Penn Points Online

All Star Races Past Epilepsy

By Ryan Flexman –

Penn Manor Junior, Harrison Schettler has suffered multiple seizures… a day.

Schettler was diagnosed with epilepsy, but that did not stop him from playing school sports, including track and field. Even though this puts him at more of a risk, it’s not stopping him.

Schettler is ranked first in the mile for track and field in the league, and broke a school record in cross country this past fall. Many say this is impressive, without even knowing what he has been through.

Schettler said he started having mini seizures in eighth grade, and was told by his doctor that he had a disorder called epilepsy.

His doctor told him at that time that epilepsy was a disorder due to his growth spurt, causing him to suffer five to eight seizures daily.

“At first I didn’t know what to think,” Schettler said. “I was scared and nervous to find out what this meant was going to happen.”

Doctors told him a week later that he may not be able to walk ever again.

Schettler said this was the hardest part of all. He said he has always wanted to be a long distance runner and being told it was questionable for him to even walk again was really tough for him to accept.

“My parents were obviously freaked out, but didn’t want to show it to me because they didn’t want me to be more scared than I already was,” he said.

“I was in the hospital for around two weeks when I first learned about my epilepsy,” said Schettler, “and I honestly cannot remember even one of those 14 days because of all of the different medications that they had me on.”

Schettler also said, “I don’t want people to treat me different from knowing this now, it’s over with and gone.”

About one year later, Schettler said he was officially in the clear and done with the seizures and epilepsy in general.

Schettler is a six-foot, lanky kid with messy brown hair. With his long legs, he looks like he was born to run.

“Now that that is over, I realize that I am actually glad I went through that,” Schettler recalled. “It taught me that at any given time, anything can go wrong in any way and there is no way of predicting it. Therefore I live every day like its my last, and don’t take anything for granted.”

Zac Burke Getting D1 Looks

By Jordan Rineer –

When you look at Zac Burke, you don’t think he’s a baseball player. Standing at six-foot-two and weighing 170 pounds, baseball is not the first thing that comes to mind.

Although baseball players are not usually as tall and lanky as Burke, it hasn’t stopped Division I schools from taking a closer look at his abilities.

“The size of me didn’t fit into football or basketball well enough so I decided to pursue pitching as my primary position where tall lanky athletes compete best,” Burke said.

College recruiters couldn’t agree more.

“I currently have a relationship with recruiting coordinators from Radford, Kent State, Virginia, Louisville and Miami,” Burke said.

Burke used to be a three-sport athlete but he’s concentrating all his talents into the Penn Manor baseball team.

Burke’s playing in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 for Penn Manor. His summer team is called EvoShield Canes. They play at colleges all the way down the East Coast.

Playing in so many venues allows coaches from major schools to keep tabs on Burke as a possible recruit.

“Miami is my clear favorite, they recently invited me down for a three-game series as a recruit visit,” Burke said.

Burke believes he gets looked at most by scouts when he is on the mound and in control.

Even though Burke can play many positions on the field, he has one favorite.

“Pitcher because the game is run at the tempo I set it as, all eyes are on me when I’m on the mound,” Burke said.

Burke is committed. He wants to prove people wrong when they tell him to play a different sport.

“Off season I play about every other day, in season it is every single day for a couple of months. When you want to move on to the next level, you got to keep pushing,” Burke said.

“Sometimes my elbow or shoulder gets sore from pitching and I have to take it easy. I feel as if I could never take a break from the game though,” said Burke.

Relaxing is a good feeling for Burke but when it comes down to it he would be rather be playing baseball than playing video games or other relaxing pasttimes that many teens do, said Burke.

“When I play baseball, it is my escape from reality, nothing else matters except for those seven innings of ball,” said Burke.

Burke is hoping to continue his baseball career in college and maybe even in the pros one day.

With the college recruiters watching, Burke believes it could happen.

Career Day: Pointing Students to their Future

Jake Shiner and Cody Straub –

Students shoved their textbooks aside for one day as community presenters piled in to share their knowledge of possible career interests for high school youth.

It’s Career Day.

“It’s tremendous that close to 70 people will come in to give their time to talk to students”, said Principal Phil Gale. “That’s 70 people not doing their job today.,”

“I try to get speakers in the career pathways,” said counselor Marjean Long who is the coordinator for Career Day at Penn Manor.

