Signal junior Caroline Cornett will serve as the highest-ranking official, secretary general, at next year’s conference. Fellow junior Ethan Fell will serve as president of the general committee next year. Fell was chairman of DISEC (Disarmament and International Security) committee this year, while classmate Cornett chaired the UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization).

Signal’s Malynda Wollert, Tehreem Hussain, Maggie Meller, and Camille Schmied will attend the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) in March as members of a 2018 All Star Delegation. The world’s largest Model UN conference is held at the United Nations Headquarters and the New York Hilton Midtown, with hundreds of schools and thousands of delegates attending from around the world. In addition, five Signal students had interviews the week after Thanksgiving to chair committees next year.

SMMHS, an International Baccalaureate school, sent the largest group, approximately 110 students, to the regional conference in which more than 600 students from three states participated over three days.

“I am proud of all of our IB learners for their interest in and knowledge of international affairs,” faculty sponsor Lorri Whitney said. “It takes the entire community of our school to prepare these students to be global citizens who understand world issues and come up with novel ideas to solve these problems. They learn writing, critical thinking, and public speaking through all of their courses, as well as the approaches to learning, or soft skills, they need to work well with others and be prepared for the conference.”

Students spend the prior year writing extensive topic guides and preparing to chair SHSMUN’s 13 committees. They form delegations and represent member countries’ interests in the General Assembly by drafting and debating resolutions. These resolutions cover a wide variety of topics of international concern. Members must research the position of the country on his or her committee topics and write three Position papers (what the country’s position is) and three Resolution papers (how the country would like to promote/end topic).

Wollert was deemed to have the “Best Position Paper” of more than 600 delegates. She wrote about topics for her committee, SOCHUM (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural). This year’s topics were Examining Child Rights in Conflict Areas, Debt Bondage, and State-Sanctioned Torture of Political Prisoners.

Some students have the opportunity to represent their countries on the Security Council and Secretariat, to participate in a model International Court of Justice, and to serve in the Department of Public Information.
Signal students recognized as Best Delegates were Tehreem Hussain for Legal, Maggie Meller for UNEP (UN Environment Programme) and Camille Schmied for UNODC (the UN Office on Drugs and Crime).

Honorable Mentions were awarded to Signal’s Emma Wu for work on UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization) and Maddi Meier for work on MUNIC, the Model United Nations Introductory Committee that gives beginning Model UN delegates an opportunity to learn and practice debate and parliamentary procedure in a smaller, teaching environment.

Whitney complimented Signal’s Model UN veterans for working together to ensure new members of the team are ready at conference time.

“They host paper-writing sessions to aid each other with research and writing,” she said, “and they do mock debates before the conference to learn parliamentary procedure. The older students pass along their knowledge and passion for the conference, and because it is so student-driven, they gain excellent leadership skills as well.

Signal also provided middle school students who volunteered as pages at the high school conference to run messages and notes between committee members. A shorter version of Model UN is held in the spring for middle schools. Teachers and parents also served as chaperones.

“I appreciate the entire Signal Mountain community for their efforts to help these students succeed,” Whitney said. “We all have a hand in this process!”

By Sonia Young

Spectrum 2018 was amazing and truly an affair to remember. Over 400 guests, all dressed to the hilt, came out on one of the coldest nights of the year to support the Hunter Museum of American Art. Almost every piece of art sold in the auction, thanks in part to efforts by adorable auctioneers Jim Kennedy and Dan Kennedy. Allison and Thomas Lee chaired the art selection committee, and over 30 galleries from different cities all over the country participated in the event, including Charleston, Charlotte, Ketchum, Idaho, Nashville, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

Guests gathered under a gigantic tent with glass windows that overlooked the river as they enjoyed a delicious seated dinner and beautifully set and decorated tables. Gala chairs Jeff and Ronna-Renee Jackson and Hunter Museum Executive Director Virginia Anne Sharber and her incredible staff deserve much praise for the fabulous production.
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Patrons admiring the art selections included Jacqueline Marschak, Leonard Murray, Warren Barnett and Cherie Martinez, Amber and Dan Norton, Craig and Terri Holley, Rob Majors, Ed Wolfe, Hugh Sharber, Susan and Dr. Steve Rich, Anne and Daniel Dejan, Martha Mackey and Del Sudkamp, Alice and Billy Oehmig, Mark Ramsey, Jennifer and Erik Fuller, Andrew Clark, Pat Starke, Kim Gavin, Austin Center, Anne Marie and Dr. Jay Jolley, Jennifer and Maury Nicely, Dr. Lee and Sharron Jackson, Carolyn Kaufman and Van Jernigan, Dawn Abel, Linda Harr, Anita and Tom Decosimo, Amy and Fred Decosimo, Deanne and Nelson Irvine, Yolonda and Charles Hayslett, Victoria and Richard Johnson, Mark Hite, Eric Tidmore, Matt and Nicki Brock, Ginger and Jim Vaughn, Ashley and Chris Ford, Betsy and Hugh Brown, Kitty Caldwell, Michelle Peterson, Meg Crimmins, Georgia and Johnny O’Brien, Molly O’Brien, Missy and Roger Talley, Brad and Courtney Cobb, Mary Kilbride, Andrea Crouch, Holly and Marc Harwell, Bob and Jane Berz, Ronelle Sellers, Betty Lynne Smith, Michelle and Rob Donina and Julia and Keith Sandford.

