Category: News

Millersville is Dancing through the Decades

By Lauren Ressler –

“This is the big kick-off to a year-long celebration.”

The small town of Millersville, Pa., is celebrating 250 years on the map starting February 26th of this year.

Millersville is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year.

‘Dancing Through the Decades’ will be held at Pucillo Gym Saturday as the first event of many that will be held throughout the 2011 year to celebrate Millersville as being one of the first towns established in Pennsylvania in 1761.

The series of celebratory events has been chaired by members of the Penn Manor School District and Millersville community.

Ellen Pollock, assistant superintendent at Penn Manor, is serving as an events co-chair for the anniversary. Pollock said she is looking forward to this event in particular because it is the “kick-off” of an entire community celebrating its history, and there will be many highlights to the evening.

Dancing Through the Decades is themed by growth throughout generations. Pollock said there will be professional ballroom dancing demonstrations throughout the night, featuring time-period costumes provided by former Penn Manor student Christina McSherry.

Millersville is famous for its swans.

McSherry said she has been involved in National History Day with Penn Manor for many years where she has made costumes reflecting historical America.

“Last year I did a fashion show display that covered ancient Egypt to the 1960s,” said McSherry. “Ms. Pollock saw the display and contacted me when they began working on the Dancing Through the Decades event and we decided that I would set up a display of historic ball gowns covering the late 1700s until 1970.”

McSherry added that she already had some gowns made from previous displays, but she has made multiple gowns and male garments for this event, coupled with time-period accessories and antique pieces.

Other students from the Penn Manor community have been eager to help with this event. Pollock explained that members of Penn Manor’s National Honors Society will be attending the event to escort and greet guests. Also, students from the Agriculture department at Penn Manor High School will be making twenty boutonnieres for select members attending on Saturday, and students from Eshleman Elementary School have been working hard at creating centerpieces for the tables.

Co-chair of the 250th celebrations and Assistant to the VP for Alumni and Community Relations at Millersville University, Steven DiGuiseppe said, “I’m looking forward to interacting with the descendants (of the founders of Millersville), and guests… The celebration as a whole.”

DiGuiseppe said the events committee is hoping to have a turnout of 150 people. Guests in attendance will be people from all over the community including borough representatives, the Herr family (of John Herr’s Village Market), donors and sponsors of the anniversary events, the Wiley brothers (of Wiley’s Pharmacy), and television’s Cake Boss’s very own Mauro Castano.

Yes, that’s right, Carlos Bakery of the TLC show ‘Cake Boss’ is coming to Millersville. Chef and cake designer Mauro Castano will be delivering the cake at Pucillo Gym.

According to Castano, the cake will feed about 200 people, and will be filled with devil’s food and vanilla cake with chocolate fudge. The design elements will be made of krispie treats, modeling chocolate, and fondant. Castano said the cake will feature aspects of the town, such as the lake at Millersville University, Biermesderfer Center, John Herr’s Village Markey, and Wiley’s Pharmacy.

“At the end of the day, we put our heart and soul into our product. Each cake is a piece of edible artwork, and we work hard to make sure there is great attention to detail,” said Castano about theCarlos Bakery, located in Hoboken, New Jersey.

DiGuiseppe confirmed that Lori Burkholder of WGAL-TV will be covering the making of the cake Tuesday or Wednesday, reporting from the bake shop in New Jersey.

Dancing Through the Decades will also feature food and drinks, music by DJ David Nye, and fireworks at 10 p.m. that will be launched from Comet Field. Tickets are on sale for $50 per ticket, and can be purchased by calling 717-872-3811. The event will be held from 7 to 10 p.m.

The Fight for the Whoopie goes National

By Simon Zimmerman-

“Maine is a bunch of dirty, rotten, filthy liars,” said Penn Manor senior Eric Clark.

That is the consensus around Penn Manor High School and the rest of Lancaster County after the claim was made by the state of Maine that the whoopie pie, a prominently known Lancaster comfort food, was originated in the Pine Tree state, Lancaster locals’ tempers flared up.

