On Sunday morning four Manheim Central students: 9th grader DeVaughn Lee, 10th graders Nicolas Bryson and Cody Hollinger, and 11th grader John Griffith were killed in a car accident on Mount Wilson Road. All four boys were on the school’s football team.
Schools around Lancaster County are going to be showing their sympathy and support for the families of these four boys by wearing maroon, one of Central’s school colors, on Friday, January 21.
Show support on Friday 1/21/11 by wearing Manheim Central's school color, maroon.
Shayna Sanchez, a junior at Penn Manor said she personally knew one of the boys, John Griffith, “I think it’s a really good idea for those who were close to the boys,” said Sanchez, “it’s an easy way for us all to mourn together.”
A Facebook group was created to invite people to join the cause and wear maroon on Friday. This is meant as a way for students and faculty from surrounding schools to silently show their support.
Senior, Brian Ramsey stated, “I think it’s pretty awesome, it’s a cool thing, and it shows support.”
Penn Manor students, please help our school and show your support.
“I thinks it’s good that people are showing support to the friends and family members of this tragic loss,” said sophomore Xavier Suarez, “It’s a sad thing that happened.”
By Lyta Ringo and Kayla Pagan. Jordann Sterkevetz also contributed to this story.
Some play to stay in shape, but most are there to get serious.
At the start of the rec game, the guys have to show off their vertical to get the ball. Photo by Kyle Hallett
Rec basketball has been around long before most of the current Penn Manor students were born .
Every year, during the winter, the boys that participate in the aggressive game are anxious to get out on the court and give it their all.
The league consists of multiple teams (Penn Manor students only) who are organized and coached by parent volunteers. With about eight people per team, there are ten games and then the play offs. The season begins at the end of December and ends at the beginning of March.
These two months are some of the students’ favorite time of year.
“Rec basketball is not a sport, it’s a lifestyle,” said player Aaron Lugo.
Lugo says he takes rec basketball seriously because it is very important to him. Lugo lifts in the weight room during the off-season to prepare for the next year.
Austin Richwine plays because he loves the game. Richwine says he doesn’t get too competitive, yet has the right competitive edge for the game.
“It takes a true man to be a rec baller,” said Richwine.
Alex Kirk claims he is not the best player on the team, but he puts in a lot of team efforts.
“I play to get the girls,” said Kirk.
Kirk says he must take rec seriously because it cost $50 for the registration fee.
Harry Manning is not one to express many emotions at all, but on the court he is a different person.
“I mostly just play to stay active, but I am serious sometimes,” said Manning.
One person that has a different outlook on rec basketball is Jeff Ford.
Ford plays only because it is something to do.
“I try to be good but not take it serious,” said Ford.
Kirk sinking his foul shots. Photo by Kyle Hallett
Others have different goals for the sport.
“I play for the ladies, pride and obviously the bragging rights over all the other kids in the school,” said Spencer Barnett.
Barnett says he is not the best player because his team members are all one that play together.
Whether playing for the ladies, the bragging rights or the exercise, rec basketball will continue to be a favorite winter past time for boys at Penn Manor.
This is the first in an occasional series on Penn Manor alumni who lead interesting lives.
Protecting the oceans in some way, shape or form is one of Penn Manor’s alumni’s way of life.
Daniel Navin is a consultant working to develop new commercial coral mariculture techniques that can be carried out by coastal folk around Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority.
Navin had always wanted to be a marine biologist and after graduating from Penn Manor High School in 2003, he attended Millersville University. Following his childhood dreams, Navin majored in biology with a concentration in marine biology.
“I knew I really wanted to protect the oceans in some way,” Navin said.
Throughout high school and college, Navin worked for That Fish Place in Centerville for seven years, familiarizing himself with a wide array of saltwater fish and coral. He worked in the fish room caring for the fish where he eventually became a supervisor.
Once in college, Navin and a buddy from That Fish Place started a side business in his parent’s basement, farming live corals.
“We constructed a salt water pond, hooked up powerful filtration and lighting, and then began purchasing South Pacific stony coral colonies and farmed them in my basement pond,” Navin explained.
