What Distracts YOU While Driving?

Keep your hands on the wheel, feet on the pedals and eyes on the road.

Drivers continue to be distracted by the same things, no matter the age of the driver behind the wheel, including drivers here at Penn Manor.

In 2009, there were a total of 5,474 distracted driving traffic fatalities, which is 16 percent of all U.S. traffic deaths, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Seventy percent of teens say that their parents influenced them how to drive, however, adult drivers do not always exhibit the best role-model behavior. The survey found most parents exhibit the same distracted behaviors as teens,” according to Froedtert.com’s a website that track’s driving statistics.

Junior Marc Summy admits to being in an accident due to a distracted driver. Photo by Jenna Reel

“iPods, friends, loud country music, my cell phone, eating food and other people’s high beams at night distract me,” explained Marc Summy, a junior at Penn Manor High School.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports there are many distracting activities while driving that cause crashes. These activities include using a cell phone, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, grooming, reading (including maps), using a PDA or navigation system, watching a video, and changing the radio station, CD, or mp3 player.

Not only does Summy admit to being distracted while driving, but he has recently been in an accident with a 16-year-old who was not paying attention.

“I was rear-ended by a 16-year-old who was distracted by his friend who was in the passenger seat. They were talking and I guess he wasn’t looking and he hit me,” said Summy.

Nick Weidinger said that he hates when there are bugs in his car and fly around because it makes it very hard to drive.

One senior at Penn Manor High School, Tanner Kennedy, also admits to being distracted while driving.

Common things like drinking and talking on the phone distract drivers. Photo Credit to distracteddrivingpolicy.com

“I was driving and there were four big size cappuccinos on the passenger side floor for myself and my friends,” said Kennedy.  “I was on my way and there was a red light ahead so I pressed the brakes to stop and the cappuccinos spilled. At the light, I tried to pick them up and drive at the same time and I hit a motorcycle. I was going literally two miles per hour and I still had my temporary license.”

“My cell phone, the radio, mp3 player, and good looking women distract me,” said Kennedy.

Nick Hartley, also a senior at the high school, agrees that his phone, friends, music and his iPod distract him. Also, changing the song is a pain for him to do without taking his eyes off the road.

By Jenna Reel

Tough Opponents Lead to a Tough, 44-0, Defeat

Penn Manor left the end zone empty during their game against Wilson Friday night, blanked by the Bulldogs, 44=0.

The Comets set out, determined to have success, but had difficulty getting the game started, going three and out on the first drive of the game.

Soon Wilson was on the scoreboard with 7 unanswered points and increased their lead to 14-0 before the first quarter was over.

The team was enthusiastic but couldn't score any points against Wilson.

It didn’t get much better from there.

The cold, the opponent and the Comet’s inability to get their offense going even affected the crowd, as the student section began to crumble even before the half.

Although the Comets kept battling up field, they always fell short throughout the half when trying to get points.

The half-time score was a rough 28-0.

The Comets came back at half-time looking to redeem themselves, but couldn’t mount a defense against the raging Bulldogs, and were defeated 44-0.

By Brian Dunne

Attempted Deer Break-in Excites Students, Leaves Mess

By Brian Dunne, Liz Lawrence and Cree Bleacher –

There was an attempted break-in at Penn Manor High School Friday but there was no question about the suspect.  It was a deer.

At approximately 11.a.m. Friday, a frightened and apparently injured whitetail deer tried to break into Penn Manor High School by bashing into the windows of Spanish teacher William Zapata’s and several other classrooms in the language wing.

Shortly thereafter, administrators told teachers to keep their students in their homerooms until further notice.


 

The deer went missing while school administrators searched throughout the school campus.

“We’re still looking for it,” said School Resource Officer Jason Hottenstein, who circled the grounds.

Officer Jason Hottenstein searching for the deer. Photo by Brian Dunne

Many students in the classrooms were reportedly startled.

Zapata, a teacher in the Spanish department, hurried over to the window, thinking that the loud noise that hit the window and left a red smear was a paintball.

“We were sitting here doing work.  We heard a thud. I looked up and saw red smeared across the window. [The deer] looked like it was lost,” said Zapata. “An eight-pointer white tail deer.”

“We were standing by the windows, and the deer slammed against the window while we were filming. I moved, I mean it scared me,” said Zapata.

The aftermath of the deer hitting the window of a classroom. Photo by Brian Dunne

“We all jumped and saw this big blot of blood come and hit the window,” said Cheyenne Miller, a freshman that was in Zapata’s room at the time.