By Anne Ritttenberry

On January 15, 2019, Mayor Dan Landrum will hold a public meeting in the Gold Room at Alexian for the Signal Mountain Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. The President Elect of the Signal Mountain/Red Bank council, Dr. Ronal Smith, welcomes all to the gathering, which will be held at 11:30 am. The price is $12.
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This is the regular monthly meeting of the Council, and the first time it’s been held on Signal Mountain. Mayor Landrum will speak about the accomplishments of the towns in the last year, plus upcoming projects and events. Questions will then be taken from the audience.

Alexian will have people directing traffic and helping those unfamiliar with the facility locate the Gold Room.
Make plans to attend this informative meeting.

By Carol Lannon

“I’ve always loved nature and being in nature,” says Lauren Haynes, who grew up in East Brainerd and went to Ooltewah High School. Though she graduated from UTC with a degree in communications, an interest in wild foods and fermentation led her down a different path. “I was led to using plants as remedies, and when I realized that was possible, it just kind of took over my world.”

Lauren is the founder, owner, and herbalist of Wooden Spoon Herbs, “a small batch herbal apothecary.” It grew out of her “personal herbal practice and curiosity about the incredibly rich bio-diverse region of southern Appalachia,” and led her to locate her business in the mountains of north Georgia. Her company’s name evokes the essence of herbalism: remedies made in the kitchen from what we have around us; the tool itself is made from a natural source and is found in every Southern kitchen.

Treating illness and promoting well-being with herbal remedies has been practiced since prehistoric times, as humans instinctively experimented with plants to cure their diseases. The oldest written account of using plants medicinally is from Sumer (Iraq) 5,000 years ago and refers to 250 plants used by Sumerians for healing. Which plants were efficacious was initially discovered through experience – trial and error. The Egyptians, Chinese, East Indians, and Greeks built on that early knowledge, expanding and recording the list of medicinal plants and the Bible lists various aromatic plants used during healing ceremonies. People continued throughout the following centuries trying and documenting new plants, until more than 1,000 had been described. In the Middle Ages, the French and English referred to medicinal plants as simples and to herbalists as simplers. These were usually woman who grew plants and herbs, then made them into tinctures, salves and ointments The word apothecary also has ancient origins, dating back to 2600 B.C. in Babylon, where symptoms, prescriptions, and directions for compounding them were written on clay tablets.

As Chattanooga continued to develop, Lauren decided to move away from the heart of the city and found the perfect place on Lookout Mountain, where she lives in a cabin in the woods. “It’s amazing to be so close to nature,” Lauren says, “and to see the plants that I use all the time.” She began educating herself by reading “every book on herbal medicine I could find. I cleaned out the herbal medicine shelf at The Book Company, which used to be on Ringgold Road,” she says. A more formal education in clinical herbalism followed.

Lauren lives and works in an extremely bio-diverse area that lends itself to herbalism. Initially, she grew or gathered all the ingredients herself, but as the business grew, that became impractical. Today she works with small farms all over the country that grow everything she needs. Shipments come from her farmer partners and are sorted and filed, then blended into tea formulas, salves, creams, sprays, tinctures, and syrups. A tincture, for example, is steeped for six weeks, strained, and then bottled. Each product is produced in a similar way: grown, gathered, prepared, and packaged, with care, by hand.
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Wooden Spoon Herbs offers a variety of products designed to promote and support good health. At this time of year, Elderberry Rosehip Elixir is popular because it builds the immune system. Anxiety Ally is formulated to keep us grounded and calm and to soothe frazzled nerves. Creaky Joint is a salve that aids the musculoskeletal system and circulation and soothes inflammation, too. For colds, Appalachian Cold Care Tisane benefits the immune system and the lungs. And Lauren recommends the company’s herbal hot cocoa blends, which are made just like hot chocolate but include various herbs to promote well-being. Each product has a complete description of its ingredients and their health benefits. Lauren’s products are carried by boutiques and shops around the country, and individuals can buy online at woodenspoonherbs.com.