Small corals collected from the ocean. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
After these corals matured, they then sold back their “crop” to That Fish Place and various other walk-in clients.
While at Millersville, Navin was selected to be a member of a research team that was taken to the island of Roatan, off of Honduras, to do a study on the coral reef system down there. He and his team performed many belt transects which are used to investigate the distribution of organisms in relation to a certain area, using SCUBA, and analyzed the frequency of coral disease on the reef.
After Navin graduated college in 2008, he obtained an internship at the Bimimi Biological Field Station (shark lab) in South Bimini, Bahamas.
Navin said,”I got to spend a couple of months at this awesome field station capturing, tagging and performing behavioral trials on sharks. It was really fun!”
Navin was in the PA Army National Guard all throughout college and a few months after returning from the Bahamas, he was deployed to Iraq with the US Army for 10 months as an infantry sniper.
Two coral farmers show the fruits of their labor.
“Good times,” Navin recalled, “good times.”
Upon returning from Iraq in 2009, a week later, Navin was supposed to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina but a big storm scratched those plans.
“So I reluctantly followed my friend to an aquarium trade show, called MACNA in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the show, there was a booth for a newly developing aquarium industry located in PNG, which is in southeast Asia, north of Australia. I began talking with the people behind the booth and the next thing I knew, I was handing them my resume and scheduling an internship in PNG,” Navin said.
Corals collected were analyzed to see how healthy they were. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
As an “after Iraq holiday,” Navin went to Australia with a few of his army comrades and after his trip there, he swung by PNG and volunteered for the SEASMART program for three weeks. At the end of the internship, they offered him a job and he has been there since .
SEASMART was a government funded program that has since been discontinued and he now works directly for the PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA).
Navin’s job is to consult and assist the NFA with establishing ocean-based coral farms, or mariculture sites, at various locations around PNG.
“My job involves SCUBA diving, collecting portions of wild corals to serve as mariculture brood-stock, propagating coral colonies, and marketing the farmed corals to aquarium trade importers around the world, most of which are based in L.A.,” said Navin.
Navin’s job is very environmentally friendly. Farming coral, as well as sustainably collecting fish for the aquarium trade, places a direct cash incentive on coral reef conservation. The coastal people in PNG are less likely to blow up coral reefs with dynamite, stun fish with cyanide or pollute their waters if they are earning money off an income source that is 100 percent dependent on a healthy reef.
“Penn Manor definitely had an influence on shaping me into the person that I am today. I took many math and science courses, and the teachers who taught those courses inspired and prepared me me to pursue a science major in college,” Navin said. “Courses including oceanography with Mr. Bender and all of the biology, chemistry, math and physics courses that I took definitely had an impact, especially preparing me for college,” said Navin.
Navin also took a photography class, which he is using skills from today to do underwater photography, snapping pictures of him and others in action.
“I give a lot of credit to my teachers and friends who motivated me to join the military, which probably had the biggest influence of all on me. My experience in the army gave me skills that helped me excel in my job today (leadership, self-confidence, problem solving and field survival),” said Navin.
Navin’s biggest words of advice to all of whom are attending college is to get internships. He goes on to explain that a basic degree without practical field experience is not enough to get by these days.
“I probably would not have the job I have today if I didn’t have a resume full of field experience from my internships,” said Navin.
Daniel Navin enjoying his time with the Tufi tribesmen. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
Navin has been in PNG for ten months and plans to stay there for another year yet if all goes accordingly. Navin has visited his family once for a couple of weeks since he’s started in PNG in July, and won’t again until about the same time this year.
Navin is not too sure on his plans for the future but will never step away from the fisheries field. Either way, it’s going to be the “life aquatic.”
“I have the best job in the world. Not only do I get paid to play in the ocean but I get to help very impoverished coastal people in PNG explore new income opportunities involving farming coral.”
Sweaty hands, jitters, constantly glancing at the clock.
These symptoms are experienced by salivating students right before the bell rings, enabling them to rush to the cafeteria to sate their respective appetites.
