It’s not 76 trombones. It’s more like 15 Ukuleles.
“The music department which has seen better times with the cuts at the elementary school level have something to be happy about. Four grants were just given to Penn Manor’s music department by the Music For Everyone foundation. These grants include 15 Ukuleles, two cellos, and a hand full of Orff instruments,” explained Ricciardi.
An Orff instrument is simply a wooden xylophone used primarily by younger students.
Check and cello from the Music for Everyone foundation. Photo credit by Jay Jackson.
“The Music For Everyone foundation has the grant program every year. It grants money to programs in need. In light of the budget cuts here, we could use every penny that we can get. A bunch of different teachers applied for grants. We didn’t get the full amount that we wanted but we got almost $5,000 dollars, which is better than nothing,” explained Sara Ricciardi the Orchestra teacher at Penn Manor high school and middle school.
The Music department is under much distress with more then half of their budget getting cut from the year before.
“Next year we are cut below $9,000 dollars, and that is down from $20,000. Our department alone at the high school run one about $12,000 dollars every year just for basic necessities to keep us functioning as a music department. So every penny that we get can help,” said Ricciardi.
These instruments are much needed at Penn Manor and are being put to use right away. The Ukuleles, guitars, Orff, and the pair of cellos are already in use.
“Here at the high school we had eight cellists and only four working cellos. So those cellos will be used for those students for rehearsal but we still need two more cellos. We use the Ukuleles down at Marticville, where I use it in my general music classes,” said Ricciardi.
Penn Manor got 15 Ukuleles as well in the beginning of the year from the education foundation.
“I needed 15 more so that I have a full classroom set. I can get way more done with the kids. It is like a Ukulele uprising down there.”
It isn’t just the high school music department that is getting in the fun. The elementary schools are jumping in as well. Hambright and Pequea music classes got a nice addition to their classrooms.
“The guitars are at Hambright Elementry. Lee Jordan, the teacher there, got thirty guitars and Sue Hamer at Pequea got a bunch of orff instruments,” explained Ricciardi.
There is nearly $5,000 of grants that will be spread across the district.
“We are really excited because Music For Everyone is doing this for us and they told us to apply again next year because that is there purpose, to keep music alive in the schools. So we’ll keep applying for stuff and maybe I can get two more cellos,” explained Ricciardi.
The time that affects the same victims every year.
You know, the sneezing, sniffling, itchy eye watering, nose running time of the year.
It’s allergy season.
The spring season is bringing more than warm weather. Allergies are at the top of the charts again here in Penn Manor. Sniffling, and sneezing, there seems to always be someone blowing their nose in a classroom.
What may look beautiful to most, this is a not a so beautiful sight to those who suffer form allergies.
“The seasons are getting longer—they’re starting earlier and pollens are getting released earlier,” said Dr. Stanley Fineman, president-elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and an allergist at the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic.
“There is also more CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the air, which plants feed off of causing them to release more pollen. This pollen can be more potent and more allergenic than it is with less CO2 in the air,” said Dr. Fineman.
Some students think that the allergies can be blamed by the weather changing. Most are affected by the release of pollen from flowers that are beginning to bloom.
“Trees, weeds, and flowers are blooming which is releasing pollen. Pollen is what causes allergy symptoms that causes trickily throats, runny noses, etc… Pollen is the agent causing symptoms,” said nurse Anne Butterfield.
“I just got allergies and I’m mostly affected when the weather changes drastically. In the morning my sinuses are congested,” said senior Brendan Kincade.
Not only are allergies effecting the wellness of students, it’s distracting to students and can even be embarrassing at times.
“I hate having allergies I have to blow my nose in front of people which I also hate doing.” said senior Karli Heiserman.
It seems that when not in allergy season everything is great for students and teachers, but when it finally hits, there’s no doubt that spring is here.
“I always forget about my allergies until spring time comes and it just hits me. Allergies cast a small shadow over my summer,” said science teacher Nick Schwartz.
Not everyone is as lucky as one Penn Manor student. Senior Matt Shroyer has no allergies and isn’t a victim to the terrorizing pollen.
“I can smell flowers without crying,” said Shroyer.
