Category: Featured

By Connor Hughes and Cheyenne Webber –

Penn Manor’s McCoy twins look like each other and play like each other on the field.

Eryn and Emily McCoy were handed field hockey sticks in fifth grade, but they disliked the game they eventually would come to love.

It was a struggle at first, but the game slowly grew on them and the sisters haven’t looked back since.

Domination is a word that perfectly describes how the sisters play.

Penn Manor has lost just four games over the last three seasons since the arrival of Emily, a midfielder, and Eryn, a forward.

The duo has helped the Comets earn state and national rankings – and Penn Manor, the four-time reigning Section 1 champ, is off to a 7-0 start in league play this season – and the twins have played for the U.S. National Team, meaning they are among the top prep players in the nation.

Penn Manor coach Matt Soto had only positive things to say about the McCoy’s.

“They work very well together, they’re very good teammates, they work hard during practice, and they have a lot of fun,” the Comets’ coach said. “They make practice very fun, but at the same time, they have great skill.”

Soto, who guided Penn Manor to the state championship in 2008,  is an assistant coach for the U.S. Field Hockey National Developmental Team.

Emily and Eryn also play for the U.S. Under-17 squad. In February, they will travel to California to tryout for the U-17 Team. If they make the team, the twins could travel around the world playing field hockey against some of the best national teams.

But to be the best and play with the best, sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

The sisters have had to make some sacrifices to help their career. They transferred from Manheim Township to Penn Manor before their freshman year, leaving their friends and teammates behind.

The McCoy’s had to get over the always difficult hurdle of making new friends, but with the help of the team, their energetic and friendly personalities, and the fact that they always have each other to rely on, it wasn’t that much of a challenge

Lisa McCoy, the twins’ mom, is an assistant coach under Soto, and she does not cut her daughters any slack.

“Lisa McCoy was an assistant coach before they became varsity players,” Soto said. “So she had been acclimated in our program before they were in the picture as players, so the transition has been smooth.”

“(Coach Soto) knows what he’s talking about, and he learns a lot from U.S. Field Hockey and he teaches it to our team,” Emily McCoy said.

The McCoys are making names for themselves at the high school level, but can they do it at the next level? They’re hoping so.

The McCoy twins are being highly recruited by big-name NCAA Division I colleges, but they don’t want to go to separate schools; they want to stick together, and colleges are quite all right with not breaking up the duo. Almost every college that is looking at one of the McCoy’s is looking at the other.

“Only one or two colleges are looking at me separately, and they aren’t Division I schools,” Emily McCoy said.

“We’re being looked at by Boston College, Iowa, Maryland, American and the University of Massachusetts – and some other colleges so far,” Eryn McCoy added.

That’s not all.

Coach Soto said that the McCoy’s are being looked at by up to 15 colleges – most of them being Division I.

Why are the McCoy’s being so heavily recruited? It’s their skill, gifted athletic ability, and their determination to win every game. They are also very competitive.

Whether it’s a game for Penn Manor, the National team, or for their Lanco club team, they don’t like to lose; the twins are very competitive, sometimes even with each other.

When asked who’s better Eryn replied: “Me,” she said, very confidently.

Emily immediately interrupted: “No, that’s not even a fair question,” she said.

Then they discussed it: Eryn has better stick skills, but Emily is faster. And so on. Those kinds of questions might hover over their heads for their entire field hockey careers. But for now, the twins are very happy to be playing field hockey with each other.

The McCoy twins play so much field hockey and practice so much together that they have created a sixth sense between them. Emily can sense where Eryn is and vice versa.

“They definitely have a sixth sense,” Soto said, “and that comes from preparation because they play so much hockey.”

The McCoy’s plan is to continue their marvelous field hockey journey together through high school and through college and however far it takes them.

“It’s always been me and her,” Emily McCoy said.

 

 

 

By Jake Shiner and Sam Valentin –

In the shadow of the ten-year anniversary of the tragic terrorist attack that took place on September 11, 2001, students at Penn Manor are eager to reflect upon their memories of that day, even though they were just young elementary students at the time.

A new threat, uncovered by government intelligence this week, brings the memories of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, into sharp focus.

“Being in second grade we really didn’t realize 3,000 people just died,” said Russ Thorson a senior who is visiting the memorial this Sunday.

He believes that this infamous event is one with a great impact on our generation.

“It’s the single most significant (loss) in our lives,” said Thorsen.

Penn Manor math teacher Ashley Thomas also feels strongly about the event and learned something about herself.

“It showed me I wasn’t invincible,” said Thomas.

Streeter Stewart, a high school social studies teacher, said that the day after the attack was the best day of his teaching career, he had all of his students’ attention.

“I remember one student,” said Stewart, “who said how amazing this was. He didn’t mean amazing that the planes had been hijacked or that people died but that his generation had its JFK assassination or Pearl Harbor.”

Senior James Servansky was young at the time of the attack, but remembers it clearly.

“I remember seeing the pictures in the paper the next day and telling my mom that it looked like they tried to crash into the tower. When she told me that they did, that’s when I realized what happened,” said Servansky.

