Taylor Groff & Alex Geli also contributed to this story
It was Career Day once again. On February 4, Penn Manor, for the third consecutive year, held Career Day to give students a glimpse into what the future might have in store for them.
With 72 speakers taking time out of their busy schedule to speak the students had many opportunities to learn about all types of different careers. This event wasn’t just thrown together in a few days. Counselor Marjean Long has been working to get professionals to come in, and organize students since August.
“I started contacting the guest speakers in August, and got confirmation from them in a couple of months, and then conducted the student sign ups,” said Long who was the main coordinator of Career Day.
Wendy Jordan and her dog Fire presenting on Friday. Photo by Jake Shiner
Jobs from all types of fields were represented at this year’s Career Day. Student’s could do anything from watching dog trainer Wendy Jordan, and her dog Fire, to sitting in as Chef Bob Genet cooked up all different types of food.
“Chef Bob was awesome,” said senior Cody Welch.
Genet, in students’ minds, was awesome for many reasons. He made great food, told fascinating stories and explained to students the importance of education.
“I think (high school students) need to understand the importance of a post secondary education, and really, if you’re looking for a career, you need some sort of education past high school,” Genet said, “you need to have an edge over the other one hundred people that are applying for that position, and schooling is where it begins,” he added.
"Chef Bob" doing what he does best in front of the students on Career Day. Photo by Jake Shiner
Along with listening to two speakers of their choice, freshman, sophomores and juniors took turns going to the auditorium to listen to Thomas Baldrige, President of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Baldrige interacted with the students by playing his own version of Deal or No Deal.
“I like to involve the audience especially with students,” said Baldrige.
School-wide Career Day was viewed as a positive learning experience for all who attended.
Student Rob Fisher couldn’t pick just one of his favorite parts of the day.
“I would have to say, it is the amazing educational experience that is offered to me during Career Day,” he said.
“Career Day is a great way to look at options for the future,” said senior Josh Carle.
Librarian Pamela Yarnell agrees with this as well but thinks that it benefits older students more because of their maturity and being closer to graduation. “It could spark a new interest in them,” she said.
Thomas Baldrige spoke about qualities necessary to be successful in the workplace throughout the day. Photo by Jake Shiner
So how do the counselors decide what professionals to bring in to help “spark” that interest for students?
“The counselors looked at Career Cruising, we used some of the occupations or careers that are a high interest based on what Career Cruising said, and then I also went to the Penn Manor alumni meeting and I asked if graduates from Penn Manor wanted to come back and share their careers and then the third thing I did I asked some people that have been here in the past, I just invited them back,” said Long.
Jeremy Nesmith, the coordinator of Twilight school, agrees that Career Day is an important step to finding a career, but is stressed that the students have to make the most out of the day.
“Relevance is most important because if kids don’t relate to what you’re saying, it’s just a waste of time,” Nesmith said.
Nineteen seniors’ faces got a little bit less red as they exhaled their four-year-long deep breath.
Field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, cross country, football and volleyball-savvy seniors signed away their future Feb. 3 to a variety of colleges. From York College to Temple University, these colleges are sure receiving a gift in athletic director Jeff Roth’s eyes when they signed their letters of intent to play their sport at their choice of colleges.
“We got a good track record here at Penn Manor of kids going off to college and being successful,” he said, adding, “they’re a great group of kids.”
It was the largest group of athletes from Penn Manor to ever take part in signing day. It also was the most athletes to sign letters for Division I schools.
The list of Division I future attendees are as follows:
Elly Raush, Jacksonville University for Volleyball
Maddy Hess, Virginia Tech for Lacrosse
Renee Suter, University of Massachusetts for Field Hockey
Willie Chalfant, Temple University for Soccer
Field Hockey veterans, Katie Breneman, Renee Suter and Helen Doolittle showing off their future University. Photo by Alex Geli
Katie Breneman, Penn State University for Field Hockey
Demetrius Dixon, Lafayette University for Football
Helen Doolittle, Liberty University for Field Hockey
“It’s finalized. I’m good,” Chalfant said about initialing his confirmation to Temple, “I’m very happy.”
Relating to Penn State Main’s campus, Breneman said, “It really fits me as a person.”