The damage didn’t stop there. Jill Wiedmaier, a Penn Manor FCS teacher was floored when she found out that her car was rammed by the deer while parked.

But Wiedmaier was able to take the incident in stride.

“Ironically enough if I was actually in my spot it would have hit Todd Mealy’s car, but since a student decided to park in my spot today I had to park in front of them, and then Todd in front of me,” Wiedmaier said.   “At least I have a funny story to keep in my “Penn Manor Days”  book.  Who else can say that not only was there a crazy deer running around into the walls and windows of their school, but they were lucky enough to have the deer hit their car.  Guess I better play the lottery today!”

Wieidmaier's car after getting hit by the deer. Photo by Rob Henry

Nobody could believe that this was actually happening.

“I told Mr. Dell’Estate and he thought I was joking,” said Zapapta.

“How’s that for Halloween?” said one student as a class piled into the nearby hallwa

y.

Many were left uninformed about what was going on as administration officials blocked the hallway where the incident occurred.

“I heard a deer was trying to get into a classroom through a window (from another student),” said Trevor Troup.

 

An Exceptional Talent Moves on to Bigger and Better Things

Former Penn Manor student, Jill Wiley, was bitten by the performing bug at the young age of 8, but has now turned her talents into a serious career.

She is commonly known around the halls of Penn Manor High School for being “Miss Pennsylvania,” but people also know her for starring roles in shows here at Penn Manor.

Both musically and theatrically talented, Jill has been a very busy girl, managing school, a job, and her musical and theatrical talents.

Senior Jill Wiley chose to do cyber school for her last year of highschool. Photo credit to Ibbie Howard

It all started when she auditioned for her first show at the Dutch Apple Diner Theater. After auditioning, she was told that she was not going to be in the show.

“I was mad, upset and was going to give up,” said Wiley. “I was telling myself, ‘I hate theater, it’s stupid. I give up!’ But a week later I received a phone call saying that I got the role because another girl dropped out. So I did the show,” said Wiley.

When she was young, Jill only did shows in the winter and summer, which quickley led to her performing on a more frequent basis.

“Many a times i would be in rehersal during the day for one show, while performing in the evening for another,” said Wiley.

“I performed in various areas such as Ephrata, Hershey, Harrisburg and Lancaster,” said Wiley. 

With age comes experience.

“When I was 13, I was put in the national tour for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for an ensemble (chorus). At that point, I realized with the adult actors and their positive influences that this was what I wanted to pursue,” said Wiley.

Wiley explained how she has been in over 30 musicals and 18 plays in both equity and non-equity houses or theaters. She also went to New York for musical theater intensive training.

Jill poses as Sharpay in HSM2. Photo by Andy Babin

“When I was 16, going into my sophomore year of high school, I had my first Broadway audition for ‘Spring Awakening,’ ‘Bye Bye Birdy,’ and ’13’ the musical. From there I had call backs.”

“I’d like to say that the Fulton Opera House is like my second home.Throughout the years, I have had the opportunity to perform in several past productions,” Wiley said.

Wiley’s most recent and upcoming musical is ‘The Sound of Music’ by Rodgers & Hammerstein, opening at the Fulton Opera House on December 2.  There will be a total of 37 performances.

“I am part of the ensemble as well as the Liesel understudy. I think the role of an understudy can be filled with excitement, and at the same time very nerve racking,” said Wiley.

In January Jill may be going to Florida to continue the show at the Maltz-Jupiter Theater.

“My call back audition for the show was the day before Penn Manor started their first day of school, August 30th. I chose to do cyber school for my senior year,” Wiley explained.  “I wanted to take the risk because this show was the opportunity of a lifetime. Putting that on your resume is a big deal. Had I gone to Penn Manor, I would have had to miss out on the show, and other opportunities to travel and audition elsewhere.”

Melissa Telesco, a music teacher here at Penn Manor High School, has worked with Wiley in musicals, chorus, piano and when Wiley performed for Manor Singers.

“I would dare to say in the 10 years that I have been teaching, Jill is by far the most talented student I’ve taught. She has the complete package. She can sing, dance, and she demands stage presence,” said Telesco.

“For our show ‘Curtains’ last year, she came and asked me for a background role to be the choreographer,” added Telesco.  “It’s impressive that she stepped back out of the limelight to challenge herself.”

She explained how cyber school allows her the freedom to come and go as she pleases.

“Obviously school comes first, but my schedule is so much more flexible to do those film and TV promos, meeting with possible agents and things like that,” said Wiley. “On Mondays and Thursdays I have dance and Tuesdays I have voice lessons that I’ve had since I was ten.”

Wiley said other people have an inaccurate opinion about musical theater.