On the morning of September 11, four passenger jet airliners were hijacked and used as suicide attacks on the United States.  One hit the Pentagon. And the other was actually retaken by passengers and came down in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Two of the airliners hit the world trade centers in New York City. For many watching on television they could actually see the second plane hit the towers. This is when many figured out it was a deliberate attack on our homeland.

“It felt like I was watching history unfold in front of me because I knew that this day would be a day that people would never forget,” said Sean McKnight a teacher at Penn Manor.

Tony Carrado, a math teacher here, also had a clear memory of where he was at the time of the attack.

“I was at college, at Penn State, and I was coming home from a tennis match that I had just won,” said Carrado.  “I guess ignorance is bliss and I just go on with life not thinking about it.”

Adam Daley, a 31-year-old Conestoga volunteer firefighter reflected on the impact 9-11 has had on the psyche of the American public.

“There’s nothing the population can do but just be vigilant about it.  They’re goinna do it (attacks) if they want.  The more hype you give it, you’re just adding fuel to the fire,” said Daley.

Others had a personal connection.

“We were in New York at the time…we heard sirens but we didn’t know what was going on,” said Jim Witmer, a district resident.

“My father designed elevators for the twin towers and he’s my hero,” Matt Soto, a tech-ed teacher said.  “It was really hard to see him put his head down.”

“It helped me make a decision to join the army,” said Chris Gotwals, a Penn Manor senior who has enlisted.

“It makes me think about all the lives lost in the attack,” said a marines enlistee and Penn Manor senior, Skyler Major.

Others remember the moment and recall the fear on that day.

“I was scared,” said Adam Sahd.  “I thought our house would be next.”

“I turned on the TV and I thought it was an accident when I saw the first plane hit, then when the second plane hit, I knew it was an attack,” said Daniel Myers.

“I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Snyder, turning on the TV and telling us that something very bad had happened and that we were all going home,” recalled Adam Hess, a junior at Penn Manor.

Gage Karr remembered when he woke up that day, his “parents were crying on the couch.”

A junior at Penn Manor, Zach Sinz, had a similar memory.

“My mom was crying and she told me a plane crashed and I didn’t know the significance.”

“It was a depressing day.  In second grade you can’t grasp it,” Ryan Martzall, a senior, said.

Others reflected on the most recent threat and how the country has changed since Sept. 11, 2001.

“I still believe the high ranking officers in Al Queda are down but not out,” said Karr.

“It is definitely a tragedy,” remarked teacher Eric Dutchess.  “It will be difficult to move on as a nation in the near future due to recent conflicts in the Middle East.  It has given America some cultural sensitivity training.”

Dutchess said he went to New York City recently and didn’t feel the shadow of 9-11 hovering over him.

“I felt perfectly safe,” said Dutchess.  “I would be more concerned about being struck by lightning at this point.”

“I’m worried about the safety of our citizens but I have faith in our national security,” said student Robert Warfel.

Troy Diffenderfer, a senior, said, “I am not worried about the attacks threatened for the tenth anniversary because we are more aware today than ten years ago.”

Tim Harris and Jacob Harvey contributed to this report.

 

By Alicia Ygarza and Sam Valentin

Photos by Amber Brenner

“Everything is coming down to catastrophe in the Susquehanna Valley,” said Joe Calhoun, WGAL Weather reporter.

Penn Manor Superintendent, Mike Leichliter agreed, opting to close district schools Thursday because of  extensive flooding in Millersville Borough, and Conestoga and Pequea townships.  Since then, many sporting events, including the Friday night football game against L-S, has been postponed.

At 5:29 a.m., Leichliter sent an email to the Penn Manor School District saying, “We are starting with a two-hour delay. Millersville Road at Manor Avenue is closed. The Little Conestoga has flowed over the bridge. We have other roads closed through the school district while other areas are just fine. However, we have more rain coming this morning so stay tuned for a possible update around 7:00 a.m.”

Flooding only got worse and students stayed glued to the TV hoping to see “Penn Manor School District, closed.”

At 6:55 a.m. Leichliter sent another email to the school district with the subject, “Penn Manor Now Closed.”

Leichliter said in the email,”We are now closed. Road closures are increasing. In addition to the other roads I reported earlier 324 is in bad shape and Conestoga Blvd is becoming part of the Susquehanna.”

 

The flooding began Wednesday at the high school after Tropical Storm Lee dumped a deluge of rain on the county.

“We ran wet vacuums and used mops to clean up the water,” said Penn Manor custodian Mike Weimer “The hallway from the band room to the fish pond was flooded. The orchestra room and outside the central complex was flooded. Locker rooms and the coaches room was also affected.”

According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office,  the area has not experienced this much flooding since the 1972 Hurricane, Agnes, damaged Pennsylvania to the tune of more than $3 billion.”

Penn Manor teacher, Joe Herman compared the two storms.

“This storm is right there with Agnes depending on where it floods at certain spots, it has the potential to be worse.”

Around 7:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 8, WGAL reported the rain was coming from York and hitting Lancaster. Forecasters expected Millersville to get hit “badly” by the storm.