“(Career day) is a good opportunity for students to hear what a typical day is like for a career they may be interested in.”

careerdayhagins — Career day presenter Sean Hagins. Photo by Sam Valentin

“The arts are always the most popular category,” said Long. “The tattoo artist is the big one this year.

Another presenter in the arts pathway is photographer Sean Hagins, who has been a constituent of career day for four years and continues to enlighten students about the career path of photography.

“I’ve owned (my own) company for about 9 years,” said Hagins.

He described running SJHfoto as either “feast or famine” because he depends on people to call him for work.

Hagins hires many people locally, including former Penn Manor students like himself.

“The Pennsylvania School of Art and Design and Millersville University is also where I hire a good deal of photographers that work for me.”

This is the fourth year Penn Manor has held Career Day in February to give students insight on different professions. Long began courting speakers in August to spend a day educating students. This year 65 professionals came in to speak, including entrepreneur Michael Tull who owns the “UgLY” t-shirt company, and spoke to the freshman, sophomore and junior classes in the auditorium.

Tull’s word of the day was “believe” which goes well with his t-shirts which stand for ” You Gotta Love Yourself First.”

Another veteran speaker of Career Day is Chef Bob Genet of Yorktowne Business Institute, who keeps coming back for multiple reasons.

“Part of my profession is promoting my career, and it’s just fun,” said Genet about coming in to talk to high school students.

Along with being a veteran at Career Day, he is also a veteran in his career field as he has been cooking for 36 years. He tried other professions but always came back to cooking because he enjoys interacting with customers and never standing still.

careerdaychefcoking — Chef Bob Genet. Photo by Jake Shiner

For his presentation at the school he talked about his career and then prepared veal saltin bocca as a demonstration for the students.

Ian Tahmasbi was looking forward to watching Genet’s presentation and spoke highly of him saying “Chef Bob is awesome.”

But this junior feels that career day isn’t effective at Penn Manor.

“I think that people don’t take career day seriously because most people already have their hearts set on what they want to do and the ones that don’t, don’t care,” said Tahmasbi. “(Also) 45 minutes isn’t enough time to get an insight on a career.”

Gale said, “If students listen and take advantage of what is being presented to them it can be a tremendous learning experience.”

Sam Valentin contributed to this post.

Touch is Gentle and a Bit Corny

By David Mohimani –

After eight seasons as the star of Fox’s hit thriller “24,” Kiefer Sutherland is back on primetime playing Martin Bohm in the newest Fox show “Touch.”

Sutherland plays a single parent who lost his wife during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he has an 11-year-old son who is not only mute but autistic as well, a theme that tugs at the heartstrings of any parent who has a child with a disability.

The show centers around Sutherland’s relationship with his son and his desperate desire to connect with his son, a son who not only does not speak but also hates being touched even the slightest bit. Jake, however, has a fascination with numbers.

In the pilot, Sutherland is deemed incapable of maintaining the needs

of his son and Jake is sent to foster care.

Sutherland then learns that his son’s fascination with numbers is more than it appears. Jake has the incredible ability to connect everything in the world to numbers. He uses his numbers to communicate. Sutherland realizes his purpose is to try and decipher the messages his son is writing.

The show is directed and created by Tim Kring who was also responsible for the NBC show “Heroes.”

Touch got off to a positive start when it released a sneak preview episode Jan. 25 with 12 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 (granted, against a repeat episode of Modern Family on ABC), making it Fox’s highest-rated drama opening in three years. Granted some of the draw was most likely due to the fact that people were very interested in seeing Sutherland’s return to TV.

“24” spanned over nine years and won multiple awards including sixty-eight Emmy nominations and winning 20 Emmys.

“Touch” has a lot to live up to but the reviews so far have been positive however we were unable to find a single Penn Manor student who has watched the special preview.

The show will begin to air weekly starting on March 19 and is ordered for 13 episodes.

Three Division One Athletes Headline Penn Manor’s Signing Day

By Connor Hughes and Sam Valentin-

It might not be the signing day with the most athletes, but definitely some of the brightest and most unique.

This year 12 Penn Manor students are signing their letter of intent to play collegiate athletics at the university of their choice.

The students who are participating in this year’s signing day include a female ice hockey player, who plays on a team with boys, an athlete who never participated one day in his sport and a basketball player who will be joining her older sister on the team.

signing day 2012 — Penn Manor had athletes sign in all three college divisions.