MaryKate Wells heard that comment from one of her own peers about her and her white boyfriend, Austin Wilson.
Although recent studies show interracial relationships are at an all time high, some are prejudice towards these relationships that remain in modern society.
“Society is still marked by racial inequality, and my worry is that it won’t get addressed,” said Rebecca Bigler, a director of the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab at the University of Texas-Austin in USA Today’s article, New generation doesn’t blink at interracial relationships.
The Loving Story is a recently released documentary about an interracial couple whose last name, coincidentally was “Loving,” living in Virginia during the 1950s. Their lawsuit against Virginia for forbidding them to live together as man and wife in the state prompted a landmark change in the law.
The case was called Loving v. Virginia, and on June 12, 1967, the supreme court overruled Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act, allowing the Lovings their marital freedom.
The Supreme Court overruled Virginia’s law, saying that denying the Loving’s “fundamental freedom” of marriage because of race is taking away each citizens liberty without a action of law.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court decision helped rescind discriminatory marriage laws in many other states as well as Virginia, Alabama held on to their laws until as recently as 2000.
The HBO documentary detailed the lives of Mildred Loving, a half-black and half-Cherokee woman and her husband, Richard Loving, who was white.
The couple did not understand why their marriage was banned by their government and tried hard to maintain their peaceful marriage in Virginia in violation of the laws at that time.
Being married in Virginia during the 1950s was a criminal offense, and the Lovings were banned from Virginia due to their marriage.
But the country has come a long way in the last half-century.
According to CNN News, “nearly one out of seven new marriages in the U.S. is interracial or interethnic,” reports researchers from the Pew Research Center.
The generation of today is less color conscious than past generations, and possibly because “six of 10 teens say their friends include members of diverse racial backgrounds,” according to a report in CNN.
Statistics show that nowadays people are more open-minded to interracial relationships, and Wells confirms this.
“I believe everyone should try dating someone different, and not just their own race. Each person is unique in their own way, and should be able to share that with the person they want,” said Wells.
That is exactly what Sam Smith and Joziah Rodriguez did when they began dating in 2011.
Smith is a white teen at Penn Manor and Rodriguez is Puerto Rican teen. Although they say they have not been judged by their friends, they have had trouble dealing with their parents attitudes.
“My mom was excited to meet him, but she said be careful because of the Hispanic boy stereotype,” said Smith.
Joziah Rodriguez and Sam Smith
“Hispanic men are stereotyped as being poor, uneducated migrant workers who have the tendency to seduce women, and leave them once they become pregnant. They are considered heart breakers, like the infamous Don Juan,” according to Chimes: Stereotypes and Gender.
But Rodriguez’s parents were just as skeptical. At first.
“My parents approved [of Smith] after they got to know her,” said Rodriguez.
Many people in past generations believed interracial relationships were wrong because of the couples’ biracial children, and these thoughts still go on by some even today.
Keith Bardwell, who is a white Louisiana justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, did not marry an interracial couple because he was concerned for the children they would have, The Grio News.
“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” said Bardwell in the article, Interracial couple denied marriage license in Louisiana.
One Virginia judge told the Lovings that their marriage and mixed-race family “violated God’s plan for humanity,” according to womenmakenews.com.
“’Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix,’” wrote the judge in his decision, according to womenmakenews.com.
However, Wells whose mother is white and father is black, is proud of being biracial, and feels it separates her from others.
“Having a white mom and black dad makes me feel unique. I have the talent and athletic ability from my dad, and the smarts and beauty from my mom. People always ask my race, and ask if one of my parents is black, and I’m not afraid to tell them the truth,” said Wells.
Wells said her parents’ relationship has taught her to open her mind beyond skin color in her relationships.
The biracial population has increased by almost 50 percent, to 4.2 million, since 2000, according to nytimes.com.
“The rise in interracial marriage indicates that race relations have improved over the past quarter century,” said sociology professor at Cornell University, Daniel Lichter.
People like Wells are making color the last factor in their life, and are putting their hearts first.
“Every person deserves to love whomever they want. No one should be forced to love anyone of their own race, but should be able to have an open mind and an open heart to whoever they want to fall in love with,” Wells said.