Division II athletes include:
Clark Habecker, Millersville University for Soccer
Danielle Warfel, Philadelphia University for Soccer
Megan Wilson, Millersville University for Soccer
Teon Lee, West Chester University for Football
“It’s a big relief of pressure,” Habecker said.
Finally, Division III athletes are consisted of the following:
Zach Campbell, Virginia Wesleyan for Lacrosse
Spencer Barnett, Frostburg State for Lacrosse
Danielle Warfel in action on Letter of Intent Signing Day, 2011. Photo by Alex Geli
Eric Gerlach, Wilkes University for Soccer
Selma Brkic, Franklin & Marshall for Cross Country
Jaq Presbery, Elizabethtown College for Lacrosse
Janine Haberstroh, Lebanon Valley for Tennis
Tanner Kennedy, York College for Baseball
Connor Rowe, Elizabethtown College for Lacrosse
“It’s a good feeling knowing I’m officially going,” said lacrosse all-star Barnett.
“I feel like I’m ready for college,” Gerlach said, foreshadowing his future at Wilkes.
Regarding their final decisions, the reasons vary.
“I couldn’t say no to $8,000 a year,” Barnett said with a smirk.
“I was offered a starting position. That was a big one (regarding my decision),” Gerlach also said.
“It’s real close to the beach,” said Campbell.
Smiles were all around in Penn Manor High School’s library where students, teachers, parents and even WGAL gathered for the signings.
Collegial sports teams all around the country will be receiving some talent, straight from Calcu-lane and Chemi-street, the halls of Penn Manor High School.
But first, one of those talented seniors is planning another trip of his own before the journey to his college of choice.
The Penn Manor School District is one of the largest districts in Lancaster County. With a community population of approximately 32,000, a 5320 student population, and 375 teachers plus 200 non-instructional support staff, one would think that the majority of us knew our stuff about the district. Especially the little facts. As it turns out, that thought couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Original Penn Manor High School. Photo by Jenna Reel
We are the Penn Manor Comets, but does anyone actually know why? John Erisman, history teacher and former coach, does. His grandfather and retired bus driver, Spic Erisman, came up with the idea himself.
At the time, school buses were called Gold Comets. It just so happened that the advisor of Penn Manor’s school newspaper was holding a contest to come up with a nickname for the sports teams. So Spic Erisman submitted the “Gold Comets” for the contest. He had a son named Ken who was a junior. Without Ken knowing, Erisman put Ken’s name on the entry form. Ken won the contest and received the cash prize along with a year’s subscription to the school newspaper. Ever since then, the name “Comets” has stuck.
Before
Students around the high school were asked if they knew how our name first came about. The ideas that they came up with were far off.
Math teacher, Jarod Staub, and sophomore and senior students, Mac Evarts and Jere Vital, all hadn’t had the slightest clue.
“Someone thought it was a cool name?” guessed senior Nick Hartley.
“A comet hit our district and named the school after it,” joked Danny Boehler.
Our district name and mascot is not the only thing that Penn Manor students, faculty, and community members are unaware of.
After
Many of them don’t know things like when the original high school was first presented, how many elementary schools we have, how many AP programs we have, or even the number of sports teams.
Most of those who were asked either guessed or flat out had no idea.
Both were the case for the majority of the questions proposed. The two questions that everyone knew the answer to were the address of the high school, 100 East Cottage Avenue, and the name of our superintendent, Dr. Michael Leichliter.
Everyone guessed the number of townships within the boundaries of the district being between three and six, when in fact there are four.
Penn Manor offers seventeen AP programs. More than 80 percent of those polled said we had thirteen and one person guessed twenty. Only Evarts knew we offered 17 programs.
Another question that no one knew the answer to was when the school was first presented after being built.
“1960’s?” guessed Evarts.
“1943,” said Vital.
“1970,” said Hartley.
All wrong answers. The building was first presented on November 9, 1958.
That could be a reasonable thing to not know, but some of them didn’t even know how many elementary schools the district has.
Only 60 percent of those asked knew there were seven, but had to sit and think about it. Others guessed four, five, and eight.