In fact the storms triggered a water main break in the borough supply and residents are on a “boil water” alert.

According to WGAL’s Weather Report, the storm was carried from East Virginia to Maryland and through Pennsylvania.

WGAL also reported that the storm caused Harrisburg’s third worst flood, after Agnes in 1972, the second worst flood was in 1936.

Harrisburg was mandated to evacuate.

 

Hershey was the worst affected area, then Harrisburg and Lancaster third of area counties.

“You can’t tell where the Conestoga ends and where the Susquehanna begins,” said one WGAL reporter Friday morning.

Lee was Agnes like dumping 7 -15 inches of rain on the Susquehanna valley.

Unfortunately the rain looks to continue until Sunday so Penn Manor is not out of the woods yet.

The football game scheduled for tonight against L-S has been postponed until Saturday at 7:00 p.m at Lampeter-Strasburg.

Other postponements include boys freshman soccer game against Elizabethtown, Girls tennis and girls field hockey, also against E-town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Cheyenne Weber and Connor Hughes~

Penn Manor’s schedule is getting a makeover.

The state of Pennsylvania has deemed Penn Manor High School in Corrective Action II after students in the class of 2012 reached proficiency in math and reading in only 12 of the 17 targets. Based on this performance Penn Manor is classified as a “failing school” and Penn Manor’s staff  hopes the new schedule will redirect its path to proficiency.

Tuesday, September 6, Penn Manor High School introduced their new daily “enrichment” schedule. The new schedule consists of an enrichment period after or before one block daily.  Understanding the schedule can be difficult, but it can be easily understood as a four-day cycle.

• Day 1, after 1st block, students will have a 45-50 minute enrichment period in their 1st block class.
• Day 2, students will have the same enrichment period, except with their 2nd block teacher.
• Day 3, students will have enrichment before their 3rd block, with their 3rd block teacher.
• Day 4, students will have enrichment before their 4th block with their 4th block teacher.

This extra period introduces some options.  If a student is behind in a class or needs individual tutoring, they have the opportunity to receive the help they need during this 45-50 period.  Also, PSSA benchmark assignments will be given periodically.  The PSSA material will be incorporated with that class’s curriculum, according to assistant principal Krista Cox.

Students with sufficient grades get an additional perk.  They may choose a club if it fits into the club schedule.  Teachers may step up to create new, exciting clubs so students can have more options for which club they want to be involved with.

Members of the Penn Manor staff are excited for the new schedule and believe it will improve student productivity.

“I absolutely love it.  It’s a great way to help students from falling behind and prevents students from wondering the halls and being unaccounted for,” said Cox.

Cox believes the schedule change is for the best.  Although, teachers aren’t 100 percent positive about what the effects of the new schedule will be, they are optimistic.

“I hope the schedule works out.  I think it will because it gives us teachers a chance to enrich and mediate,” said Joe Herman, a history teacher at Penn Manor.

A few Penn Manor students have a problem with the schedule change.

“(The new schedule) is hurting a lot of classes that need longer class periods, especially AP classes,” said senior, Eddie Bley.

“The top students sacrifice class time for the bottom one-third of the school who messed up on their PSSA’s,” added Bley.

 

 

Dr. Dean R. Hess has shaped his life into nothing less than extraordinary.

Ironic enough, he graduated from Penn Manor in 1968 not knowing what to do with his life.

“I went to college more as an excuse to get away than as an opportunity in life,” said Hess via an email interview.

In 1972, he graduated from Messiah College, earned his Masters Degree from Millersville in 1980 and received his Ph.D. from LaSalle University in 1994.

Hess credits Penn Manor to much of his good study habits that he developed and felt he had an edge on other college students.

Unsure of where his calling was Hess says, “I stumbled into a health care profession, more as an accident than by plan. It turned out that I not only enjoyed being a respiratory therapist, but it was a field in which I could excel.”

Hess was determined to do the best he could, so he dedicated himself to developing his clinical skills while completing his graduate degrees.

“This opened many doors for me, including a job at the Massachusetts General Hospital and an appointment at the Harvard Medical School. I am fortunate to now have a job where I can divide my time between clinical, teaching, research and administrative responsibilities,” said Hess.

Hess’s achievements are nearly countless.

He has lectured extensively throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.

He has published over 200 papers and 7 books. His books have been translated into Korean and Chinese.

His current credentials consist of Assistant Director of Respiratory Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and Editor in Chief of Respiratory Care.

“Progress always involves risks.  You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first,” once said former baseball player, Frederick B. Wilcox.

Such was the same mindset as Hess, when he took the chance to go out and try to succeed in the real world.

“Growing up a farm boy and being one of the first in my family to complete high school, it was a big risk going away to college. But the circumstance presented itself, I took advantage of the opportunity, and used it to build towards the next step in my life,” explained Hess.

Built towards the next step he has by winning many prestigious awards including the Forrest M. Bird award for Lifetime Scientific Achievement.

“I’ve had the good fortune throughout my life of being in the position to seize upon opportunities as they presented themselves,” said Hess.

