Penn Manor Althetes ‘Help The Fight’ Against Breast Cancer

By Taylor Goldberg –

It was a day to make a difference for those battling the second leading cause in cancer death: breast cancer.

Penn Manor High School’s cheerleaders and boy’s soccer players volunteered their time Saturday morning by participating in a Kick Cancer Kickball game for Help The Fight Foundation at Clipper Magazine Stadium Saturday, September 17.

“We didn’t gain anything from it but the reward of helping people run the bases,” said varsity soccer captain Ryan Martzall. “Just being with them was an award in itself.”

Running her own bases for Kick Cancer Kickball game. Photo Credit www.helpthefight.org

Barnstormer’s Cylo the cow and Penn Manor’s Comet Man both made appearances the day of the event.

“It’s a wonderful organization,” said Varsity cheerleading coach, Cindy Bachman. “Such a worth while cause – I wouldn’t consider not participating at the event.”

The cheerleading program welcomed the crowd first thing in the morning with a welcome cheer and continued their spirit lifting by cheering on the Kick Cancer Kickball game. While the soccer team volunteered to work the game by pitching the kickball, playing the bases and running the bases for those who were physically unable or preferred not to run.

“Penn Manor [athletes] did an exceptional job!” said Lynda Charles, founder of Help The Fight. “Volunteers are invaluable. They are gracious, caring and supportive, I am extremely proud.”

Help The Fight Team - (from left to right) Founders Lynda and David Charles, HTF PR, Krystle Black and Mike Black. Photo Credit: www.helpthefight.org

Help The Fight Foundation started in 2009 when founders David and Lynda Charles’ relative was diagnosed. Lynda Charles had lost her mother to Breast Cancer 19 years prior to the first annual event in 2009. Help The Fight is affiliated with Lancaster General Health Foundation. 80 percent of the the proceeds go to patients currently undergoing treatment for anything from medicine, to rent, even child daycare. The other 20 percent goes to those unable to afford proper screening to detect breast cancer – the primary reason most women (and men) are diagnosed.

Help The Fight is known as Lancaster County’s largest bake sale. The event this year also offered over 125 raffle items, silent and live auctions and hourly 50-50.

Help The Fight raised over $25,000 this past year.

For more information on Help The Fight and other events, visit www.helpthefight.org and like it on Facebook.

 

Lure of Chainsaws Steals Sleep

By Chris Fleming and Andrew Morales –

The sound of revving chainsaws marks the start of this year’s video game season. But with new games comes less sleep.

Every year around late September the start of video game season launches with new games released by their manufacturers. Kids, including students from Penn Manor, rush out to get the newest games and play them, but sometimes it’s at the cost of school work and shuteye.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, about nine hours of sleep is needed to function best. Without proper sleep the ability to concentrate, listen and learn are affected. It can also lead to aggressive and uncalled for behavior, like being impatient and irritable. Taken from a study done annually by the National sleep foundation, only 15 percent of teens say they get 8 and 1/2 hours of sleep each night.

“I usually only get five hours of sleep a night when a good game comes out,” said Penn Manor senior Nick Zell.

Many big game producing companies like Epic games, Bungie and Activision have their creations hit shelves before the holidays so kids can put those games on their Christmas wish list. But teens who can’t wait for Santa end up breaking their time with the sandman as well.

People waiting in line at a midnight release. Courtesy of www.nerdsociety.com

“I stay up a lot later and come to school more groggy,” said senior Joey Jackson.

“There’s a midnight release and then you end up playing the new game all night. That’s just how it goes,” said senior Logan White.

This year’s season started off with the highly anticipated game Gears of War 3. “Gear heads” everywhere lined up outside local popular video game stores like Gamestop and Just Press Play, to get their hands on a copy at the midnight release Tuesday.

This is the Gears of War logo. Courtesy of www.gonzogeek.com

Gears of War 3, the last game to the well liked trilogy exclusive to Xbox 360 users, lets you play with up to a total of four players on co-operative play. With the new ability to be able to spot enemies out for the whole team to see where they are on the map makes this game more of a team-based game compared to the first two.

A new weapon added to the game is not universally popular.  The sawed off shotgun, added to the game as a single shot shotgun that takes a long time to reload but has a lot of power at the cost of range. “Gear heads” who have been playing the game since the original Gears of War  have stayed loyal to the old shotgun, the gnasher, which is still available to Gears of War 3 gameplay.

This student fell asleep in class. Courtesy of www.sbschoolboard.info

“The sawed off shotgun is so annoying,” said Matt Flick, from the graduating class of 2010, “I wish everyone would just use the old shotgun.”

Unfortunately for some high school students, game season is a hard time.

“Sometimes I skip school just to play so I can get a head start before my friends,” said senior Liam Kline. “So many nice games coming out right in a row gonna keep me busy.”