“Whoopie pies are what defines Lancaster Countians, definitely didn’t come from Maine,” said Penn Manor senior Karly Wiest.

Whoopie pies can be purchased at a variety of local Lancaster businesses including Pine View Dairy, Central Market, John Herr’s and even big name grocery stores like Giant and Weis Markets.

They can cost anywhere from 50 cents to $1.75.  Traditionally made with two circles of soft chocolate cake cradling gooey white cream, they can also be found in peanut butter, spice and pumpkin flavors.

“The whoopie pies from Pine View Dairy are the best,” said Junior Ian Toomey.

Whoopie Pies made in Lancaster County. Photo courtesy of http://www.padutchcountry.com

Some can’t even bear to enjoy their favorite Lancaster delicacy because of the ‘false’ claims made by the opposing state.

“Now whenever I eat a whoopie pie I’ll think about those thieves in Maine,” remarked Josh Carle, a distraught Penn Manor senior.

Across Lancaster County a  petition is being signed to show support that the whoopie pie was created here. This petition has now been signed by more than 500 natives of Lancaster.

However, Maine will not be easy to persuade. They will still carry out their own argument that the whoopie pie is “Maine made.”

Still the fight continues for the right to name the whoopie pie as their own original treat and neither side looks close to giving up.

High School Locked Down for Drug Search

By Kendal Phillips and Sarah Garner –

“It was planned.”

The answer to the question that most Penn Manor students were wondering.

At the beginning of second block Friday, students and staff were notified by an announcement to go into a modified lock down.  Teachers were to lock the doors and open the blinds.  For students and staff it was unexpected and teachers were not made aware of the upcoming drug search.

Officers from Southern Regional Police Department and their canine unit searched the high school for evidence of contraband.

Teachers received an e-mail at 10:05 a.m. informing them of a random drug search, also at that time Penn Manor School District’s website had a banner describing that a drug search was going on and that students were not in any danger.

The district website described the drug search.

This drug search was free of cost and it was the first time Penn Manor participated in a random search, according to Principal Philip Gale.

“We met the officer who handles the dog at the end of January, January 25,” said Gale.  “In December we actually had the officer do a demonstration for us [at Pequea Elementary school] and there were three school board members present with us to show how the dogs would detect.  They brought drugs with them and put them in different places (for the dog to detect).”

With the support of the Millersville Borough and Southern Regional Police Departments, a search of all lockers, bathrooms and locker rooms was conducted with the use of the drug-detection canines.

The school administration made an announcement saying the hope is that students continue to be part of the solution in helping to make schools safe places to learn by reporting any drug use to an adult.

The use of the drug detection canines adds an additional element of security for all students and adults at Penn Manor High School according to the letter that was sent home with the students.

Penn Manor’s school resource officer was not involved with the search because, “his burden of proof is much higher than our burden of proof,” said Gale.  “[School Administrators] have to have reasonable suspicion and [police] need probable cause.”

When dogs detected specific areas in the school, they were marked to be further investigated.  After the search was completed and the canines left, administrators searched the marked areas.  No lockers were opened while the police or canines were still in the school.

Several lockers were detected, about a dozen students were called out of class to watch their locker get searched, according to Gale.  There were at least two administrators who searched each locker, along with the student, if a student occupied the locker.

The areas that were most frequently hit (indicated by the dog) were water fountains and door handles.  These areas are commonly touched during the school day and traces of substances could be left on them.

Gale had three major reasons for the random drug search;

1. “We have had a number of drug violations over the drug and alcohol policy this year.”

2. Keeping the school a safe environment.

3. Southern Regional police are a part of our school district so we wanted  to work with them.

“There were a number of hits due to the sensitivity of the dogs,” said Gale, “nothing was found.”

Bath Salts – A New Danger

By Cassey Graeff –

Nothing better than enjoying a bath with some great smelling bath salts.