Penn Manor High School has been known for our block scheduling that has recently been used in other local school districts, such as Hempfield High School. The sad thing is that students are unaware of how long it has been around.
Staub attended Penn Manor and was in high school when the change took place, so he knew the answer.
“1995,” he said confidently.
It was the 1995-1996 school year.
Others guessed the years being in 1998, 2000 and 2005.
It’s been made clear that many people don’t know the little things.
“Penn Manor has grown so much that people lose touch of where we started. It’s important to remember how hard we have worked to become Penn Manor as a district,” said John Erisman.
Erisman, who attended Penn Manor, has children who also go here.
“My kids always ask questions about Penn Manor. My dad taught us well, bleeding blue and gold,” said Erisman.”I was lucky enough to see pictures and hear stories. What my dad taught me, I teach my kids, and it’s my duty to continue the tradition.
“I’ve been part of Penn Manor my entire life,” he continued. “I had a history of family in coaching and teaching and I wanted to be part of that coaching and teaching fraternity. I love Penn Manor, love living here and love being a part of the community.”
Erisman has strong feelings that people who go here or work here should know the school.
“I think its important for us to remember the past. It helps shape who we are as a school, gives community unity and a sense of common spirit. Its awesome to see alumni come back. I can’t see myself teaching or coaching anywhere but Penn Manor,” said Erisman.
What is usually a sea of blue and gold at Penn Manor High School was a mass of maroon and gray Friday.
Penn Manor students and faculty are paying tribute to the students from Manheim Central High School who lost their lives in a car accident Sunday, January 16, by wearing maroon and gray to school.
Nick Weidinger wore Maroon.
Students were quick to offer condolences to Manheim Central for their loss.
Senior Brian Buckius wore a maroon T-shirt.
Stetson Hershey, one of many students sporting Manheim Central colors.
Hayden Gonzalez and Jeff Ford.
Two Penn Manor athletes show respect to Manheim Central.
Amanda Ackerman a senior at Penn Manor started a Facebook group to urge fellow students to wear maroon (Manheim Central school colors are maroon and gray) to school on Friday so Penn Manor students could show their support for another school in the county that has suffered from the tragedy.
“I was friends with Cody Hollinger (one of the victims),” said Ackerman, “I’d actually have a lot to say to the families, there isn’t just one thing I could pick.”
(Double click on red box to view video)
Haley Gavlick a sophomore at Penn Manor High School who participated in wearing maroon said, “I wore maroon in memory of the four boys who were killed. I knew all four of them and went to school with three of them.”
The boys who died in the accident were all on the Manheim Central football team, but most importantly they were friends and family to many.
“It shows that our school cares. They weren’t just four football players, they were four students who will be missed,” said Gavlick.
Many students at Penn Manor wanted to express their reasons for wearing maroon.
“I wore it for the kids,” said Shanelle Bailey
“I think that is important that we as a school show support,” added Penn Manor English teacher Melissa Frerichs.
Junior Megan Schlegimilch said, “It made me sad thinking if that happened to our football team and I’d want other schools to show support too.”
“I wore maroon to show my care and respect for the family that I know,” said senior Moriah Freeman.
Junior Alex Kirk agreed with his fellow classmates stating,”To honor the athletes that passed away.”
“To show my pride for Penn Manor by supporting other schools,” said sophomore Maddie Rohrer.
It was a sad day for everyone that knew the boys and Penn Manor expressed their grief the best they could.
By Simon Zimmerman, Cassey Graeff, and Conner Rowe
This is the first in an occasional series on Penn Manor alumni who lead interesting lives.
Protecting the oceans in some way, shape or form is one of Penn Manor’s alumni’s way of life.
Daniel Navin is a consultant working to develop new commercial coral mariculture techniques that can be carried out by coastal folk around Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority.
Navin had always wanted to be a marine biologist and after graduating from Penn Manor High School in 2003, he attended Millersville University. Following his childhood dreams, Navin majored in biology with a concentration in marine biology.
“I knew I really wanted to protect the oceans in some way,” Navin said.
Throughout high school and college, Navin worked for That Fish Place in Centerville for seven years, familiarizing himself with a wide array of saltwater fish and coral. He worked in the fish room caring for the fish where he eventually became a supervisor.