“Really looking forward to Modern Warfare 3. I stay up later playing Xbox live before homework,” said Alec Keck.

Gamers can look forward to seeing these new titles being released before the end of the year. Battlefield 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and The elder scrolls V: Skyrim.

 

Comets Football Team Makes A Difference

By Kyle Musser-

Penn Manor’s football program is more than just X’s and O’s these days.

Head football coach, Todd Mealy, has turned the Comets football program around in many ways.  He has produced a winning Comets team and may do as much off the field as he does on it to better the community and his players.

Coach Mealy wanted to do his part in the school district and came up with a literacy program to help improve reading comprehension skills in the district’s elementary schools.

Penn Manor football players read to a Pequea student as part of a new literacy program. Photo by Joziah Rodriguez

“Football is a sport that people pay attention to, and it would influence young students to read,” said Mealy.  “And if pre-teens are getting the message it’s cool to read, it’ll stick with them until high school.”

His long term goal is to improve the PSSA scores of these elementary students by the time they reach high school.

Seven coaches that are also teachers are encouraging this idea of literacy for students.  From middle school to high school, collectively they teach history, science, technology, math and physical education.   Mealy emphasizes academic success for his players as well.  Not only does he monitor grades, but he also asks players to sit in the first three rows of their classes.  The team had an average GPA of 3.4 last season, so Mealy’s focus on academics may be paying off.

Comets football players visited Martic and Pequea Elementary school for the lieracy initative. Pictured from left to right, Kayla Brown, Brian Sloss, Chris Mummau, JJ DeJesus, Mitchell Sweigart, Josh Shetromph, and Joziah Rodriguez. Photo taken by George Savitsky

The goal for students in the elementary program is to read everyday for 20 minutes between September 24 and October 21.  If students do this, and it is verified by parents by signing their log book, which keeps track of the amount of time read, they will receive an autographed team photo and will form the spirit line for the football game against Warwick on October 21.

“We would really like the students to be on the field before the game to cheer on the team, pending superintendent approval,” said Mealy.

The Comets look to shine both on the field and in the classroom for those students who idolize them.

 

Students Attempt An Alternative Way To Fish

By Eric Schlotzhauer and Matthew Hatch –

Fishing has never been so shocking.

Penn Manor’s AP environmental science class went on a field trip electrofishing in the Little Conestoga River on Monday, but left their hooks, rods and bait at home.

Matt Kofroth, a watershed specialist, and an employee for the Lancaster County Conservation District directed the students on how to electrofish and taught them the safety precautions and then navigated with his battery pack that electrocuted the fish.

Matt Kofroth wearing the battery pack that allows him to shock the fish. Photo by Matt Hatch

Erick Dutchess,  the AP Environmental Science teacher for Penn Manor, is the man in charge for setting up the trip to Charlestown Park.

The educational goal of the trip was to find out what kind of fish inhabit the Little Conestoga.  With the recent flooding that Pennsylvania has experienced, the students weren’t too sure what they would find.

Students wore water waders so they wouldn’t get shocked and their clothes wouldn’t get wet.  The pants came up to their chest and had overall-like buckles.

The battery pack is just like the batteries used at home, except a lot bigger,  a lot more powerful and a lot more dangerous.  Two-hundred watts of electricity surge through the metal wand used to charge the water.

The fish remain stunned for a short-time due to the low wattage of the machine.  A different machine can shock the fish with  500-watts, keeping fish stunned much longer.

In every battery, there is a positive and a negative end.  The negative end, in this case, is a long rubber tail hanging off the pack.  The positive end is the metal wand.  When the machine is turned on, anything within five feet of the water will be shocked, including any bare skin.

“They only get hurt if the metal ring touches the fish,” said Kofroth.  “They get burned.”

Penn Manor students show off their catches after electrofishing in the Little Conestoga. Photo by Eric Schlotzhauer

Suckers, cut-lip minnows, shiners, chubs and rock-bass were the fish the students found during their trip. After the students determined what kind of fish they were, they put them back into the water due to the requirements of owning a license to electrofish.

Students enjoyed the learning experience about the communities and ecosystems in the Little Conestoga.

“It was a new experience,” said Penn Manor senior Amanda Nolt.

“It was a fun and easy way to catch a fish,” explained senior Nicole Harnish.

While most students had fun, others weren’t too thrilled with the outcome of the trip.

“I fell in,” said  senior Jenn Rote. “I was really surprised”

“It was freezing” said Ian Toomey.

Among these two students, junior Anthony Crognale also took a plunge.

Students follow the metal ring that shocks anything within 5 feet. Photo by Matt Hatch

By the end of the trip, no students were shocked by the battery, and no fish were killed.

Due to expenses and difficulty in getting equipment, electrofishing isn’t a common event outside of the Conservation District.