Right? Not anymore.

Instead of using bath salts for their proper use in the bath tub, people have recently used chemicals labeled as bath salts as a drug by injecting, snorting, eating or smoking them. This new drug is highly dangerous and emergency bans have been issued in Louisiana, North Dakota and Mississippi.

Warning: Bath salts may have severe side effects, including paranoia, hallucinations and sometimes violent behavior.

Penn Manor students Jaq Presbery and Maddy Hess have both heard about bath salts from either friends or the Internet, but don’t know much about them.

“My dad asked me about it,” said Hess.

Darrin Donmoyer the coordinator of the Student Assistant Program (SAP) at Penn Manor High School said, “It’s the same type of mentality, people are trying to find a way around the law and get the high.”

Calls regarding bath salts to poison control centers across the nation have skyrocketed in the past few weeks.  According to USA TODAY, bath salts have been compared to cocaine and methamphetamine because of the addictive characteristics.

“One of the news channels did a story about it,” said Erin Hess a student at Penn Manor.

According to NPR, the chemical in bath salts is called MDPV, which is similar to cathinone and is found in khat an African plant that produces leaves that are then chewed. The chemical found in the khat plant are not organic, therefore are made in drug labs.

“I honestly wouldn’t have guessed that bath salts are dangerous,” said senior Sam Eshleman.

Donmoyer said he didn’t know of anyone at Penn Manor using the chemicals but warned students to be careful.

“The potential is there for that (the use) to happen,” he said.

“I have heard about somebody using it at a nearby high school,” said senior Samantha McCrery.

Word spreads like wildfire when new trends appear. Whether it is a trend of Ugg boots and The North Face coats or new drugs to try, students follow them and give whatever it is a whirl.

“They are willing to try anything to get a high,” said Donmoyer.

Replace Your Winter Coats with T-Shirts: A Sneak Peek of Spring is Here

By Alex Geli and Kendal Phillips

There are things around Penn Manor High School that haven’t been very prevalent lately.

Legs. Grass. Parking spots.

According to The Weather Channel, the forecast for Wednesday through Friday shows average temperature highs of 56 degrees Fahrenheit with Monday having a high of 49, Thursday, 57 and Friday, a whopping 62. With little chance of rain on all three days, students will surely be taking advantage of of the unexpected warm weather by showing off a little skin – while it lasts, anyway. After all, it is still winter.

Expert storm analyst and forecaster from Millersville University, Eric Horst, explained the rise in temperature as “unseasonably warm,” adding, “maybe we’ll have a shot at the record (7o degrees) if the sun is out all day (Friday).”

Horst explained why the sudden increase in temperature happened in the middle of February, saying that atmosphere is going through a seasonal transition where the jet stream is “highly erratic.”

Usually the transition starts in March, but it is “not unprecedented in February.”

So Al Gore, hold your horses.

“It’s not global warming,” he said.

This heat wave will not last long, according to Horst. Wind is expected over the weekend after a 30 percent chance of rain on Friday, along with a cold front on Saturday.

“It’s back to reality,” he said, but the pattern will continue with hot spots dispersed all along the months of February and March as the transition continues.

“It’s rare that the atmosphere just flips the switch and it’s done,” the weather expert said, talking about winter transitioning to spring. So people all around the country will have to strap on their seat belts as they go on a two-month long “roller coaster ride”  of temperatures until spring finally rolls around by the first week of April.

“A couple days of winter, a couple days of spring,” Horst explained. That pattern will continue to keep hopes alive for random spurts of warm weather until the rain and allergies make their debut in 2011.

So expect to see flip flops; expect to see shorts; expect to see the snow on the ground slowly diminish; expect to see more believers in Punxsutawney Phil too, because the 121-year old groundhog was right – spring might just be coming earlier than expected.

It Was Love That She Wrote

By Amber Brenner –

“We live in a broken world. The vision is hope, and hope is real.”

For many, February 11 means nothing.  But for some Penn Manor girls, it was a day of support.