At one of these opportunities is how Penn Manor Principal Phillip Gale, learned of Dr. Hess.

“My cousin was at a respiratory therapist conference when she heard him speak. Hess mentioned that he was a Penn Manor graduate and that is when she informed me,” said Gale.

Gale’s two cents for interested med students is, “it is a great field to go into due to the fact that there is always a high demand. You need to be prepared, though, to put the time in.”

“His hard work has paid off for him,” added Gale.

As far as advice goes to be successful in anything you do in life, Hess mentions what needs to be done.

“When I was in high school it was never a goal of mine to be where I am today. But it was a goal of mine to do as well as I could in what I do and that has led me to this point,” said Hess.

 

 

By Matt Ulmer and Connor Hughes –

It’s over, done.  Their high school career is behind them forever.

June 2  is the last day of high school for Penn Manor seniors.  It’s an exciting, nerve racking time for most.  Some are  worried about the future, some are giddy with anticipation and some are just taking it day-by-day.  But each student has their own post-high school plan.

Okay, the final day isn’t completely serious.  Seniors used the last day to recapture their favorite memories, see some in-school friends that they may never see again and to give their farewells to their favorite teachers and administrators. There’s even the classic “lunch clap” that breaks out during the last lunch.

Ben Clark never wants to forget the good times he had at Penn Manor or the friends he made.

“I’ve enjoyed chilling with friends.  This is the place you can always come back to, it’s the people you keep up with, stay in touch,” said Clark.

Darius Howard is anticipating his freshman year in college.  He is attending Shippensburg University in the fall.

“I’m excited to go to Ship to play football and talk to cheerleaders,” said Howard with a smile.  But, he has some concerns.

“I’m worried about injuries and trying to get a starting position,” explained Howard.

Howard will have to balance studies, sports and relationships without dropping the ball.  He’s been looking forward to playing football in college his entire life.  That should be just the motivation he needs to have a successful college career.

Ryan Mays is attending HACC, then plans to transfer to Temple.  Although, he isn’t sure that he can support himself on a limited budget after high school.

“I’m a little bit worried about the financial part of college.  Like paying for tuition, books, and student loans after college,” admitted Mays.

“All I have to do is work hard and everything should work out by itself.”

Kendal Phillips is uncertain about her future.  She’s attending York College, but her major is undecided and she has no clue what she wants to spend the rest of her life doing.

“I’m just worried that I won’t know what the next step is,” she said.

But, are they prepared?  Can they withstand three hour lectures and the 40-60 hour work weeks? Can they acclimate to the college or work life?

Caitlyn Whirt already has her future already planned out.

“I want to be able to handle all of my classes and prepare for the LSAT (law entree test) and go to law school,” she said.

These questions have been racing through the minds of many seniors who are nervous about their future. However, they realize Penn Manor has done a great job of preparing them.  Required community service, resume construction, and other graduation project requirements are part of the preparation the seniors have for the real world.

As the last day comes to an end and cameras flash, hugs are shared, and shouts of joy fill the air. Although, it’s obvious to know inside every rejoicing senior there is that thought of conclusion that sheds a tear of sadness.

Seniors who have met the graduation requirements will be marching to Pomp and Circumstance to get their diplomas at F&M Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Then they will disperse into their own worlds.

 

By Bryan Hess and Sarah Schaeffer –

“There is no time to blame only time to grow and learn from what you done wrong.”

These are the words of 32-year-old Anthony Rashan Lewis.  Fifteen years ago, at the age of 17, he was convicted of murder in the second degree after a robbery in Lancaster, Pa. ended in the death of the convenience store clerk.  Lewis didn’t plan the shooting, obtain the weapon or pull the trigger.  Nevertheless, Lewis will be in prison for the rest of his life, just like 472 other juveniles in Pennsylvania – the most of any state in the United States, say criminal experts.  It’s also more than in any country anywhere in the entire world.

Charging juveniles as adults and putting many of them away in state prisons for the rest of their lives is not without controversy even within Pennsylvania which leads the universe with this dubious distinction.  Should these youths, some as young as 11, be given a second chance or will they forever be a threat to society?

Should society attempt a risky rehabilitation or lock them up and throw away the key?

For this report, Penn Points contacted and maintained written correspondence with several juveniles who were charged as adults for their crimes and who are serving a life sentence in adult correctional facilities in Pennsylvania.  Excerpts from that correspondence appear in this story exactly as the inmates wrote.  No changes were made to correct grammar or punctuation.  The decision was made to let the young men tell their stories in their own voice.

“I dropped out of school 3 days into my Senior Year of High School. So with so much free time we just kept on finding ways to get money like burglaries and armed robberies and car thefts. These things eventually led up to what I’m really incarcerated for, a double homicide. So all of these things that I thought was fun and exciting, really wasn’t,” wrote 27-year-old Michael Bourgeois, another juvenile “lifer.”

“As an adult we know how to make the right decisions as a juvenile we struggle about what is the right decision to make, especially when it comes from peer pressure and drugs,” wrote Lewis, now 32 years old, from Rockview Correctional Institution, located in the mountains of Centre County, Pa.