Those same students devised a top 5 list of their favorite lunches – those which are deemed necessary to elevate their walk to lunch to a moderate sprint. The most popular lunch of course is, you named it, popcorn chicken. This is followed closely by the pretzel ham and cheese sandwich and tangy tacos. Fourth and fifth places are the ever-present bacon cheeseburger and the elusive pasta bar.
Lunches include a student’s choice of milk, dessert and a side.
Students hurry through the lunch line to get to their tables.
“We prepare about 50 more meals for each lunch on the days we know we’re serving school favorites,” said Lisa Caldwell, a cafeteria worker at Penn Manor. “It helps to get kids out to the tables faster when we’ve got extra meals made, ready to be served.”
As far as favorite meals go, the cafeteria workers sing a slightly different tune. The workers’ list of our favorite school foods also starts with popcorn chicken. Then, sizzling in comes the hot ham and cheese sandwich – no pun intended. Third place is where the cafeteria workers’ opinions of food favoritism begins to differ, with grilled cheese being the third place winner. Landing in fourth place is twisted sticks – no pun to be intended there. And finally, in fifth, the bacon cheeseburger.
“When I think about my favorite lunch (tangy tacos), I tend to get very excited and run to lunch,” Kyle Kahn, a Penn Manor senior said. “Me gusta tangy tacos.”
A short animation, by a Penn Manor student, depicting the rush for popcorn chicken. Credit: Ryan Krause.
Juniors Joey Jackson and Brandon Schuman both claim to be die-hard fans of popcorn chicken.
“I love popcorn chicken SO much,” said Jackson. “I look forward to it almost as much as summer vacation.”
Senior Zach Schaeffer studies the selection of fruit for lunch.
Schuman’s favorites also include the bacon cheeseburger and twisted sticks.
Students of all shapes and sizes look forward to the bell that dismisses them to go grab their meals. The same sensation is also felt when more than 2000 sets of eyeballs are all staring at the clock, waiting for 2:45 to come.
The list of favorite lunches may vary from person to person, group to group, but one thing is certain: popcorn chicken will always reign supreme.
The sounds of pigs squealing, fans blowing the dust off cows and the mixed melody of human voices on the hunt for farm fresh food signals the 95th Farm Show is in town.
Cows get washed and are blown dry before their class. Photo by Kendal Phillips
Held in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex, the event has once again given Penn Manor Future Farmers of America (FFA) members a showcase to display their skills and produce.
Katrina Reiff, a sophomore, showed off her cross-bred pig, Big Bang, on Monday. She showed Big Bang in Class 15, which was one of the heavy weight (between 268 lbs. and 280 lbs.) classes for pigs. Katrina has been a member of Manor FFA for the past two-years, but was part of the 4H club for five-years.
“I just show pigs in FFA, but I also show lambs and dairy cows at the Lampeter Fair,” Reiff explained.
When showing pigs, you have to have them look presentable. “You have to wash them, clip them, and clip their ears and tail,” Reiff explained, “some people also use sprays to make them look shiny.”
Reiff also ended up winning master showman for her class, but did not end up making sale which means the animal was not in the top half of the class to qualify for the Farm Show auction.
After the animals are shown, they get sold off and it is hard for non-farm teens to understand the emotional side of it.
“Since I have been doing this for so long, it doesn’t really phase me,” explained Reiff,
Katrina with her pig Big Bang. Photo by Kendal Phillips
“But I am going to be a little sad about selling Big Bang, she has been my favorite pig since I started showing.”
Kaleb Long, a senior, also showed his Duroc pig in the lightweight class. Long ended up winning the master showman award for his class.
Hogs are not the only animals shown out at the farm show. Lambs, steer, dairy cows and many other animals re able to be shown also.
Another Penn Manor student, junior Alex Kuhl, has been doing rodeo for four-years and participated in bull-riding at the Farm Show. “It (bull-riding) is a good degree of difficulty,” Kuhl explained, “It can and can’t be painful. I have broke my arm, hyper-extended the elbow, tore my spleen and have had four concussions.”