USA basketball is known for winning the Olympics, but maybe not this year.
With four out of the twelve players injured, including last year’s MVP Derrick Rose and the highest paid player in the NBA Kobe Bryant, the USA isn’t looking very intimidating anymore.
Photo credit: 2daysports.com Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard both hurt for olympics
The U.S. basketball team won four out of the five last Olympics, all of them under the reign of Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University Head Coach).
But this year is his last, and he wants to go out with a bang.
With all of their players 100 percent and ready to go, they’re first in the FIBA world rankings.
Derrick Rose, last years MVP, tore his ACL and MCL and is out for the remainder of the playoffs and Olympics.
Dwight Howard was the defensive player of the year for the past three years, and just got surgery on his back after having back problems for a while.He will not participate in any of the playoff games or the Olympics.
The 14-year veteran in the NBA Chauncey Billups tore his achilles tendon.
Kobe Bryant, who is the highest paid player in the NBA, suffered a shin injury mid way through the 2012 regular season. Bryant may be back in time for the Olympics, but will not be 100 percent.
All injuries occurring during the regular season, and a lot of people believe it was because of the lockout where they couldn’t train during the off season. Their bodies weren’t physically fit enough to play without getting hurting themselves.
U.S. basketball will suffer because of this, but hopefully will still come home with a gold.
When your heart is broken you feel limited, sometimes helpless and isolated at times. Now you may think I’m referring to being totally love struck, head over heels in love with some boy and then being dumped, thrown away like a piece of useless trash. I’m not.
Literally, I have a broken, blood-pumping organ in me that affected me since day one. I was born with complex congenital heart disease, transposition of the great vessel, pulmonary stenosis and a single left ventricle. If you’re not in the medical field that probably sounds like a foreign language and it took me about the same time to learn how to say all that than someone taking French would need to become fluent. In simpler terms I have about eight things wrong with my heart.
I won’t go into great detail but compared to most, who likely have four chambers in their heart, I only have three. My aorta and pulmonary artery are switched. I also have a decreased level of oxygen in my body. These are just a few of the problems but it’s really no big deal. I was just like any other kid out there. It’s hardly noticeable unless I talk about it and I don’t. Then there are some minute things people start to notice. Like I get out of breath way faster then everyone else, but yet 95 percent of the time I push myself. I don’t like to be limited.
Becca Hess
My parents raised me as if I was a normal healthy kid. I never had “the moment” when they sat me down and explained that I was different, more fragile. They let me play sports, dance, ride four wheelers and dirt bikes.
My parents said, “be careful,” and they let me fly and I was never careful. I was the kid that took a detour through the rough field, who flung my chest protector to the side, who tried to jump any obstacle in front of me. My dad actually built me a ramp one time.
I’m sure they worried but they didn’t hold me back. Even though in between my riding and jumping and playing soccer I had three open-heart surgeries, numerous heart catheterizations, breathing treatments, medication, broken arms and doctor visits for whatever else was going on.
My parents worried a lot of course, especially when I was younger playing soccer. It wasn’t too long after my last surgery and with the constant running up and down the field breathing treatments were like an extra meal being served every day. My parents had differing styles, my mom was more cautious and worrisome where my dad was all for pushing me. I guess they balanced each other well. However the summer when I was 6, my dad decided I was old enough to mow the lawn on a big riding mower. I lived in Solanco at the time and we had a big hill. A 6 year old on a riding mower, plus a big hill…yeah that didn’t fly with my mom. For the most part I was allowed to do whatever I wanted to, and I did.
They used to joke about wrapping me in bubble wrap to protect me from anything I could possibly get hurt in, because I have a tendency to push myself in an attempt to keep up or even put the competition to shame. Pain is unavoidable, it comes and goes, but I feel it’s the price you pay when you’re an athlete, a normal healthy kid just living life to the fullest. And if a little pain, whether physical or mental, is the cost I have to pay then by all means I will.