Lewis certainly didn’t make the right decision t he night he agreed with a group of boys he had been hanging out with that a robbery would be a good way to get the money to score some marijuana.

Because one convenience store did not appear to have security cameras, it became the target.  The clerk, 38-year-old Michael Heath, was shot in the neck by one of the boys and bled to death while on the phone with police dispatchers.  He left behind a wife and son.

After Lewis’ trial and his second-degree murder conviction, some jurors said they were surprised that the youths could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.  The judge had not informed them of the mandatory sentence connected to the conviction of youths charged as adults for second-degree murder in Pennsylvania.

Even so, jurors cited the premeditation of the act, the fact the boys had gone home to get hooded sweatshirts to wear and gloves, made them clear accomplices whether they were in the store during the murder or lookouts outside. They were unmoved during the trial when defense attorneys brought up the defendants low IQs.

“I was high that day and night but I just met most of my co-defendant’s who I was arrested with that next day,” recalled Lewis, “On the night of may 23, 1996, I was out with some friends and one them came up with a plan to rob someone or a place, like a store, well two of them made the plan inside one of my co-defendant house and came out and told all of us about the plan. I was to high to walk away from them so I stayed there, clueless, and didn’t care. Well that night it was getting chilly so I went home to get a sweatshirt, but the only one I had was the one that my friend give me to hold so I put it on and before I left my house I ask my Aunt for some money and took my medication, I was on.and left back to my co-defendant house. Well later that night we was driven to a street behind a store and that when thing’s took the wrong turn, and it’s funny because I was told be them to check out the store, and report back to them as I did, and I was told to be a look out, outside the store. And than I heard a gun shot inside the store, my co-defendant had shot the guy who was working inside the store. Everyone started to run, I was stuck for a few minutes and ran with them out of fear,” wrote Lewis.

It was just this type of juvenile crime that the Pennsylvania Legislature and other legislatures across t he country were trying to address when they passed Pa. Act 33 in 1995.

Crime, including juvenile crime, had spiked nationwide in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  By 1993, the annual FBI reports showed the murder arrest for every 100,000 juveniles in the country was 14.4 percent, an all-time high.  By comparison, that rate was halved by 2004 and has continued to decline to its lowest point in 2008.

But the increase in juvenile crime in the 1990s prompted legislators to amend the Juvenile Crime Code in Pennsylvania to exclude automatically from the juvenile system any youths who fit the following criteria at the time of the crime:

-The youth was 15 years or older at the time of the alleged crime.
-The youth was charged with rape; involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; aggravated assault; robbery; robbery of a motor vehicle; aggravated indecent assault; kidnapping; voluntary manslaughter; or an attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit murder or any of the crimes listed.
-The youth used a deadly weapon during commission of the crime.

When these factors are present, district attorneys around the state have no choice but to follow the law and charge the juvenile offenders as adults.

But there are many other cases, where gray areas make the decision more complicated.

Any youths who have been charged as an adult but who want to be “decertified” and tried as juveniles must have their attorney request a decertification hearing to return the case to juvenile court.

During those hearings, many different aspects of the juvenile are examined.  The first one, and the one that is normally the deciding factor, said many experts, is if the juvenile will be able to respond to treatment that is offered in the juvenile system.

Treatment is not as common once the juvenile enters the adult system.  Prior criminal history, age of the juvenile, how much injury was caused and the reaction of the juvenile to the crime they committed are other factors that play into the decision of whether or not a juvenile will be tried as an adult.  However, if charged with any degree of murder in Pennsylvania or the other violent crimes that the amended statute names, the case is automatically sent to adult court.

The argument continues within the state whether or not juveniles are capable of making decisions that can and will affect them for the remainder of their life?  And if so, is sentencing a juvenile to life without parole a fair punishment?

Pennsylvania has by far the lion’s share of the 2,500-some juveniles with life sentences in the United States, called by some “the other death sentence” because they will die in prison.  Although far larger in population, California has about 250 inmates who were juveniles when they were given their life sentences. Texas has only four juveniles serving life sentences.

The concept of sentencing juveniles to life is not universally accepted.  Thirteen states prohibit the practice entirely of mandatory life sentences for juveniles.  The rest of the world agrees.

When the United Nations drafted a resolution banning the practice of sentencing youths to life in prison in December of 1990, only two countries in the world refused to sign it – the United States and Somalia.  However records show there may be as few as 12 juveniles in jail without parole possibilities in the rest of the world, not counting the U.S.

Although the practice does ensure that the particular youth will not be able to get out and recommit a crime, there seems to be no correlation between the life sentence and crime prevention.  States that do not have the practice of sentencing juveniles to life often have lower juvenile crime rates, even violent juvenile crime rates, than states who do.

Some experts believe there is a definite physical and emotional difference between juveniles and adults.

According to Jerome Gottlieb, a forensic psychiatrist for over 30 years, the brain is not fully developed until sometime in the 20s.  The last part of the brain to develop, Gottlieb said, is the part that regulates behavior to conform to social norms.  As a result, teens don’t consider risks and they are more impulsive.