The entire list includes:

DIVISION I

Andrew Herr – Michigan State University – Soccer

Vicky Nase – Ohio University – Field Hockey

Logan Kramer – Arkansas State – Soccer

DIVISION II

Alex Cummins – Florida Institute of Technology – Lacrosse

Emily Eddowes – Rollins College – Lacrosse

Sara Bennis – West Chester State University – Soccer

DIVISION III

Kayla Bixler – Bryn Mawr College – Field Hockey

Jessie Capanelli – Stevenson University – Ice Hockey

Courtney Fatta – Thiel College – Lacrosse

Jenn Hanner – Washington College – Softball

Josh Morgan – Washington College – Rowing

Alicia Ygarza – Eastern Mennonite University – Basketball

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Penn Manor Athletic Director Jeff Roth is always excited for signing day.

“I think it’s just a nice showcase for athletes who are moving from the high school arena to collegiate level,” said Roth. “Few less (then in past) but it’s a good number compared to other schools.”

Roth added that being a collegiate athlete is like having a part-time job.

“I think most athletes find the time investment difficult,” said Roth. “It shows a level of dedication.”

girls signing day 2012 — Kayla Bixler, left, and Vicky Nase signed letters of intent.

Some very dedicated Division I student athletes have known for months where they are going to play college sports.

Senior girls soccer player Logan Kramer had her decision made for over a year.

“I committed last January at the end of the month, just about this time last year,” said Kramer. “I visited a lot of schools but (Arkansas State) really stood out.”

Senior boys soccer player Andrew Herr made his decision at the end of his junior year.

“I wasn’t heavily recruited, but this was my first choice,” said Herr. “(Michigan State) always has a really good team.”

Senior Josh Morgan got recruited to Washington College, almost by accident.

“I never rowed a day in my life,” said Morgan. “As I was walking off campus and the (rowing) coach came up to me and took me to the boathouse.”

Morgan’s scholarship is for academics, not sports. He was a wrestler in high school, and the coach noticed his upper body strength.

“I always wanted to go there, it’s right on the Chester River and it just all worked out,” said Morgan.

The Penn Manor ice hockey team ( a boys team) was helped this year by senior Jessie Capanelli – who will attend Stevenson University in Maryland this fall.

Also, Penn Manor girls basketball star Alicia Ygarza signed with Eastern Mennonite to play basketball there for the Royal Lions with her sister, Bianca, who is currently the team’s leading scorer.

One no-show at signing day may surprise some students, Penn Manor senior Marc Summy. Summy is a basketball standout and is leading the Lancaster-Lebanon League in scoring. Summy is not sure where he wants to play basketball after high school, but he is sure he’ll be playing.

“I’m not signing (on signing day) because the season is still going on. I’m hoping new doors will open and by the time I sign I want to be able to lay all my options out on the table and pick, to have the peace of mind that I wasn’t going to have anymore offers,” said Summy.

Summy is deciding between multiple programs.

“My top picks are Navy, Lebanon Valley, and Wheeling Jesuit,” said Summy.

Joey Jackson contributed to this post.

Temperatures on the Rise – Cold Weather not to Blame

By Tyler Funk –

All time high temperatures in the Susquehanna Valley during the first week of February. Kids wearing shorts to school, driving around with the car top down and pulling out their motorcycles.

Is this supposed to be winter?

You know winter, frosty temperatures, people sick and inches of snow. Well this year students and faculty are seeing the exact opposite. The temperatures are on the rise, and people are actually in a good mood.

flu statistics — Cases of the flu peak in December and January when weather is usually the most cold. Graphic courtesy of Scientific American

So does that mean there are less colds and fevers with the higher warmer conditions? Not in Penn Manor High School, according to health officials.

” About the same, certainly not better,” said school nurse Anne Butterfield about the amount of illness she has seen in students this winter compared to previous ones.

“The reason illness will go up in winter is because of people are together longer inside buildings,” she explained. “That’s how viruses and bacteria can be spread by coughing and sneezing on books, hands etc.”

For a student to go home at Penn Manor High School, they must each get evaluated by the school nurse, said Butterfield.

She said there is not a hard or fast rule of sending a student home.

“An assesment is done of each patient and variables are considered when deciding to send a student home,” Butterfield explained.

According to Scientific American flu symptoms can include fever, sore throat, cough, and joint and muscle aches. The flu epidemic reaches a peak between December and January when winter is at its worst, but there is no direct link to cold weather. Only that people are crowded together in winter, according to researchers there.

Up to 20,000 people die in the United States every year due to the flu according to Scientific American, but many of those are complications from the flu such as Bronchitis and pneumonia.