Goats take a nap in their pens at the Farm Show. Photo by Kendal Phillips
Along with the rodeo and bull-riding, the farm show hosts barrel-racing, wagon-pulling, plus many other entertaining events throughout the week.
In students’ minds, teachers are like robots, constantly wearing a suit and tie, even to bed. They don’t communicate with the outside world. After all, no time is available for free time. Their to-do list consists of grading papers and getting lesson plans done for the next day. The duties are then repeated 180 times until the school year ends. Sadly, teenagers are mistaken.
These are the true stories that explain what those robots are actually doing when they’re done lecturing and grading papers. This is “Inside the Lives of Teachers.”
“Do you know what you’re about to do? You’re making history. You’ll always be the first Lancaster Barnstormer.”
The original manager of the Lancaster Barnstormers, Tommy Herr, said those exact words to a current teacher at Penn Manor High School by the name of Matthew Scheuing.
Scheuing in his Barnstormers Uniform. Photo Credit: lancasterbarnstormers.com
Scheuing was, indeed, the first player to ever sign with the Barnstormers where he went 6-6 pitching in their inaugural season.
After graduating from Millersville where he pitched undefeated in his freshmen year, Scheuing became part of the initial Barnstormers team, all the while looking to be drafted into Major League Baseball.
But the most important body part of his baseball career – his arm – held him back at the time. Yet Scheuing wasn’t going to quit trying to achieve his ultimate goal: to be drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I wasn’t a standout by any means,” said Scheuing of his early years playing ball.
Things weren’t looking too great to start off his baseball career.
By six years old, Scheuing was playing the game of baseball in the West End Organization and Safe Harbor. By the end of high school, his range of sports enhanced and gained variety.
“I played a lot of sports,” Scheuing said. “To be honest, I liked basketball more. Soccer and cross country conditioned me for baseball and basketball.”
His first momentous decision was choosing between baseball and basketball.
“In the end, I’m left-handed,” Scheuing said, “and left handers are rare (in baseball), especially in terms of pitchers.” He also added, “6 (feet) 3 (inches) in college is not that tall for legitimate basketball.”
“I ultimately chose baseball.”
With his first decision out of the way, Scheuing had to prove himself on the field at Millersville University.
Having a zero in his loss column in his first year sure helped with his cause.
In his freshman year, Scheuing went undefeated as a starter in Division Two baseball. The team, overall, went 45-14.
“We were a run away from getting to the college world series,” Scheuing said, looking back.
In his sophomore year, he finished as “one of the top pitchers in (his) conference,” Scheuing noted, accumulating only two losses. This caused some stir in the MLB and talk of Scheuing getting drafted started fluttering around.
In fact, one of Scheuing’s teammates did get drafted into the Phillies’ organization, and while scouts were there focusing on that player, Scheuing got a chance to show off some of his talent.
“I impressed some people,” Scheuing said.
At that point, he was unfortunately unable to get drafted because of his age.
“You have to be a junior or 21 years old to be eligible,” Scheuing said. The 20-year old sophomore was still just a bit too young.
Despite the letdown, Scheuing kept on rolling toward his goal, counting down the days until he turned 21.
In his junior year, Scheuing journeyed to Germantown, Maryland to play in the Clark Griffith League where college students of all ages would flaunt their skill. To be exact, the current history teacher played against guys all around the nation from colleges including Virginia and Florida State.
They were “top, top line,” said Scheuing.
There, Scheuing led the team in wins, a now common trend in his baseball career.
Virginia seemed to be Scheuing’s favorite place when he went down again to play with the Peninsula Pilots.
“(There), I finished just ahead of a guy named Justin Verlander in terms of ERA,” Scheuing said with a smirk.
Verlander would later become a Major League level player with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 2006. He also has thrown a no-hitter once in his career. Adding to his accolades, Verlander has finished 7th, 5th and 3rd in the American League Cy Young voting.
Not only had he finished ahead, statistically, of Verlander, in ERA, when Scheuing played for the Virginia team, he also had another neat experience while with the Pilots.
Before a game, Scheuing was practicing on the field, not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. That’s exactly what happened, though.
“All of a sudden, a guy got out from an Escalade, takes my glove and asks me to play catch,” Scheuing recalled.