“A lot of people have the misconception that performing in the music theater is just a hobby, and for some it is. However, for those who wish to pursue it as a career, your training and preparations have to start two years before you would even think about performing because it is that demanding and cutthroat of a business,” she said. “You can’t just wake up one morning of your senior year of high school and say ‘Oh, I want to go into musical theater and perform on Broadway.’

“It takes many years of hard work to handle both the physical and mental demands of being a performer,” said Wiley.

“In the world of performing in live theater, there’s nothing like it,” she said, “It takes a certain type of person to be willing to fail, and then be able to run with a full force when a moment presents itself for success.”

By Jenna Reel

Texas Teens Go Without Makeup

Step away from the lipstick.

A group of girls from Texas are going without makeup every Tuesday, but it seems to be a trend few Penn Manor girls are likely to follow.

In their effort to redefine beauty, a group of six girls from Colleyville Heritage High School, in Texas made a push to promote self-confidence and female empowerment by walking the halls without makeup.

Mikah Farbo of Penn Manor often wears no makeup around school. Photo by Mary Treier

Here at Penn Manor High School, it is rare to see girls without makeup. Many say they wear makeup because they think it makes themselves look better and would not go without it.

“I definitely care how other people see me,” senior Brittany Wright said.

Although going to school without makeup could be a challenge for girls who are used to cover up, mascara, eye liner and blush, there are some who wouldn’t mind joining The “Redefining Beautiful” campaign, as it is called.

“I’m confident about myself whether I’m wearing makeup or not” said Dani Warfel, a student at Penn Manor High School.

“I think girls at Penn Manor should be more confident in themselves because they don’t need all that makeup. The key is to make it look like your not wearing any,” said senior Jeremy Vital.

Beck Shue of Penn Manor High School wears makeup around the halls. Photo by Mary Treier

The Texas girls were inspired to start this campaign after hearing about Operation Beautiful, which has a goal to improve self confidence for females everywhere. The members of the group are responsible for posting anonymous notes and messages in public bathrooms and other locations for other women to later find.

“They should also know they are beautiful without it as well and I feel a lot of girls forget that,” said Jeff Ford.

By Mary Treier

Some Teens Not Pressured to Work

Just because the economy is still struggling, it doesn’t mean every teen is trying to get out and help their parents by paying for their own expenses.

In fact, the annual average employment rate for teens has hit its lowest mark in 56 years, according to the National Youth Employment Coalition.

Between extracurricular activities and their family commitments, students at Penn Manor have different takes on whether they should be employed.

“During the summer, my parents want me to have a job to help save up for college and for me to pay for my insurance, but during the school year, they don’t want me having to deal with school, cheerleading and a job,” explained senior Samantha McCrery.

Some teens’ parents are very lenient when it comes to having their children unemployed. By paying for all of their kids expenses such as car payments, insurance, gas and spending money, the children do not have to worry about being employed.

Newspaper's bargain counter show who and where are hiring. Courtesy of Google images

“My parents pay for all my expenses: gas, insurance, clothes, food, everything. They want me to be unemployed,” Stef Friedman said.

Other parents want their kids to have a  job and make their own money.

Only 33 percent of teenagers, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, ages 16 to 19 were employed in 2008.

“My parents prefer me to be employed during high school,” junior Taylor Goldberg states, “they have me paying for gas and I paid for my car, but they pay for everything else.”

There are other reasons students are unemployed, which include the economy. Many employers look to hire people over the age of 18. This age restriction causes problems for teens who are trying to locate a job. Restaurants that serve alcohol and some retail stores have that age limit restriction for hiring.

That’s what happened to a Penn Manor teen who applied for just such a job.

“It was bogus because it was a janitor job that I applied for, anyone can clean. It shouldn’t take an 18 year old or older to clean,” said senior Zach Miller, who applied for a job, but didn’t get it.

By Jordann Stekervetz

Penn Manor’s Very Own Version of the Apprentice

Let’s see if hard work pays off.

That’s the attitude of many students in Amy Wall’s Marking and Law class. As they compete against others in their class, in the Apprentice Competition for the next week, they do everything they can to make the most amount of money for their team.

There are four groups competing against each other, trying to advertise and sell their product better than the others.

“Sweetness” is selling puppy chow, gum and soda, “White Rabbit” is selling milkshakes and tie-dye t-shirts, “Thundercat’s Milkshakes” are selling obviously milkshakes and “That Fish Shack” is offering a game where you can win goldfish.

“Mr. Zeigler started it about ten years ago,” said Wall, a business teacher at Penn Manor.