To go electrofishing equipment is expensive ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

Also required:

  • a license to purchase the equipment
  • water waders to enter the water without getting shocked
  • nets to catch the shocked fish
  • a lot of patience

Dutchess has been taking his students electrofishing for two years (since he started teaching environmental science) and he plans on continuing the tradition.

“Not everyone gets the chance to zap fish with a car battery,” said Dutchess. “Hopefully it was a novel experience that they’ve never done before.”

To find out more about electrofishing you can visit:http://www.fishandboat.com/images/fisheries/afm/electro/electro.htm


Phillies Phinally Get 100

By Alex Kirk-

The Phillies beat the Mets Sunday to end an eight-game losing streak.  That win put them at 99 total wins on the season.

Phillies fans, including those at Penn Manor, were relieved they broke their losing streak.

“It was tough because they haven’t lost so many straight games since 2000,” said fan Dylan Weber, a Penn Manor senior.

Phillies charge onto their field before warm-ups. Photo credit to Forbes.com.

The Phillies had clinched the playoffs, their division, and home field advantage for October.  They had accomplished everything the number one team in baseball should, except 100 wins in a season.

With Cliff Lee on the mound, the Phils ousted the Braves 4-2 on Monday to get their century mark

“It’s (100) a big number. We all feel it,” said Raul Ibanez in a post-game interview.

The Phillies haven’t won 100 games in a single season since 1977, and they just barely made it in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyberbullying still a problem for Teens

By Alex Sanchez-Cruz-

Internet communication is more prevalent than ever, as is cyberbullying.

Teens see gossip on the internet. Picture from lilith-ezine.com

Cyberbullying is when anyone is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or verbally attacked by a peer via internet or mobile technologies.

Almost every teen has read an offensive slur on the internet that was intended to offend someone.  Some may skim over it or even even chuckle.  But this is no joking matter. These words are very powerful and have caused many issues for teens and children.

Cyberbullying has become a prominent issue among teens and is a major cause of teen suicide.  According to an Associated Press-MTV poll, people say more hurtful words in a text or on a social website then in a face to face conversion.

More people attempt use this type of language as a joke then to hurt someone.

“I don’t care if my friends say it, just as long as they don’t say it to me,” Said Eric Shetrompf, sophomore at Penn Manor. “I see it all the time on the internet mostly two girls fighting over something,”

However a poll by Knowledge Networks shows that 54 percent of teens think it’s acceptable to use slurs and derogatory terms to their friends because they don’t mean it.

This doesn’t excuse them for using offensive language, even with teens their age.  Another poll from Knowledge Networks, taken by 14 to 24 year old students, shows that there is a minority that are against using slurs especially when they target a certain group.

“It’s so derogatory to women and demeaning. It just makes you feel gross,” said Lori Pletka, 22, a senior at Missouri State Unversity, referring to the word “sl*t” and other words that are degrading to women.

Some people pretend like cyberbullying isn’t a problem, but it is.  If you witness cyberbullying report it to a school counsler.  No child deserves to be harassed, in any form.

 

SATs Held at Penn Manor

By David Burch –

Taking the SAT is one of the biggest steps in applying to college.

Many high school kids from around the county are taking the standardized test Saturday at Penn Manor High School. Doors open at 7:00 AM.

“The earlier you get here, the earlier you take the test, the earlier you can leave,” says James Yearsley, a guidance counselor at Penn Manor.

Also, no food is allowed in the testing rooms.

People who are taking the test can park on the top tier of the parking deck or just about any open space.

You must have photo ID to take the test and an admission ticket from the college board.

Yearsley advises that everyone bring two #2 pencils, a calculator that you are familiar with and a snack if you want to eat outside the room.

Absolutely no cell phones are allowed and if a student’s cell phone rings, that student will be dismissed and the score will be canceled.

Yearsley also says that it usually takes roughly four hours to complete the test.

Good luck to all who are taking the test this Saturday!

Amazon Sets Their Sights On Tablets

By Jacob Harvey-

Amazon is taking its shot at the tablet market with its release in October.

With the iPad shutting down all other competitors attempts at the tablet market now, Amazon is stepping up trying to put its foot in the door for the tablet market. Amazon is seen as the last competitor to knock Apple off its high horse of owning the tablet marketplace, but do they have what it takes?

With the famous App Store and the iTunes store, Amazon just doesn’t seem to match up to what the iPad can produce.

Artists rendition of the Amazon Tablet which a photo has yet to be released by Amazon. Image courtesy of TechFlash.com

However, the big price cut might sway peoples minds into buying Amazon’s tablet. According to a Tech Crunch Review by MG Siegler, the tablet that Amazon is producing is pretty much a kindle e-reader with a 7 inch screen.

“It looks a lot like a Black Berry Playbook and has no physical buttons and a two finger multi-touch screen with a back light for the screen,” according to a Tech Crunch Review.