Many experts in juvenile crime point to the impulsiveness of the perpetrator who, in 59 percent of the cases, is committing his or her first crime when they are sentenced to life.

“They are not aware of the long-term consequences,” said Gottlieb who has testified at hundreds of hearings to determine whether youths should be treated in the juvenile system.

It is clear that Lewis now believes this, too.

“When I was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, I still didn’t understand the meaning,” said Lewis.

“When we are charged with a crime as a juvenile we are looked at as super-predator, so that when the court’s had started getting tough on crime because of the violation from young juvenile’s. We should be able to have a second chance to have the opportunity to be release from prison to live a normal life. See we change to be more positive and more understand of our action’s and feel bad of what had happen, not all of us but the most of us do regret the thing’s we did when we was younger,” wrote Lewis.

Lewis, who also committed other crimes previous to the convenience store robbery, expressed remorse for his deeds in the correspondence and the desire to undo the death of the store clerk.

“If I was given the opportunity to go back and change anything what would it be? That day the crime that was planned, I would wished I have never met my Co-defendant’s.  I would have tooken the bullet for the victim so, that he would die or lost his life for nothing,” wrote Lewis.  “And when there is peer pressure the juvenile has no control over what is going to happen and that is because you don’t want to let your friend’s don’t or think your weak.”

But Lancaster County District Attorney, Craig Stedman, feels very differently.  He was the assistant district attorney in both Lewis’ and Bourgeois’ cases.  He sees the victim’s and the victim’s family’s side of each violent crime.

“Most people know that if you take a gun and shoot someone in the back of the head, it’s wrong,” said Stedman.

He pointed out that the victim is still dead, the family is still suffering, whether he was killed by a juvenile or an adult.  Stedman recalled incidents when victim’s family members collapsed in his arms with grief.

Bourgeois was tried as an adult after he and an accomplice, Landon May, murdered Bourgeois’s adoptive mom and her husband.  Bourgeois is now spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Incidentally, May and his father, Freeman May, are both on “death row” awaiting execution for completely different murders (the only father/son combination in Pennsylvania).

Although Bourgeois carefully sidesteps discussion of the actual crime and whether or not he is regretful at this point, Stedman clearly remembers the Bourgeois case.

“I can’t describe how horrible this crime was,” said Stedman, although he goes on to do an explicit job of it.

“Michael Bourgeois and his friends were living in a house with a woman, who they had a sexual relationship with, a woman in her 30s.  They shot a Mennonite guy in the back of the head when he was riding to work, for fun, they were ramping up their crimes, they were having a great time,” he recalled.

May was the only one charged with shooting the man as he rode to work, but Bourgeois and others were charged with the burglaries.

“They tortured the Smiths to get their pin numbers for their bank account, they thought about it in advance, they talked around the kitchen table, had a summit meeting about it,” said Stedman recalling the much publicized murder of Lancaster County elementary principal, Lucy Smith, and her husband, Terry Smith.

“He (Bourgeois) and Landon May (his accomplice) not only killed Lucy Smith, but May sexually assaulted her,” said Stedman.  They hog-tied them with duct tape, hit them with hammers, poked them with barbecue forks for fun, cut them with knives, and shot him (Terry Smith) in the head six times.  He didn’t die at first.  The bullet rolled around in his skull and this went on for an extended period of time.”

According to the autopsy,  among many injuries, Lucy Smith was cut 51 times, shot in the head, beat on the left side of the head with a claw hammer and was sexually assaulted by Landon May.

One of the pair even dropped a television set on Lucy Smith’s head, finally killing her by smothering her.

Steph Herr, a Penn Manor graduate is now a freshman at a local technical college.  She was in third grade at Elizabeth Martin Elementary when her principal, Smith, was murdered. She remembers Smith as a positive figure.

“It was a really big shock. I went out and did Book-It [with Smith], I went to Pizza Hut with her and kind of became friends with her in school and then she got murdered,” said Herr. “I was sad, she didn’t deserve to go and she was one of the nicest ladies I ever knew.”

As for Bourgeois’ sentence, Herr finds it just.

“That’s what [Bourgeois] gets because you must be out of your mind to ever kill someone, she didn’t deserve to die. Coming from her son, she didn’t expect that. You would think he would love and respect her. He definitely shouldn’t be walking,” said Herr.

From his prison cell in Hunlock Creek, Pa., a rural area with an estimated population of about 5,585, Bourgeois is eager to talk about everything but details of the crime.

“The Assistant District Attorney (ADA) [Stedman] put the Death Penalty on my plate and I had no idea what to think about it because I was so scared at the time. Just to think about my Life and how all these things led me up to this point. Can you imagine all the thoughts going through my head at this time?…Fortunately the ADA put a Plea Agreement on the table which allowed me to avoid the Death Penalty, but this only meant I was pleading out to 2 Life Sentences,” wrote Bourgeois.

Julia Hall acknowledges there are violent juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania who are violent threats to society and must be kept locked up.  But not the vast majority of them, she contends.