They always supported me, my parents, in whatever I wanted to be a part of whether it was a sport, or a club, it didn’t matter they tried their best to be there. Playing a sport wasn’t as easy as it was for the rest of the kids my age. It was and still is a whole different ball game for me. I have to pass a stress test in order to play. And no, I’m not talking about the kind of stress you feel during your senior year of high school, working, choosing a college, filling out the paperwork and worrying about money. The doctors put stress on my heart to see how much it can take and if my heart could withstand the physical strains of a competitive sport. They hook me up to a machine with wires and stickies all over my chest, attach this contraption to my head that looks like I’m about to have brain surgery, pinch my nose shut and shove a tube in my mouth which supplies the small amount of oxygen my body will receive. That’s not all, not even close; I then have to run on a treadmill for as long as possible while they continue to make it harder. Make it faster. Make it steeper. And as I’ve mentioned before, I push myself. About 15-18 minutes is my average time. It’s hell. Every second of it, but when you love the game, you do what you gotta do.
I love those moments in softball when the zany ball is lost in confusion for just a second and then I see it coming right at me. Plunk, in the glove. I love those soccer break-aways on the fresh mowed sod when I get the ball, it’s just me and the ball for a few glorious seconds of freedom and promise. I love the one-on-one style of basketball and long 3-pointers which swish as they hit the net. But most of all I love my team. I love how we pick each other up and cheer for each other so loud the other team finds us annoying. I love our huddles, our talks and how we proudly say Comets at the end of a 1-2-3 before and after each and every game.
I’m outgoing and adventurous and no one will tell me what I can and cannot do and when they try, I get frustrated. I don’t feel handicapped so why should I or anyone else treat me like I am? The reason I am who I am today is because of my parents. They enabled not hindered me. They supported me in sports despite the medical obstacles we had to face. They allowed me to make my own decisions and taught me to deal with and respect the consequences that sometimes followed.
As tough as it can be at times to deal with this annoyance, I believe it has truly shaped me into the person I am today. Having to deal with this since birth has greatly impacted my life, the choices I have made and my future. It has made me stronger, more independent and more focused. My physical weakness has, and always will be, my greatest motivation.
Globally, there are about 900 million Facebook users.
Worldwide, there are about 150,000 people waiting for an organ transplant.
Thousands of the 150,000 people die each year, due to the lack of donors. Now only if there was a way to get more people to be willing to donate their organs…
Well, Facebook has an idea. They plan to create a unique section called ‘Health and Wellness’ that will be attached with other biographical information where you will be able to share with the Facebook world that you’re an organ donor.
Penn Manor senior Matt Duvall is an organ donor.
“I think that this is a good idea for Facebook to have a direct link just for organ donors because if not many people want to donate then that’s their choice. But it will also help save lives and let people live a long life,” said Duvall.
According to an article in the New York Times, ‘The company announced a plan on Facebook to start advertising their donor statuses on their pages, along with their birth dates and schools- a move that it hopes will create peer pressure to nudge more people to add their names to the rolls of registered organ donors.’
“This is going to be an historic day in transplant, This math will radically change and we may well eliminate the problem,” Dr. Andrew M. Cameron said in the interview with Times.
This application will have links to state online donor registries where users can become a donor.
“I went on the Facebook page where the donor information sheet was and it was so intense. They were asking everything like, if I ever broke a bone, if I ever overcame a habit, stuff like that. It was crazy just for a simple thing,” Duvall added.
A day after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last week, 3,900 users signed up to become a donor, just in California alone. It also showed that each day, 70 more people registered online.
“That’s why this could do a whole lot of people a lot of good,” said Anne Paschke, the spokeswoman for UNOS, a nonprofit that manages the U.S. transplant system under a government contract, in an interview with philly.com.
Will Welsh a Penn Manor senior thinks otherwise.
“I’m not against the whole donating your organ thing because my mom is an organ donor and I respect that, but I just don’t want people digging in my body after I die to have my organs. I think that is nasty to put me inside someone else that needs it,” Welsh said.
“And also I saw the Facebook information sheet about it and its complicated. They ask for a lot. Even if I was a organ donor I wouldn’t waste my time filling it out,” said Welsh. ” Yes I know they only take them once your dead, but its just weird to me.”
Facebook’s new organ donor program may be a great way to help save lives. They will be able to get the help they need and have it done efficiently.