Guess who? Philadelphia Eagles’ superstar and MVP contender, Michael Vick, was the surprise guest.
“I started to create some buzz,” he said.
Buzz? If leading a college-level team in wins is creating buzz, then what would coming out victorious against the Phillies’ minor league team which included studs like Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz be? Full-out vibration? Yep.
In the summer after Millersville’s baseball season was finished, Scheuing and his teammates would go down to Clearwater, Virginia to compete against the Phillies’ minor league system. In 2003, Scheuing started against Cole Hamels, a future World Series MVP. By the end of that game, Scheuing retained something that he could gloat about for the rest of his life. He beat the Phillies’ minor league squad with Hamels at their helm, 6-1. Millersville became the first ever college team to beat those future major league-ers.
Speaking of greats, he once sent Howard, a Major League Baseball All Star, Home Run Derby and World Series Champion, back to the bench dumbfounded as he went down on strikes. That strikeout was not only with two outs, but with the bases loaded no less. Talk about pressure… Maybe that’s the reason why he was “vibrating.”
“(That) may have been one of the scariest moments of my life,” he said.
By that time, the 22-year old was thinking he was right on track toward his goal.
“I assumed I was getting drafted,” Scheuing said – then the worst situation that any athlete can think of came out of his mouth – “but then I got hurt.”
Teaching and coaching have been Scheuing's top priorities since retiring from baseball. Photo credit: Alex Geli
“I overused my arm,” he said. Practicing too much came back to bite him in the rear and his hopes of playing professional baseball slowly withered away.
“The Phillies already came by when I was hurt,” Scheuing said. He was classified as a “red flag” because of his arm’s condition. The chance to display his talent to the Phillies’ organization blew right by him.
A visit to Penn Orthopedic, hand and elbow doctors couldn’t change the fact that Scheuing may never get that chance again.
“It seems very easy to get injured,” he said. “(It was) frustrating. I had a career set up. I was alright,” he added.
“I could have given up,” Scheuing said. “(But) when I have a goal, I work as hard as I can to achieve it. My family (also) had me keep pursuing.”
And that he did.
In 2003 and 2004, he played with the Bangor Lumberjacks in Maine.
“It was outdoorsmen’s paradise,” Scheuing said. “Not my kind of thing.”
By the time Scheuing was done with his baseball career, he had been to a variety of places like Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, Quebec and Florida.
There’s one place missing from that list, and that is Scheuing’s home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Herr, a former MLB All Star with the St. Louis Cardinals back in ’85, was starting a team in Lancaster and called Scheuing up to invite him to join the team in 2004. Scheuing was the first ever player to sign with the Lancaster Barnstormers – just in time for the new year. Scheuing was now playing professional baseball. His goal was finally accomplished.
“It felt great to be back home,” he said. “There was a ton of attention.”
In the ‘Stormers inaugural season, Scheuing had a 6-6 starting record.
“I thought I threw pretty well,” he said.
On the road ahead before signing a contract extension for the 2006 season, Scheuing had a roadblock.
On the side, Scheuing had adopted the career of teaching, but that summer, the two pathways collided.
“Spring training and student teaching overlapped each other,” he said.
A step back to look over the two subjects was taken by the 25-year-old.
History teacher Scheuing sifting through students' presentations. Photo credit: Alex Geli
“Lancaster could not guarantee I remain on the roster,” said Scheuing.
He also added, “If I missed three days of student teaching, I would have to start over, failing, forfeiting the semester.”
Another choice was laid out in front of Scheuing. He would have to choose from what he’d worked for all of his life or to what he just recently, at that time, had aspired.
“The closer to 25, if you’re not into the minor leagues, chances of getting in (the MLB) become slim,” Scheuing admitted.
“(The decision) was extremely hard,” he said, but two minuscule words swayed him toward the career of teaching.
Long term.
“You can’t play baseball forever, but you can work forever,” he said.
Scheuing then skipped out on spring training with the Barnstormers and focused on his teaching career.
Later, he “got that call from Lancaster,” Scheuing said, saying that he was being released for not showing up. His baseball career seemed to be over.