Penn Manor students expressed "love on their arms." Photo by Amber Brenner

“To Write Love On Her Arms Day” comes once a year. Many people have heard of this event, seen it on clothing or wristbands, or encountered it somewhere but most don’t understand the depth of these words.

“To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

“To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to directly invest into treatment and recovery,” said Jamie Tworkowski, founder of TWLOHA, on his website.

Every year, those who support the cause of TWLOHA are encouraged to show their support by wearing purple and writing the word “love” on their forearms. There was even a Facebook event for a reminder to those who had forgotten.

Most of the people who were “attending” the event on Facebook failed to wear purple or to scribe love across their forearms. But for one Penn Manor sophomore, this was not the case.

“I support the cause because it means a lot to me,” Chelsea Miller said. “I know how they feel sometimes, and it means the world to me that there are things like this out there.”

Chelsea Miller, a sophomore at Penn Manor, shows her support for TWLOHA through her attire. Photo by Amber Brenner

Miller wore a purple tee, and a “Love is the Movement” hoodie taped a homemade TWLOHA sign with lots of quotes and pictures, and carried around a bag of candy to give to anyone who was wearing purple.

“I don’t care if they didn’t wear purple for TWLOHA day,” Miller said. “It still shows support, and it counts to me.”

Kim Blake, a junior at Penn Manor, also agreed.

“I fully support the cause of TWLOHA,” Blake said. “It should be a national day when everyone wears purple. They made announcements to wear Manheim Central’s colours after the deaths of their kids. Why couldn’t they do that for TWLOHA day? It shows support for millions of people, not just a few specific kids. People need help sometimes, and they just don’t want to find it.”

“We live in a broken world. The vision is hope, and hope is real,” Tworkowski posted on his website.

“We were never meant to do life alone,”  Tworkowski concluded.

Lampeter-Strasburg Names Former PM Principal as Superintendent

By Alex Blythe –

The Lampeter-Strasburg School District on Monday named Kevin Peart as their new superintendent. Peart, a former assistant high school and Hambright Elementary school principal at Penn Manor, will replace retiring L-S Superintendent Robert Frick starting July 1, 2011.

Photo courtesy of Lampeter-Strasburg school district website

Out of 10-15 applicants, Peart was chosen to carry out the superintendent duties at the neighboring school district.

Before joining the L-S administration as assistant superintendent in 2006, Peart was a former Penn Manor High School assistant principal and taught in the Gettysburg school district. He also lives in the school district with his wife, Megan, who works as an instructional aide at Central Manor.

“Dr. Peart is an excellent teacher and administrator as well as a friend of mine,” said Penn Manor Superintendent Michael Leichliter.

According to Leichliter, he and Peart have had similar careers.  They started as assistant principals together in 1997 at Penn Manor, Leichliter recounted,  took classes for their doctorate degrees, became building principals in 2000 and assistant superintendents in 2006.

“I am thrilled that he will be a fellow superintendent and we will get to work together again on issues related to improving education and programs in each of our schools,” Leichliter said.

Lampeter goes Chick-Fil-CrAzy

By Jake Shiner and Sam Valentin

If you like fast food but hamburger isn’t your thing, don’t fret, Chick-Fil-A is coming to East Lampeter.

John Erisman, Penn Manor history teacher and self-proclaimed huge fan of the fast food joint is absolutely jazzed about it coming to East Lampeter.

Erisman said, “I eat at (Chick-fil-A) as much as I can.”

And that was when the closest restaurant was in Reading or York.

According to Erisman it is the “best chicken in the world.”

Fans of Chick-fil-A are excited about the franchise coming to Lancaster.

Now that the first Chick-fil-A is coming to Lancaster County he plans to visit the new fast food joint as much as possible.

Plans for the 138-seat, 4,596-square foot restaurant were approved this month by the East Lampeter Township supervisors. It is to be located at Lincoln Highway East and Willowdale Drive. The hours of operation are 6:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. The restaurant plans to be open six days a week, closed on Sundays, which is one of its trademarks.