Down 2-0, Penn Manor rallied back with three straight games to beat rival Hempfield.
The victory secured the Section One title for the Comets (11-0 Section One, 13-0 overall), their first since since 2005, breaking Hempfield’s five-year section title streak.
But, being down 2-0 can really weigh on a team mentally.
Hitter Dayonte Dixon recovers a block against Hempfield in Tuesday's rivalry match in Landisville. Photo credit Lancasteronline.com.
“I was actually being really negative. I didn’t foresee us winning at all,” said outside hitter Joey Jackson, who finished with 12 kills.
The Comets just lost two straight sets, and their confidence and performance was lacking going into the 3rd game. But, coach Chris Telesco had a few words with his team, to make sure they were still motivated.
“I told (the players), ‘this isn’t all you have,’ ” said Telesco, talking about his comments after the second game. “I told them I believed they could do it, so let’s do it. I told them not to focus on game four because there was no game four if we didn’t do our job in game three.”
Despite the pep talk, some players were still skeptical.
“If you would of told me that we were going to win (the match) after the 2nd game, I wouldn’t of believed you,” said Jackson.
The Comets were down, but not out. They got a huge moral and adrenaline boost from the traveling Penn Manor fans.
“Fans really kept us in it,” added Jackson. “We really fed off their energy. The crowd was great. you never see that from a volleyball game. At the away match there was twice as many supporters than our last home match (against Hempfield).”
“We can’t say enough about our crowd. We made Hempfield our home court,”
added Telesco. “Our fans came to life in game three and propelled us the rest of the way. It was a volleyball community victory, and that makes it that much more exciting.”
Energy and adrenaline can only get a team so far, and the Comets knew they had to step up their game.
The Comets were propelled by a few stellar performances. One of the most important, but maybe not the most glamorous outputs was from libero Mark Dano.
Dano did the dirty work, and finished the match with a game-high 31 digs.
“Dano was great. We knew what he could do but no one else realized his capabilities,” said Jackson.
The postseason is looking positive for the Comets, who start with a Monday league game at home versus the fourth seed in Section ll.
“This year we are on our way to (making districts and states). We made our road through Leagues slightly smoother. And if we can secure the top position in Leagues, we help ourselves in Districts. We need a good position going into Districts since our district is by far the toughest in the state,” said Telesco about his team’s upcoming postseason.
The Comets had a miraculous comeback win, and the players were ecstatic. But, they all had similar feelings about the game, and junior Devon Reis summed it up perfectly:
Penn manor will hold its third annual Comet Trot and everyone is welcome.
The Trot will be held at the high school track and west gym, on Tuesday, May 22, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
According to Sallie Bookman, coordinator of the Trot, in previous years the Trot has been held on Saturday, now the planners have changed it to Tuesday because it is more convenient for people who are coming.
“We think this year is going to be good because the choice of day and weather,” said Bookman.
Cost for adults to participate in the Trot is three dollars, and the cost for a student to participate is one dollar, there is no registration or sign-up necessary.
Kids running towards fitness
“Our goal is to raise money for the Family Fund, and promote wellness in the process,” said Bookman.
The benefits of the Trot will go to the Penn Manor Family Fund, a program that helps families in the Penn Manor School District who are in need.
There will be special activities being held during the Trot like a track challenge for grades k to 6 starting at 6 p.m; a FitKidz Challenge, a free Family Bumba, an optional healthy eating quiz, a grip strength test, and chance to make your own trail mix.
Be sure to get there on time because there will be a free event t-shirt and a bottle of water given to the first 150 participants.
Brady Charles playing lacrosse Photo Courtesty of berecruited.com
By Brady Charles –
The past three years I’ve been a part of the varsity lacrosse team.
In each of these past three years, the district power rankings have screwed us over.
And I’m not getting used to it.
Every year, teams with easier schedules and worse records than us, make the district playoffs over us, or they get a higher rank and a easy road to the state playoffs.
We can’t win. I mean we win games, just can’t win with the district power rankings.