“I still wanted to play baseball,” he said. “As long as I got a place to play at this point, I’m pretty happy.”
The Pennsylvania Road Warriors was his next stop. Scheuing continued playing the game he loves up until 2007.
“I was physically getting worn out,” he said.
The next stage of Scheuing’s life consisted of coaching and beginning his teaching career.
Scheuing has been F&M's pitching coach since 2006. Photo Credit: godiplomats.com
Scheuing coached Millersville’s baseball team and has been Franklin and Marshall College’s pitching coach since 2006, winning the conference title in his first year. He is currently in his sixth year at F&M.
“You’re just playing and having fun: the root cause of playing sports,” Scheuing said about college level baseball.
As Lampeter-Strasburg’s coach, he also won the state title in 2005.
His teaching career began to look promising when an empty spot came up at Penn Manor High School. Buckling in and riding through a wild weekend was his next step.
“I pitched in Newark on Thursday, interviewed (for Penn Manor teaching job) Friday, drove to Bridgeport the same day, interviewed on the phone again from Holiday Inn parking lot, hired Saturday, drove back to Lancaster, started teaching that Monday and pitched again Tuesday.”
Take a minute and read over that again if you’d like. Maybe even a third time.
In the span of six days, Scheuing interviewed for the job twice, drove to play baseball three times, got the job and started teaching – possibly the busiest and most hectic weekend of his life.
“I can roll with whatever is thrown at me,” he said. “I was able to handle that,” while making sure he added, “not to say it wasn’t stressful.”
Just as his stress level was at an all time high, Scheuing had the honor of watching his former team, the Barnstormers, win the Atlantic League Championship in 2006 – without him, of course.
“Watching that was quite tough,” he said. “I missed out on a ring!” he said with mixed emotions showing on his face.
Up to 2010, in his fifth year teaching, regrets are one thing he doesn’t have any of.
“I love U.S. II (United States History); I love coaching; I love teaching,” he said.
Bringing home three national and one state award, Penn Points has proven to have a very successful first year.
Penn Manor High school’s Penn Points Online Newspaper, was awarded the national “Pace Maker” award by the National Scholastic Press Association. Several student journalists, Sarah Schaeffer, Taylor Groff, Dessie Jackson and Cody Erb put together a story package that won second place in the Multimedia story of the year by the NSPA. Kendal Phillips and Taylor Groff received an honorable mention in the same category.
The newspaper was considered as one of the top 10 student publications in the state when the Pennsylvania Student News Association awarded Penn Points its gold award.
It was these stories that made the online publication so successful.
Penn Points awards. Photo by Harlie Madonna
The ten top stories that were written in 2010 gave the site a significant amount of views, bringing Penn Points over 125,000 hits in just a year of publication.
Number Ten. iPhone vs Droid, the Battle Continues, written by Kyle Hallett, received 710 views this year since it was published on October 29, 2010. This story talked about the rivalry between the two top-selling smart phones the iPhone and the Droid.
Number nine. Lady Gaga Thrills her “Monster” fans, written by Whitney Reno, received 720 views since it was published on September 16, 2010. The story was written shortly after Lady Gaga performed at the Wachovia Center, in Philadelphia. Students who attended the concert were interviewed about their experiences.
Number eight. As Last Harry Potter Movie Approaches, Excitement Grows, written by Gabrielle Bauman, received 748 views since it was published on November 8, 2010. This story was written about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. Multiple students share why they were exited to see the midnight release of the new movie.
Number seven. Oodles of Noodles, written by Gabby Myers, received 800 views this year. It was published August 30, 2010. The story was about the popular meal called Ramen Noodles, most commonly eaten by college students. In the story, the author and students explain how many other things, besides eating, you can do with Ramen.
Number six. L-S Homecoming Dance Canceled, written by Jessen Smith, received 804 views since it was published on October 1, 2010. This story was published before any of the local newspapers, informing the public as to why the dance was being canceled in a neighboring school district.
Number five. Steelers Physical Defense Continues Despite Consequences, written by Ryan Mays, received 816 views since it was published on November 28, 2010. This story was written about the illegal head-to-head contact in the NFL.