Hall has her PhD and is a professor at Drexel University near Philadelphia and is also the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of  Youth.  This coalition is trying to persuade legislators to amend the laws on how juveniles are sentenced, but it’s not as easy as Hall would like.

“Legislators are not very courageous people,” said Hall.

She said legislators are trying to get re-elected, and voting to let a juvenile out early on parole may not be popular with the voting population.

Hall feels that most juveniles who commit crimes would better benefit from some sort of treatment rather then be sent to prison and not ever see the light of day.

David Romano, a local juvenile public defender, is surrounded by youth under the age of 18 everyday who have committed crimes. He agrees with Gottlieb that juveniles are not able to make the decisions and realize the consequences like adults are able.

“There is definitely a difference between a teenage brain and an adult brain,” said Gottlieb, who believes drugs are a big issue and contributing factor to many instances of juvenile crime.

“To suggest that a child as young as 10 can make adult decisions and potentially face adult penalties makes little sense to me,” agreed Romano.

Romano also explained the difference that does exist between sentencing adults and youths.

“The goal of the adult court system is to punish defendants, while the goal of the juvenile court system is to rehabilitate,” said Romano. “I think that the juvenile court system is where these children belong until it’s been proven that they have exhausted all possible resources first.”

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May of 2009 seemed to take the same viewpoint as Romano.  The court ruled that a sentence of life in prison is “cruel and unusual punishment for juvenile offenders.”  The court did make an exception when the crime is murder.

“The pre-frontal cortex of the brain is not fully developed until  the mid 20s, (that is the) area that is responsible for decision making, impulse control, delayed gratification…all those things keeping a juvenile from crime. [It’s like] punishing a child because his brain is not developed,” said Hall.

“You’re certainly not the same person at 18 you were at 12, not the same person at 25 or 30. Human beings mature and change. When you put a juvenile in prison for the rest of their life and say they are never going to change, that’s not true,” Hall also said.

According to the Pa. Dept of Corrections, 374 are sentenced as adults and are under 18.  The number is lower than the one provided by Hall.

Susan Bensinger, deputy press secretary for the state DOC said it is difficult to get the info on how many prisoners who are serving life terms were charged as juveniles.  She said the data base in the department does not allow for easy cross checking.

Hall, on the other hand, claims she is far more careful, and accurate, with the numbers because she contacts every single juvenile who is charged and sentenced as an adult.

Some inmates who were juveniles sentenced to life are now appealing their sentences based on a two-year old U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roper v. Simmons.

Just like the case of Jordan Brown, who was 11 years old when he allegedly took a hunting rifle and shot his soon-to-be step-mother, who was pregnant at the time, then proceeded to board the school bus.  Brown, a resident of Pennsylvania, is charged as an adult and is scheduled to be tried this year.

Hall questions whether a kid Brown’s age has a clear idea of what he is doing during a shooting.

“I show pictures of (Brown) to my class (at Drexel),” said Hall, “They say ‘that’s a little kid.'”

Although it is clear that Michael Bourgeois murdered someone, it is not as clear in Lewis’s case.

Bourgeois, now 27, lives in a 15′ by 8’ cell with another inmate.  To pass the time, he watches TV, reads, writes and draws.

“Just the little things in life I miss, like using the bathroom in privacy, eating whenever I feel like it, hanging out with friends, going to different states and see thing sights and just living life freely,” said Bourgeois.

But Bourgeois insists he has changed for the better.

“I flushed my childish ways down the toilet and have grown to be mature and walk proud about who I am,” wrote Bourgeois.

And it isn’t just the juveniles who think they can grow up, mature and become better people

“What do we gain from this?” Hall asked of sentencing juveniles as adults.

Stedman feels that regardless of age, the criminal must pay the consequences for their actions.

“It doesn’t matter to the victim’s family whether they were 17 or 27,” said Stedman.

The price is also a cause for concern.  It costs about $1 million to keep a juvenile in prison their entire life.  Also, Pennsylvania’s current deficit is $4 billion, $1.8 billion of which goes to the Bureau of Corrections. Pennsylvania’s new governor Tom Corbett has proposed cutting the state’s education budget by $1.2 billion and hiking the allocation to the prison system by 11 percent, which would help fund the construction of new prisons.

When juveniles are sentenced as adults, they are often sent to adult prisons, according to Hall.  This is a cause for concern, she said, because it can put the juveniles in danger.

“They are more likely to be raped, assaulted in some way and have very high suicide rates,” said Hall.

According to a 2000 study of juvenile offenders sentenced to life, placement with adult offenders also puts the transferred youth at risk in terms of physical well being. Compared to youth held in juvenile detention centers, youth held in adult jails are more likely to be harmed, including sexual assault, beaten by staff and attacked with a weapon. Suicide rates are also higher among juveniles. These issues surrounding housing adolescents in the same locations as chronic adult offenders have been suggested as possible explanations for recidivism among transferred youth.

There is currently only one juvenile prison in the state, Pine Grove, but most juvenile offenders who are charged as adults end up in adult prisons anyway, according to Hall.

“Someone can rape you or kill you in here and these people don’t care about your life if you live or die,” said Lewis.