“Part of it goes up for donation, and how you place, you get to pocket like all the money,” said junior Alex Murr.

Useful advertisement strategy used by "That Fish Shack." Photo by Brian Dunne

There are many things that go into this hands-on project. In the class students learned how to grab people’s attention. Some of the techniques the group, “Sweetness,”  used were hanging up big signs, having everything on the table so people could see it and wearing shirts that go along with what they were selling.

One of their tactics was to have a costumed White Rabbit walking around the cafeteria to promote their merchandise.

“They get to apply everything they learned,” said Wall.

“You have to balance something that’s good with price,” said Murr. “You have to take into account advertisement, which costs money. You can get sponsorships, but we don’t have any.”

The groups had about three weeks to a month to work with their group to come up with an idea and presented their plan in front of the class last week.

“We started out with a $100 loan that we have to pay back,” said Murr.

“The money comes from the Penn Manor Education Foundation,” said Wall.

The most successful group she ever had in her class made $700 after paying back the deposit, and the least amount of profit made was a mere $8.

All four groups are doing so well that at this point it’s still anyone’s game.

“If we’re not in the lead, we’re in the top two,” said Murr.

“I think were doing pretty good, but I honestly don’t know,” said Abby Buckwalter. “It’s messy and annoying.”

Buckwalter is a part of “Thurdercat’s Milkshakes.”

Now that they have started selling their goods, they realize how messy it is to make milkshakes at such a fast pace.

After a few days of actual business, many groups figured out what they should have done differently.

“The T-shirts are a little pricey,” said Michael Weber, a group member of “White Rabbit.”

Many groups participating in this project stick with selling food and drinks, but one group decided to take a chance and use something different.

Junior Suarez, a group member in “That Fish Shack” said, “We might be the underdogs because we chose a different idea.”

However the novel idea seems to be working out so far.

“Right now the gold fish group is in first place, as of this morning,” said Wall.

By Liz Lawrence and Brian Dunne

In Contrast, It’s Good to be American

An eye-opening experience undoubtedly.

On Monday, two Honduran men, Professor Henry Garcia and Aldrin Borjas, took a tour of the Penn Points news room with nothing less than shocked faces.

Henry Garcia, and Aldrin Borjas overlook the Penn Points news room. Photo by Brian Dunne

Garcia, the regional director of Perspire Choluteca school district in Honduras is here learning how an American school works. Things such as teaching strategy, format and what type of facilities we use are all questions to which he is seeking answers.

With the help of his translator, Mark Mentzer, Garcia said, ” The biggest difference between our school district and Penn Manor is we have very little materials, don’t have enough desks and chairs and no audio and visual learning equipment.”

“One of the things we’re hoping to do is a teacher exchange.” Garcia said, “where teachers from Honduras would come here and teachers from here would go to Honduras. Hopefully that experience would create a positive attitude for the teachers.”

“We can learn a lot of things from coming here and seeing the education in America,” Garcia added.

Honduras is the second poorest country in the Americas, and it shows in their budget.

“Teachers make about $400 a month and we have about 300 teachers,” Garcia said.

That’s a sliver of the $67 million annual Penn Manor’s budget.

Henry Garcia, Aldrin Borjas, Steven Mentzer, Mark Mentzer. Photo by Brian Dunne

With 6900 kids in their district, compared to 5500 in Penn Manor, there isn’t enough money for every kid to have pencils or every teacher to have chalk. This makes education in Honduras very challenging, to say the least.

Mentzer explained that the money the school receives is paid directly by their central government. Yet, the school district is extremely reliant on generous people around the world to help pay for education for their students.

By Jessen Smith

Gas Prices Burning Holes in Students’ Wallets

That day of the week that everyone dreads is always here before you know it, filling up the tank.

As the year goes on, prices at the pump are going up. Students and faculty are starting to find transportation quite difficult. It is a constant expense if you have a job or are attending school regularly, you are always spending money.

Filling up tanks can be a huge purchase for some people depending on what type of car they drive.

Senior Alex Blythe said, ” I drive a Mitsubishi Galant and it takes around $35 to fill up my tank. I am at the pump every single week to fill up. I work at Giant and they barely pay enough to help with gas. If I ever had to drive an SUV, I would never be able to afford it.”

President Barack Obama suggested some ways to help the gas situation.


Photo courtesy of .blog.newsok.com/

“We should be investing in new technologies,” he said, “so we can replace the internal combustible engine, which has served us well, but it’s time for us to move on, because we want to get rid of fossil fuels.”

It’s difficult for students to think about new technologies when are finding that paying for gas is becoming quite difficult, even with having a job.