The Amazon tablet is supposed to be extremely user-friendly, and it’s going to be run on Android.

Amazon’s Kindle store and Cloud Player are both deeply integrated into the device’s software, but there was no link to the Google Android Marketplace. The device is supposed to be Wifi only, but Amazon did add a link to its Instant Video Player, so users should be able to stream video onto the tablet.

 

Revolution Reigns over ‘Stormers

By Sam Valentin-

The five game series and ultimately the Barnstormers season  came down to one run in the tenth inning. But the run that decided both teams destinies was not scored by Lancaster.

The Revolution beat the Barnstormers 5-4 in 10 innings and are now penciled in to play the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League Championship Series starting Wednesday in New York.

The York Revolution celebrate their Freedom Divison Championship. Photo courtesy of York Daily.

The game was close until the top of the tenth inning when the ‘Revs bats found new life,  scoring four in the inning after capitalizing off an error.

Heading into Lancaster’s side of the frame, the score was 5-1 and it looked as if the game had already been decided. But Terry Tiffee smashed a two-out, three run home run off York closer R.J Rodriguez to bring them within one run. The Stormers thought they might live to fight again. But Travis Metcalf came up against Revolution reliever Dumas Garcia who struck him out to end the series.

Immediately  following the game Lancaster Barnstormers manager Butch Hobson walked into the the visitor’s dugout to shake hands with his good friend and Revolution manager, Andy Etchebarron.

“I said congratulations and that I loved him,” said Hobson to the ‘Revs manager, Etchebarron.

The Barnstormers did not have quite enough steam to pull off the series comeback. After dropping the first two games at York. Lancaster came home with the series in many people’s minds. Fridays game was rained out but the Barnstormers won game three and four which made the series go to the decisive game five Monday night.

Stephen Douglas hit a homer to right to put Lancaster up 1-o but that is all they could muster off ‘Revs starter Corey Thurman who gave up only three hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked only three in a commanding performance.

“We didn’t do much with Corey,” Hobson said of Thurman, who got the win in the series opener. “It’s amazing. He gets people out with that change-up. He throws (batting practice) fastballs. And he throws a cutter.”

‘Stormers lefty, Steve Hammond’s, performance was just as good only giving up one hit in six shut out innings.

“The biggest mistake I made tonight was not sticking with Hammond,” Hobson said. “But he’d been through the order twice and (reliever Jeff) Bennett’s been a guy they haven’t hit all year.”

Jeff Bennett gave up the tying run off an Eric Eymann RBI single.That was all the scoring until York broke open the game in their half of the tenth.They scored four runs off three relievers in an explosive tenth inning.

The rally really started after former Barnstormer, Bryant Nelson hit a hard chopper to second baseman, Gilberto Mejia. Mejia waited for the ball to come to him but it eluded his glove bouncing into shallow center field.

“It was an in-between hop and I was just hoping it would hit me in the chest,” said Mejia in an interview with Lancaster Newspapers.

Lancaster just could not respond in the bottom of the tenth. So York proceeded to celebrate on Lancaster’s home field. They brought on the champagne and music and were having a very jovial time in the clubhouse.

“The season’s over,” Hobson said after the heartbreaking defeat to the York Revolution. “I’m proud of this team. I’m proud of the city, the support. I love it here. I love the people here. I just wish we could have gotten to the finals for them.”

 

 

 

 

New Face Brings Life To The Library

Students may have noticed a new face in the library and wondered just who is this mystery person?

No mystery at all it turns out. She is Diane Bounds, the new librarian.

But just a librarian is an understatement. You can call her a runner, a photographer and an educator.

The new librarian, Diane Bounds, helps a student. Photo by Sam Valentin.

She is an avid photographer, taking candid shots as a business.  Her favorite part of photography is working with the image after she captures the shot.

“I like taking candid pictures because I like seeing people be natural and honest,” said Bounds.

Another of her hobbies is running. A normal run for her is about five miles with friends after school. Bounds also is a part of an after school program called “Girls on the Run,” which trains preteen girls to run a five kilometer run and build self esteem, self respect and a healthy lifestyle.

“At the end 0f the day it helps me collect my thoughts,” said Bounds.”Have a million worries before running. After all worries seem to go away. Running gives me clarity.”

But she was not always a runner.

In high school Bounds participated in field hockey and softball. She picked up running once she started college. Bounds attended University of Mary Washington where she studied English, linguistics and speech.

She then went to the University of Maryland to get her masters degree in library sciences. But before all this she graduated from Conestoga Valley.

In 2008 she came back to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania as a librarian for Hambright and Conestoga elementary schools.  Before that she worked as a librarian in Virginia.

She is now working at the high school where she took over for Sue Hostetter. She hopes to continue helping people.

“I hope to continue to make the library a place where people can feel comfortable coming to get help and find answers,” said Bounds.