Lewis and Bourgeois both say they have devoted themselves to changing their lives around, but not all prisoners share the same motivation as these two.

“I see all these people coming in and out of jail and think that its funny because they are back, so they greet each other with open arms.  It doesn’t make me mad, it makes me sad because they have been given a second, third, fourth and even fifth time to be free and they haven’t seen anything wrong with it,” said Bourgeois.

But many, including Stedman and the judges who sentenced them, say that society must be protected from these violent youths.

“The younger people are getting worse than when I started 20 years ago,” said Stedman.  “The 17-year-old drug dealer is way worse than the 17-year-old drug dealer from 20 years ago, they are way more frightening.  I don’t want to lock people up but people have a right to live crime-free without worrying about someone selling drugs to their children, raping someone, breaking into their homes.  Sometimes that means incarceration in state prison.  There’s a big difference between someone who raped a 5-year-old kid and someone who stole a piece of paper from CVS.”

At this point the legal system in Pennsylvania agrees with Stedman although Hall said other states are starting to look at juveniles differently these days.  But in this state, hundreds of young men probably will never see the light of day.

Click this link to see the number of juvenile offenders with life sentences in each state.

Although they have programs and studies on the inside, the young men who will spend the rest of their lives behind bars still miss things from life on the outside.

“We grow up in here and mature as man, we don’t think the same, we think about the future and family. I lost my family and that is the hardest thing for anyone who grows up in this place, no children, I never been in any real relationship, I don’t know what love is,” Lewis said.

Lewis and Bourgeois feel that they are living proof that people who commit crimes can change and if given a second chance, could walk out of prison a completely changed human being and never again travel down the path of crime.

“I am a strong positive person, and a role model for other young men in here,” said Lewis.

“We can be productive citizens in our communities and loving family members,” said Bourgeois.

Even if Lewis and Bourgeois are correct, they and others will most likely never find out.

 

By Jordann Stekervetz (video credit Blake Wales) –

The pain of losing someone is deafening.

A best friend killed in a car accident, the mother of a teenager dead before she sees her grandchildren, a child watching their parent die in a hospital bed, all situations that can shatter the lives of a teenager. In recent years, teens are increasingly finding ways to cope with this shock and pain through permanent means- a tattoo.

The population of US citizens who have a tattoo has grown dramatically from 6 percent in 1936, to 36 percent  just a couple years ago. Researchers from Texas Tech found that 18 percent of teenagers in America are now tattooed, which is double the amount statistics found in the 1990s. Also, in 1997, the tattooing business was said to be the sixth fastest growing retail business in the United States.

 

All music used in the video is original and composed by Penn Manor students.

 

For many years, a tattoo was a sign of rebellion for teens. Nowadays, a tatted teen is considered the norm. A new trending design, a tattoo in memory of a loved one who has passed, is finding its place in American culture.

Students from Penn Manor have adopted this wildly popular trend to remember family and friends who have died or with whom they had a personal connection.

Memorial tattoos don’t come in one certain shape or size. Birth and death dates, a depiction of something the person enjoyed, the deceased’s zodiac symbol or even a portrait can all be seen covering a portion of teens’ skin.

“My tattoo is of a tiger,” Lisa Mayo, an English teacher here at Penn Manor explained, “it represents passion that should never be caged.”

“When I graduated from high school, I was forbidden to go the college,” explained Mayo, ” I am now everything my father hated [which the tiger symbolizes]; a left wing liberal and college educated women, influencing the youth of America. I hope that he is spinning in his grave.”

A popular TV series, L.A Ink, has shown many of people getting pictures of loved ones and getting objects that represent a hard time in their life tattooed on themselves.

A new and upcoming trend for memorial tattoos is mixing cremated ashes with the tattoo ink. People are starting to get the ashes put into the tattoo to feel some type of closure, by not only having a tattoo in memory of loved one, but having a piece of them in you forever.

*Credit to the young speakers who shared their memorial tattoos with us. Thank you Hayden Gonzalez, Sarah Nagy, Jeff Ford, Genny Leonards, Kendal Phillips, Amanda Ackerman and Shannon McCoy.

This story came to mind not only because of this type of tattooing becoming popular, but because just like the people interviewed, my tattoo is for a loved one who passed away. When I was 9 years old, my dad was put on a list for a liver transplant. From before I was born, my father had a liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, which is the swelling, scarring or destruction of the bile duct. He lived his life how he wanted to, not letting his disease slow him down or ruin his life. PSC is not usually fatal, but in my dad’s case, it was. In late 2001, the disease worsened, leaving my dad very, very sick.. He was in the Lancaster General Hospital while his condition got critical. The doctors then moved him up to Philadelphia, where he waited for a liver transplant. When we visited he seemed to be getting better, up until December 16, 2001, when the disease took over his weakened body. He was very sick, throwing up blood to the point where the doctors had to do a blood transfusion. He died that night. Eight years later i decided to get a tattoo in memory of him. I chose to get “I love you” in his handwriting from a card given to me when I was younger. Now I will always have him with me. Forever&Always -Jordann Stekervetz