Once in college, Navin and a buddy from That Fish Place started a side business in his parent’s basement, farming live corals.
“We constructed a salt water pond, hooked up powerful filtration and lighting, and then began purchasing South Pacific stony coral colonies and farmed them in my basement pond,” Navin explained.
Small corals collected from the ocean. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
After these corals matured, they then sold back their “crop” to That Fish Place and various other walk-in clients.
While at Millersville, Navin was selected to be a member of a research team that was taken to the island of Roatan, off of Honduras, to do a study on the coral reef system down there. He and his team performed many belt transects which are used to investigate the distribution of organisms in relation to a certain area, using SCUBA, and analyzed the frequency of coral disease on the reef.
After Navin graduated college in 2008, he obtained an internship at the Bimimi Biological Field Station (shark lab) in South Bimini, Bahamas.
Navin said,”I got to spend a couple of months at this awesome field station capturing, tagging and performing behavioral trials on sharks. It was really fun!”
Navin was in the PA Army National Guard all throughout college and a few months after returning from the Bahamas, he was deployed to Iraq with the US Army for 10 months as an infantry sniper.
Two coral farmers show the fruits of their labor.
“Good times,” Navin recalled, “good times.”
Upon returning from Iraq in 2009, a week later, Navin was supposed to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina but a big storm scratched those plans.
“So I reluctantly followed my friend to an aquarium trade show, called MACNA in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the show, there was a booth for a newly developing aquarium industry located in PNG, which is in southeast Asia, north of Australia. I began talking with the people behind the booth and the next thing I knew, I was handing them my resume and scheduling an internship in PNG,” Navin said.
Corals collected were analyzed to see how healthy they were. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
As an “after Iraq holiday,” Navin went to Australia with a few of his army comrades and after his trip there, he swung by PNG and volunteered for the SEASMART program for three weeks. At the end of the internship, they offered him a job and he has been there since .
SEASMART was a government funded program that has since been discontinued and he now works directly for the PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA).
Navin’s job is to consult and assist the NFA with establishing ocean-based coral farms, or mariculture sites, at various locations around PNG.
“My job involves SCUBA diving, collecting portions of wild corals to serve as mariculture brood-stock, propagating coral colonies, and marketing the farmed corals to aquarium trade importers around the world, most of which are based in L.A.,” said Navin.
Navin’s job is very environmentally friendly. Farming coral, as well as sustainably collecting fish for the aquarium trade, places a direct cash incentive on coral reef conservation. The coastal people in PNG are less likely to blow up coral reefs with dynamite, stun fish with cyanide or pollute their waters if they are earning money off an income source that is 100 percent dependent on a healthy reef.
“Penn Manor definitely had an influence on shaping me into the person that I am today. I took many math and science courses, and the teachers who taught those courses inspired and prepared me me to pursue a science major in college,” Navin said. “Courses including oceanography with Mr. Bender and all of the biology, chemistry, math and physics courses that I took definitely had an impact, especially preparing me for college,” said Navin.
Navin also took a photography class, which he is using skills from today to do underwater photography, snapping pictures of him and others in action.
“I give a lot of credit to my teachers and friends who motivated me to join the military, which probably had the biggest influence of all on me. My experience in the army gave me skills that helped me excel in my job today (leadership, self-confidence, problem solving and field survival),” said Navin.
Navin’s biggest words of advice to all of whom are attending college is to get internships. He goes on to explain that a basic degree without practical field experience is not enough to get by these days.
“I probably would not have the job I have today if I didn’t have a resume full of field experience from my internships,” said Navin.
Daniel Navin enjoying his time with the Tufi tribesmen. Photo provided by Daniel Navin
Navin has been in PNG for ten months and plans to stay there for another year yet if all goes accordingly. Navin has visited his family once for a couple of weeks since he’s started in PNG in July, and won’t again until about the same time this year.
Navin is not too sure on his plans for the future but will never step away from the fisheries field. Either way, it’s going to be the “life aquatic.”
“I have the best job in the world. Not only do I get paid to play in the ocean but I get to help very impoverished coastal people in PNG explore new income opportunities involving farming coral.”