My freshman year, besides having the downright best goalie in the state or possibly in the nation, our team struggled to score goals. We had a mediocre season and finished 9-7. Since we were a part of Section One, we were put in tough position with knowledge that the powerhouses in central Pa lacrosse were in our league (Hempfield, Manheim Township). Our schedule was ranked the toughest schedule in central Pennsylvania.
The 2011 District Three Lacrosse bracket showing the tough road for the comets.
Of course, we had to play both of those teams twice, so scratch down four tallies in the loss column. Other than losing to those two teams, we held our own against the other district three teams. We were held out of districts this season, which I partially understand due to our mediocre record, but the upsetting thing was the teams we crushed from Berks and York, made the playoffs over us.
It’s all a bunch of bologney.
With no surprise, the district championship ended up being Manheim Township vs Hempfield. Hempfield won this one.
That next summer, it was time for a change. The Lancaster Lebanon league changed their whole scheduling procedure. The league combined all of the sections, therefore we played every team only once, actually giving us a desperate hope for districts.
Maybe things were about to change for us, with the leadership of our eight seniors, and the new schedule changes we felt for the first time we had a chance against the untouched Manheim Township and Hempfield squads.
Our regular season ended and we were 13-1.
Unless you want to count the Hempfield and Township games…
That year, we made the league playoffs for the first time in school history. It was a very successful season for us.
But, we lucked out again in the league playoff scheduling.
You can most likely take a wild guess who we played.
It was our great friends from Neffsville, Manheim Township. It was a special year for that Manheim Township team, they graduated 14 seniors after that season, and 4 of those players were Division one commits, 8 of the other 10 ended up still playing college lacrosse at either the D2 or D3 level.
Although we lost in the league semis, we finally made the district playoffs as a number seven seed. We had home-field advantage and ran through our first round game.
But hey, guess who we played next?
Manheim Township… We lost.
Again.
The only thing that’s upsetting about this turnout is, while we were turning in our gear, and saying our good-byes, a team we beat by seven goals, got a higher rank then us in districts, and had an easy road to the district semis and made the state playoffs.
Once again, the district seeding process screwed us.
This season, I was determined to not let the district power ratings ruin our season.
It’s about that time of year again.
It’s the time where my first block computer time, winds up turning into intense browsing of the PIAA District 3 website, calculating what happens if one team wins or one team loses. Or who we will face in the first couple rounds of districts. As of now, we are ranked ninth in the most recent district polls, qualified for the league playoffs for the second consecutive year, and finished our regular season on a nine game win streak and a overall record of 13-4.
Although I cannot predict the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get screwed in these upcoming rankings.
I just hope these dreaded district rankings don’t ruin my whole lacrosse career.
The Penn Manor boys volleyball team is on pace for a record setting season. The Comets (12-0) and currently first place in Section One, and atop the district rankings. Comets are headed for battle against Hempfield in tonight’s section one contest.
The battle begins Tuesday at 7 p.m at Hempfield when the first serve is tossed and the intensity begins.
It’s simple.
If the Comets win, they clinch the section title for the first time since 2005, if they lose it’s a tie for the section title, which will result in rematch to determine the champion.
Dylan Weber hits it through Hempfield block for one of his 16 kills in the April 12th match. Photo by Lancaster Online
The Comets beat Hempfield April 12 in a five-game nail biter. It was the first victory for the Comets over the Black Knights since the 2005 season. The Comets were led by their senior leaders in the win, DaYonte Dixon had 17 kills with Dylan Weber following closely behind with 16 kills.
“I have been playing varsity since my freshman year, and we’ve always been either second or third, I’m really tired of it. This is the year we can change things,” said senior Dylan Weber.
April 12 wasn’t the only meeting with the Black Knights this year. The Comets squared off against the Black Knights in a weekend tournament this past weekend.
The Black Knights beat the Comets in a one game match 25-15. The Comets were playing with one arm, without their star junior libero Mark Dano. Although these tournament matches do not count against a team’s official record.
“It’s not just beating Hempfield, it’s more about winning the section,” said Dylan Weber.
Many of the Comets have been anticipating the “real game” for weeks now and the anticipation is growing for them.
“I’ll never sleep tonight,” said senior setter Cheyenne Weber via Twitter Monday night.