Number four. Attempted Deer Break-in Excites students, Leaves Mess, written by Brian Dunne, Liz Lawrence and Cree Bleacher, received 817 views since it was published on October 29, 2010. The story was published the same day a deer saw itself in the reflection of a window in the school. The deer repeatedly ran into a window, leaving behind a trail of blood.
Number three. For Colored Girls-a Review, written by Robert Henry, received 985 views since it was published on November 9, 2010. This article was a review on a movie about twenty people, each of whom represents a character in every one of the twenty poems throughout the movie. The poems represent the daily struggles endured by women of color.
Number two. Miley Cyrus, the Newest Falling Child Star, written by Jordann Stekervetz, received a total of 3,804 since it was published December 20, 2010. This story gave Penn Points more views in one day then any other story. The site had 3,183 on the day the Miley Cyrus story was published. This story is about the teen that started her career on the Disney channel, and got caught smoking a bong.
Students seem to be able to aquire chewing tobacco despite the age limit on buying it. Photo by Damien Oswald
Number one. Dangers of Chewing Tobacco Not Needed Here, written by Alex Geiger and David Mohimani, received a total of 7,957 views since it was published on February 23, 2010. This still gets the number one hit on the daily stats almost every day. The story was written about the use of chewing tobacco, effects of the use and also the statistics of high school users.
Penn Points staff looks forward to another very successful year, gaining more knowledge about journalism and writing more award-winning stories in the coming new year.
Penn Manor’s competition cheer team is flying to new heights this season.
“This will be a big challenge for us, we are competing against teams from all over the state,” said coach Cindy Bachman
Several weeks ago, the competition squad competed for the district 3 championship at Central Dauphin East. “This is the first year that Central Dauphin East has done anything with cheer leading, so this is big,” Bachman said.
The competition went well until Penn Manor’s squad got disqualified for an illegal stunt and 30 points was deducted from their score.
A hush fell over the crowed when the Comets weren’t announced for the first place trophy. The audience could see Penn Manor was by far the best team in that division.
“This is our sixth competition and it was never mentioned on score sheets,” said Bachman.
Penn Manor had a competition at home and had the head judge reviewed their stunts, they were all legal.
So what were the Central Dauphin East judges seeing or mistaking the stunts for?
That question couldn’t be answered and the girls just had to move on.
“It was definitely a shock when we got disqualified at the Central Dauphin East competition, but our team has such a great amount of spirit and talent that for the next competition we will give it our all and hopefully come out on top!”
“It was a shame, because the girls performance was one of the best I’ve seen in awhile,” said Bachman.
The next competition Penn Manor is attending is on January 15th in Harrisburg. As of now they don’t know how many teams are going to be competing against, but its being held in the Zembo Shrine building.
“This should be a very good competition,” said Bachman.
Bachman said they are really working hard and preparing for the championship. “We bumped up the routine, added more tumbling and added doubles in our stunts.”
With one of the most talented competition squads Cindy Bachman has had in awhile she has high hopes for them and expects a lot out of them. This could be one of there better years if not, the best.
This season, 2010-11, is the first year the competitive squad was opened to a wide range of ages. The grades of the girls vary from 8th to 12th, which was a great change from years in the past. Penn Manor gained a talented athlete, Hailey Spicer, youngest on the team is is a experienced flier and is the best tumbler on the squad. She is a great addition.
Cindy Bachman is very proud of the squad this year, “The girls have been working extremely hard, and they are very dedicated. They want to win this.”
The squad is following their motto, “We’re doin’ it!”
Out of 24 events and 24 possible wins, the Tornadoes only stole three from the Comets.
Penn Manor boys and girls dominated McCaskey Tuesday night at home with an amazing score of 113 to 52 for the boys and 129 to 38 for the girls.
The first race was the 200 medley relay where Joelle Williamson, Jillian Heckman, Abby Barley and Danielle Warfel got first place with a time of 2:02.54. The boys came up next and continued the streak getting first with 1:54.10 – a time that got them into districts. That relay consisted of Cooper Lindsley, Travis Wells, Casey Wells and Trevor Byrne.