By Carol Lannon
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“Life,” John Lennon wrote, “is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Those words could have been written for Josh Wheeler. He and his brother, Jake, grew up on Signal Mountain near Robert’s Mill, next door to his grandparents’ home and 2,000 acres of protected land. “We spent the summers swimming in the lake and roaming the woods,” Josh says. “It was a fantastic place to grow up.”
Josh’s father, Dawson Wheeler, owned Rock Creek Outfitters; his family was active, always outdoors, and Josh also wrestled and ran for Rock Creek’s team. His grandfather was a pediatrician, and his mother, Sugar Holliday Wheeler, is a guidance counselor who later became a pediatric oncologist. Helping others to be fit, strong, and healthy was a family endeavor. But as a student at McCallie, Josh was interested primarily in English and history and thought he’d pursue those subjects in college. Then Life Happened.
In his senior year of high school, Josh was diagnosed with a brain tumor. To say this was life-changing is an understatement, but this strong, determined, and intensely curious young man used a life-threatening experience as a launching pad into an entirely different field of study. His treatment made Josh think about the causes and development of illness.
The avid athlete went off to Appalachian State, where he majored in exercise physiology, focusing on the ways in which the body, especially the skeleton and muscles, respond to physical stress. He found he liked research and moved on to Duke to a graduate program in molecular genetics, a field combining biology, biochemistry, and genetics to explore the structure of DNA and its connection to illness, particularly hereditary diseases. There he also met his wife, Kristen, who was pursuing a degree in physical therapy. After completing their studies at Duke, they moved to Colorado; Josh was chosen for a highly selective and rigorous program at the University of Colorado to become both a doctor and a scientist. When he graduates, he’ll have both a M.D. and a Ph. D. in neuroscience, qualified to work as a research scientist and treat patients, as well.
As his studies progressed, Josh found himself focusing more and more on a specific disease: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – ALS. (The name comes from Greek words that translate “no muscle nourishment.) “It was a natural progression,” he says. “Getting my undergraduate degree in exercise physiology, I spent time studying how skeletal muscles respond to stress and that led to ALS.”
ALS is a disease of gradual muscle weakening when motor neurons begin to die in the brain and it can no longer control muscle movement. As this process progresses, movement is impaired until muscles cease to function at all, causing paralysis and eventually destroying the ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe.
Many people call ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named for a famous baseball player who died of the disease in 1941. The brilliant Steven Hawking, who died just this year, lived with ALS for 35 years, an unusually long time. How quickly the illness progresses varies, but the average life-expectancy is much less than Hawkings’ since there is no cure. In 2016, Tim Green, who played with the Atlanta Falcons, was diagnosed with ALS, one of a growing number of professional football players who are developing the disease. Green is being treated with drugs to slow the progression. In November 2018, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg, died of ALS. Though it has been considered a rare disease, that may be changing. “We don’t know yet what causes this neuro-degeneration,” Josh says. “This is what interests me – how and why are these neurons dying.”
Josh’s education is preparing him to be part of a new approach in healthcare. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has identified a need for physician-scientists (which Josh will be) who are researching a specific disease and also seeing patients diagnosed with that disease. Throughout his studies in Colorado, he’s been doing this. “What we learn through research can be used to improve treatment, and what we learn from patients will inform the research,” Josh explains. “The university protects our time in each area,” so he can give adequate attention to each. “My ideal would be an 80/20 split – research being 80,” he says. “Medicine is grounded in technology now,” he points out, which allows research and treatment to interface more easily. And he has also learned the protocol to conduct clinical trials. This cross-training is the future of medical research, training, and treatment.
Still to come is residency, though where that will be hasn’t been determined yet. Josh has been in remission for 12 years, and odds are that we’ll be hearing much more from him in the years ahead. “Our research sheds light on the normal processes that cells use to handle stress. If they get too revved up, they begin either attacking themselves or losing the ability to fight off stress.” Perhaps Josh’s research into ALS will someday discover not only the causes of that devasting disease, but expand understanding of other diseases, as well. Meanwhile, when there’s a little free time, Josh and Kristen are skiing, both loving cross country and back country with a little downhill thrown in. “It’s important to keep fit,” Josh says, “especially if it’s a ‘bluebird day.’”