One Penn Manor student is well aware of illnesses this time of year.

Three weeks ago Nicole Harnish a senior, came down with typical flu like symptoms.

“I probably got sick from work because a bunch of people were sick,” she said.

But Harnish came to school anyway. That doesn’t mean she enjoyed the time being ill.

“It sucks,” said Harnish. ” You can’t pay attention and you just want to be in bed and some teachers don’t have tissues on their desk. You have to ask for them.”

Temple Run: New Hottest App to Hit Penn Manor

By Dayonte Dixon –

Game trends continue to change throughout Penn Manor High School. From Words with Friends to Dragonvale, the hottest app is quickly evolving into the newest phenomenon, Temple Run.

Temple Run is the simplest of games, but has proven to be a consistent form of entertainment for its’ players.

“The game is very addicting, and it kills free time,” said senior Reagan Forrey.

There are only four actions involved in the game. You can either jump, slide, move left or move right.

The controls are simple, to go left or right you slide your finger across the screen in the direction you seek to move. To jump, slide your finger up and to slide along the floor, slide your finger down.

The goal of the game is to get as far as you can before you die. Scores can vary from one hundred to several million. The game offers ways to improve your score by buying different perks such as power boost, invisibility, magnets and wings. Each of these perks have different abilities that enhance the score of your current “run.”

DSCN1612 — Janelle Musser playing Temple Run during school

Janelle Musser, a senior at Penn Manor, is a beginner in the Temple Run world.

“Lets just say it’s really low.” Janelle Musser said referring to her top score.

In order to get perks for the game you must collect coins throughout each of your runs. Collecting these coins allows you to buy and upgrade different perks. Players should collect as many coins as possible because the cost of each perk increases as you upgrade it.

“Yea, I don’t even collect the coins; it’s hard enough just to stay alive.” Janelle Musser.

Home screen for the hottest new app. Photo from Barnes and Noble.

This hot App is beginning to pose a problem in Penn Manor High School though, as more and more students are playing it during school hours, despite the risk of getting their phone taken away.

Diane Bounds, librarian at Penn Manor, says she sees this very often. First she will give them a warning, then she will take their phones until the end of the block.

“I give out at least three to four warnings a day,” said Bounds.

To ensure that its players’ do not lose interest, the app allows its players’ to share their scores on Facebook, which encourages friends to compete against each other to see who can get the furthest.

You can also change the appearance of your runner. There are several different characters including a football player, Barry Bonds, Montana Smith and Francisco Montoya.

Temple Run has created a game that will take a while to go out of style. It provides an everlasting form of entertainment that has knocked its competitors out of the water.

Said senior Alex Cummins “Temple Run is so much better than Angry Birds.”

Penn Manor Strikes Again

By Jay Jackson –

They feel the tension building the longer into the perfect game they go. One after another, all ten pins fall until the last frame. The pressure is on and the nerves are tense except for one Penn Manor bowler.

“I really wasn’t that nervous,” said Penn Manor bowler Cody Simet. “You don’t really think about it.”

Simet had confidence going into the match.

“He called it before the match, ” said Tyler Bitts senior bowler.

“Before the match I told someone leaving the alley that he was going to miss my 300,” Simet said.

codysmiet1 — Cody Simet bowler for Penn Manor who bowled a perfect game.

Two Penn Manor bowlers bowled a perfect which is quite a feat unheard of within a week. You need twelve spot-on strikes in a row to get a perfect game. It is easier said then done.

“It felt amazing but also a little nervous at the same time,” said senior bowler Brendon Yarnell.

“After I did it, I just came back and everybody was surrounding me,” said Simet, ” I was so excited and realized that I did it. There are a lot of good bowlers and we are really close with our averages.”

Penn Manor is a bowling power house. Last year, Penn Manor bowler Coty Johnson won states and now Yarnell and Simet are filling his sizable shoes quite well.

“[Yarnell] is first in the league in average and I think I am either second or third,” said Simet.

Penn Manor has the bowlers, but they also have best coaches around. This gives Penn Manor an edge that is incredibly tough to beat.

“We have the two best coaches that we could possibly have,” Simet said.

Penn Manor bowlers are dominating the league and look to continue there reign this season.

Report Cards could be Lost in Translation

By Connor Hughes –

Come home from school and the report card is sitting on the kitchen table. It’s one of the most nerve-racking things a student can see after an already stressful day at school.