Sophomore Cooper Lindsley won his events. Photo credit to Liz Lawrence
The girls got first, second and third in the 200 freestyle. Olivia Rineer got first with a time of 2:24.95. Barley came in shortly behind her, and next was Lauren Hillegas.
Jess Burkhart, Heckman, Jenna Reel, Lauren Longenecker, Williamson and Karen Myers all won first in their individual events, giving their team a chunk of points to give them such a magnificent lead.
The only race that the girls didn’t win first place was the 100 backstroke, but they still got out of the pool with second, third and fourth places.
Steven Armstrong, Lindsley, Travis Wells, Casey Wells, Eric Bear and Blake Wales all gave their team many points when they got first place in their individual events.
The boys also got first, second and third in both the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Casey Wells came in first, swimming the 100 freestyle, with a time of 54.83. Xavier Wingenroth won second and Brian Dunne came in third. Bear got a time of 1:10.87 swimming backstroke. Ryan Dettrey came in next, and Nick Hartley followed with a strong third.
We’ve all heard the saying, “practice makes perfect,” and in this case, the hard work the swim team has put forth after school at practice has surely paid off big time.
Senior Patrick Miller is a proud member of Penn Manor’s wrestling team, even if he doesn’t always start, or star, or win.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was in third grade and every consecutive year after that so I don’t see a reason to quit now just because I’m not starting,” says Miller.
But that means Miller is part of a regime that includes cutting weight, two-and-a-half hour practices every single day, morning runs at 6:30, diet changes to stay in a certain weight class, conditioning including weightlifting, Saturday practices, sweating all the time, getting injured, and being involved in an extremely aggressive contact sport.
And, he might not get to actually wrestle in a match.
There are many athletes from Penn Manor who don’t get much playing time, get to be a star, or even a chance to show their stuff, even when many of them have true hidden talent. Sometimes their hidden talent is their knack for perseverance.
But there’s something about being part of the team that keeps them coming back.
It’s a unique mix of staying in shape, friends, van rides going to tournaments, the tournaments themselves, the challenge of cutting weight and just the fact that he’s been in it for so long that is why Miller says he sticks with it all these years.
“I don’t really know why I’m still doing it, it’s just a combination of getting an intense workout and getting pushed beyond my limit is the reason I would say I stick with it,” says Miller.
“I give a lot of respect to wrestlers who continue in wrestling and stick with it even though they won’t ever be great at it,” says Penn Manor wrestling coach Steve Hess, “Every wrestler who has stuck with it over the years has always pulled through for me at one point and won a big match, I think that’s the most rewarding part of the sport, for me, and for the wrestler himself.”
“Not starting doesn’t bother me too much, I just like being part of the team,” says Miller.
Senior Brock Kauffman is another wrestler who hasn’t started too many times this year, due to injures and issues causing him to be unable to. But he still sticks with it.
“To be honest, if you quit it kinda makes you look bad, and there are a lot of benefits to staying with the sport. I’d say friends is the main reason I’ve stuck with it for all these years,” says Kauffman.
“I think the majority of the guys stick with the sport because they want to be a part of something big and they know it’s an extremely challenging sport, so that keeps them being pushed and challenged beyond their limits,” says Hess, “The good relationships with other wrestlers is a major reason for staying in the sport too.”
Miller could have opportunities to wrestle off in certain weight classes to receive the starting position in that weight class but he hasn’t done this so far. He could drop five pounds and wrestle off Tyler Funk to try and attempt to take the starting position in the 135 lb. weight class, or wrestle off Alex Source and James McElroy in the 140 lb. weight class but isn’t very confident about beating either of those components.
It’s a wonder athletes stay in sports even when they know they may never be too talented at it, but it seems by hearing a few things from these two guys that there are definitely reasons to continue with it.
“I feel learning and achieving new things you never knew before and pushing your body beyond your limits is a main reason that the wrestlers stick with it,” says Hess.
In 2003 and 2004, he played with the Bangor Lumberjacks in Maine
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