Erisman likes the customer service, quality of the food, and the chocolate milkshakes the best about the chick-fil-A franchise and expects the same from the one planned to be built in Lancaster County.

Chick-fil-A is a fast food chain that is mostly in the South but is making its way up the coast and will soon be easier to find in our area. They sell only chicken products, which is a difference from the other fast food chains in Lancaster. The chain will bring a diverse chicken menu that is unlike any other in Lancaster County.

“My boys love Chick-fil-A as well,” added Erisman.  “I’m sure that others are just as excited as the Erisman household. I am looking forward to the opening of the new restaurant.”

The Flu Season…It’s Back!

By Cheyenne Weber –

The flu season is knocking on the front door of Penn Manor High School.

Influenza, also known as the “flu,” is creeping its way into the halls of Penn Manor.

The flu is a viral infection of the nose, throat and lungs, according to information available in the school health office. The flu is spread from respiratory droplets from one infected person’s respiratory fluids from coughing or sneezing. The flu can come on to someone at anytime. A person could feel fine one minute and have a high fever the next hour, according to health officials. Infants and the elderly are more prone to becoming seriously ill from the flu than other people.

“Yes, we have been seeing students come in with flu like symptoms,” said Anne Butterfield high school nurse.

It’s easier to prevent the flu than to treat the flu, said Butterfield.  She said some prevention techniques are frequent hand washing and staying up to date with flu vaccines.

High School nurse Anne Butterfield checks students for flu symptoms. Photo by Simon Zimmerman

Flu shots are about 80 percent effective in preventing influenza. There can be a few side affects with the flu shot but usually only about 1-2 percent of people have mild flu symptoms the first 24 hours after the shot.

“Get the vaccine,” advised Butterfield.  “The flu shot vaccine covers three of the most common strains of flu that’s around.”

Gym equipment is a place germs can be spread because so many students use these facilities.

Trainer Steve Kramer and weight-lifting coach Jon Zajac said they are working very hard to keep the weight room sanitized and to keep the athletes and students healthy.

Zajac said he is wiping the bars down and cleaning the seats and benches in the weight-room and asking students to do the same after they lift.

“There have only been a couple of athletes with flu-like symptoms. I hope it stays that way,” said Kramer.

Many Penn Manor students said they aren’t very afraid of the flu but students may be forgetting how hard the swine flu hit the student body last year.

“(There are) worse things in life to be afraid of,” said junior Connor Hughes.

“It won’t happen to me,” said senior Brian Ramsey.

One Penn Manor student thinks exercising and lifting lowers his chances of getting the flu.

“Lifting and exercise increases your immune system and helps prevent sickness because when you lift you release bad toxins in your body,” said junior Kevin Holton.

According to health officials, some flu symptoms are…

  1. Fever lasting over 3 days (101 to 103 degrees)
  2. Ear pain.
  3. Sinus pain or pressure.
  4. Difficulty breathing
  5. Chest discomfort.
  6. Confusing or difficulty walking

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, Butterfield strongly recommends students stay home. Students who come to school ill with flu-like symptoms should come to the nurse’s office immediately.

Sports schedule changes due to weather

By Sarah Garner

The following sports events have been rescheduled for today:

Penn Manor Wrestling @ Spring Grove (5:30 pm, 4:15 pm weigh in, bus leaves at 3:00 pm)

Boys Varsity/JV Basketball @ Manheim Township (6:30/8:00 pm)

Boys Freshman Basketball @ Manheim Township (4:00 pm Var, JV/7th grade 4:00/5:00 pm)

Girls Varsity/JV Basketball vs. Manheim Township @ Penn Manor (6:30/8:00 pm)

Girls Freshman Basketball vs. Manheim Township @ Penn Manor (Var. 4:00 pm at HS East Gym, JV/7th grade 4:00/5:00 pm at Manor Middle)