That experience is now a thing of the past for Penn Manor School District students. The district has made a major adjustment in the way they are distributing their students’ progress reports and report cards.

Now, the student will collect their report cards at lunch, and take it home from school to show their parents – hopefully.

Seniors Kyle Black and Michael Schneider didn’t show their parents their latest report card, and don’t plan to.

“I was pumped,” said Schneider referring to the report cards not being sent home.

“I won’t show my parents,” said Black. “They don’t even know (report cards) came out.”

Not mailing report cards home is a way for the district to pinch pennies at a time when school districts don’t have a lot of extra money.

“This is a cost-cutting procedure. If you figure we would mail out about 2,000 report cards four times a year, and the same number of progress reports four times a year, we are saving close to $7,000,” said Penn Manor High School principal Philip Gale.

The savings may be welcomed by the district but, like many money saving schemes, the new operation has its risks.

The main danger is if students never show their parents the grades.

“We are concerned that the report cards may not make it home,” said Gale. “We did put an announcement on the high school website about the distribution of report cards and plan to announce it at Parents’ Night on February 2.”

Administration can’t make the students bring the report card to their parents, but there is a backup plan. If a parent does not receive a report card, they can always contact the school.

“We don’t have plans to force students to take the report card home. If a parent does not receive the report card, they can contact the office and we will mail one,” said Gale.

The new plan seems bulletproof, give students their report card to take home, if they don’t, parents can request to get it mailed home.

But the new procedure isn’t necessarily a win-win scenario.

Some students are very excited with a change in the system because it means they won’t have to show their parents their, maybe not-so-good, grades.

“Yeah I picked up my report card and showed my parents. Well, I showed my mom,” said a Penn Manor junior who didn’t want her name published. She said her dad did not see her report card.

“My dad definitely would of seen it if it would of been mailed,” confessed the student. “I think (the district) should mail them so we don’t have to bother with them. It’s their responsibility not ours.”

But despite the risk that some kids may be trying to manipulate a good thing for the district, Penn Manor assistant principal Krista Cox isn’t worried about report cards getting detoured to the trash.

DSCN1607 — Carly Rebman says she has no problem giving her report card to her parents.

“I trust my students,” said Cox.

“Yeah I got (my report card), I have nothing to hide,” said Penn Manor junior Carly Rebman.

But although Rebman took hers home, she doesn’t trust her peers as much as Cox does.

“Honestly I think it’s a bad idea, if I had bad grades I definitely wouldn’t show my parents,” said Rebman.

Penn Manor parents are also concerned with the new change.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a report card yet,” said Claudia Forrey, mother of Penn Manor student Reagan.

When she found out report cards have been available for more than a week, Forrey wasn’t pleased.

“Then I need to ask Reagan where his report card is,” she said. “My concern is for other parents who might not have computers.”

But Mrs. Forrey saw a different side of the issue when she heard the district will save $7,000 by halting the mailing of report cards.

“Oh, $7,000?” asked Forrey. “The school needs to save every penny. Well, parents should check Sapphire or call the school (to get their childs’ grades.)”

Whether parents see the report cards or not, grades are available online. If any student didn’t pick up their report card, they are available in the office.

Dayonte Dixon also contributed to this article.

On Freddie Roach: Offbeat Documentary

By Jake Shiner –

HBO’s reality show following professional boxing trainer Freddie Roach premiered last Friday.

With an overall solemn tone and lack of narration the show isn’t for everyone but does give a good look into the world of professional boxing.

roach wild card2 — Freddie Roach at his Wild Card training facility. Photo courtesy of Twitter.com

It begins with a montage of clips of Roach training Amir Khan as a countdown to fight night flashes across the screen. It remains silent except for Roach’s soft-spoken advice and conversations. The events change almost as suddenly as they begin, leaving you in a whirlwind of confusion because there is no direction through subtitles or narration to describe the events.

The show does however pick up halfway through when some minor narration by Roach is introduced and they focus on his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Although for some reason though they fail to mention his medical situation until the last 6 minutes of the episode which could amount to some confusion for those who are not familiar with Roach.

Freddie Roach boxed professionally in the late 70’s and early 80’s. While a World Championship title is absent from his trophy case he was in contention 3 times during his career. He is most notable for training Manny Pacquiao, the first ever eight-division world champion. Roach continues to fight Parkinson’s disease and doctors say that him continuing an active hands-on approach to training slows the progress of the disease.

The next episode of On Freddie Roach premieres this Friday, January 27 at 9:30 est. on HBO.