“I drive a 2001 Mazda Protege and it takes about 25-dollars to fill my tank,” senior Cheyenne Brubaker said. “I work three days a week at two Cousins in Millersville and it takes one day to pay for a tank of gas and I am paying weekly.

A few seniors have a good paying job but would rather be saving up their money for something else that would benefit them for the future.

Like senior Jenna Spayd who drives a 1996 Dodge Neon.

“It takes around 30-dollars to fill my tank each week,” Spayd said.  “Even though I work four to six days a week and get paid well, it is still difficult to find money for gas sometimes. There are better things I could be spending my money on. Gas is a once and done thing, you pay for it and when it’s gone it’s gone, you can’t re-use it. I would much rather be putting my money towards something for college, like a new laptop.”

Brubaker said, “It’s hard because teenagers have to pay for college application fees, visits and just college in general. That is a big expense for a teenager to be paying for. With being in school it gets difficult because that means less working hours each week for students.”

By Allana Herr

Is There Really a Bias toward Football in Coach’s Salaries?

Note: This story is one of a series of articles focusing on how Penn Manor spends its money.

Football is one of Penn Manor's most popular sports.

As the cliche goes, the focus is on football at most public schools.  Sometimes it seems as if Penn Manor follows suit. Or do they?

A recent review of compensation payments for coaches in the school district revealed what coaches were making in different sports and exactly how big their budgets were.

Penn Manor’s football coach is paid $8,155 for coaching the football team this year, while the tennis coach and the golf coach are only paid $4,236 per year. This is added on to their normal teacher salaries if they teach in the district, like a bonus would be added on a regular job. But why is there a major difference for what the coaches get paid for different sports, and why is football the highest paid of all the sports teams?

“There is a system in place,” said Michael G. Leichliter, Penn Manor’s Superintendent.

The system was put in for all of the the sports teams years ago, Leichliter explained, and it is based on the intensity of the season, and how many games there are per season. Also taken into account is the amount of hours that a head coach puts into coaching and preparing a prospective team during their practices and games.

The football team also has more employees and coaches than any other team – 13 paid employees and four volunteers are listed on the budget. The boys golf team has the least number of paid employees, at just one coach.

“I don’t think we need any more coaches. We’re good the way we are,” said Mark Dano, one of Penn Manor’s golf players.

Mark Dano is the leading player on Penn Manor's golf team. Photo by Kyle Hallett

The cheer leading team has only three paid employees. The lowest paid employee gets $2,504, compared to $934 for the lowest paid football assistant.

Is there a call for a reevaluation in coaching salaries as the date for teacher contract renewal approaches?

“I’d say that the reason why one will universally see that football coaches have a higher salary is because of the demands, number of athletes, expectations and community interest that come while coaching football is a bit different,” said the head of Penn Manor’s football team, Todd Mealy.

The range salary for high school football coaches in Pennsylvania is anywhere from $7,000 to over $10,000.

This may seem like a lot, but in some states it is not uncommon for high school football coaches to be paid up to $100,000. At Chaminade Prep in California, their head coach has a salary of nearly $100,000 – a rate that many coaches make in Texas, home of the historically football-crazy schools.

Colleges put a huge stake in the success of their teams. Last year, the salary of a college football coach was anywhere from $140,000 to $4 million.

Professional football coaches are the highest paid of all the levels of play, with salaries between $1.25 million and $8 million.

According to Mealy, he actually took a pay cut to come to Penn Manor. Before coaching here, Mealy taught and coached at McCaskey.

“If I had a family to consider back in 2007 when I decided to come to Penn Manor, I don’t know if I would have accepted the job because of the salary reduction.” he said.

The football coaches get paid the most out of all the sports teams and have one of the largest budgets. They spend a large amount of time training their team, going to games, organizing the lineup and analyzing plays.

“What could determine the amount football coaches make is the tradition that the school possesses.  A school district may put huge stock into its football team’s win-loss record. Since that district, with community backing, takes a tremendous amount of pride in its football team, it makes sense to me that they will pay their football coach a high salary,” added Mealy.

Todd Mealy, Penn Manor's head football coach

Football Fridays are a chance for Penn Manor students to socialize, chat with their friends, and watch their home team play for victory. The other Penn Manor teams have fewer fans in attendance – especially cross country and hockey.

“Nonetheless, successful head coaches of every sport love what they do.  And I’m sure they’d hold what I call a Ph.D mentality – meaning that they hunger for success and will work very hard no matter what they get paid.  Coaches coach because they love teaching kids the sport that they have the most passion for,” said Mealy.

by Gabrielle Bauman