The sounds of pigs squealing, fans blowing the dust off cows and the mixed melody of human voices on the hunt for farm fresh food signals the 95th Farm Show is in town.
Cows get washed and are blown dry before their class. Photo by Kendal Phillips
Held in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex, the event has once again given Penn Manor Future Farmers of America (FFA) members a showcase to display their skills and produce.
Katrina Reiff, a sophomore, showed off her cross-bred pig, Big Bang, on Monday. She showed Big Bang in Class 15, which was one of the heavy weight (between 268 lbs. and 280 lbs.) classes for pigs. Katrina has been a member of Manor FFA for the past two-years, but was part of the 4H club for five-years.
“I just show pigs in FFA, but I also show lambs and dairy cows at the Lampeter Fair,” Reiff explained.
When showing pigs, you have to have them look presentable. “You have to wash them, clip them, and clip their ears and tail,” Reiff explained, “some people also use sprays to make them look shiny.”
Reiff also ended up winning master showman for her class, but did not end up making sale which means the animal was not in the top half of the class to qualify for the Farm Show auction.
After the animals are shown, they get sold off and it is hard for non-farm teens to understand the emotional side of it.
“Since I have been doing this for so long, it doesn’t really phase me,” explained Reiff,
Katrina with her pig Big Bang. Photo by Kendal Phillips
“But I am going to be a little sad about selling Big Bang, she has been my favorite pig since I started showing.”
Kaleb Long, a senior, also showed his Duroc pig in the lightweight class. Long ended up winning the master showman award for his class.
Hogs are not the only animals shown out at the farm show. Lambs, steer, dairy cows and many other animals re able to be shown also.
Another Penn Manor student, junior Alex Kuhl, has been doing rodeo for four-years and participated in bull-riding at the Farm Show. “It (bull-riding) is a good degree of difficulty,” Kuhl explained, “It can and can’t be painful. I have broke my arm, hyper-extended the elbow, tore my spleen and have had four concussions.”
Goats take a nap in their pens at the Farm Show. Photo by Kendal Phillips
Along with the rodeo and bull-riding, the farm show hosts barrel-racing, wagon-pulling, plus many other entertaining events throughout the week.
In students’ minds, teachers are like robots, constantly wearing a suit and tie, even to bed. They don’t communicate with the outside world. After all, no time is available for free time. Their to-do list consists of grading papers and getting lesson plans done for the next day. The duties are then repeated 180 times until the school year ends. Sadly, teenagers are mistaken.
These are the true stories that explain what those robots are actually doing when they’re done lecturing and grading papers. This is “Inside the Lives of Teachers.”
“Do you know what you’re about to do? You’re making history. You’ll always be the first Lancaster Barnstormer.”
The original manager of the Lancaster Barnstormers, Tommy Herr, said those exact words to a current teacher at Penn Manor High School by the name of Matthew Scheuing.
Scheuing in his Barnstormers Uniform. Photo Credit: lancasterbarnstormers.com
Scheuing was, indeed, the first player to ever sign with the Barnstormers where he went 6-6 pitching in their inaugural season.
After graduating from Millersville where he pitched undefeated in his freshmen year, Scheuing became part of the initial Barnstormers team, all the while looking to be drafted into Major League Baseball.
But the most important body part of his baseball career – his arm – held him back at the time. Yet Scheuing wasn’t going to quit trying to achieve his ultimate goal: to be drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I wasn’t a standout by any means,” said Scheuing of his early years playing ball.
Things weren’t looking too great to start off his baseball career.
By six years old, Scheuing was playing the game of baseball in the West End Organization and Safe Harbor. By the end of high school, his range of sports enhanced and gained variety.
“I played a lot of sports,” Scheuing said. “To be honest, I liked basketball more. Soccer and cross country conditioned me for baseball and basketball.”
His first momentous decision was choosing between baseball and basketball.
“In the end, I’m left-handed,” Scheuing said, “and left handers are rare (in baseball), especially in terms of pitchers.” He also added, “6 (feet) 3 (inches) in college is not that tall for legitimate basketball.”
“I ultimately chose baseball.”
With his first decision out of the way, Scheuing had to prove himself on the field at Millersville University.
Having a zero in his loss column in his first year sure helped with his cause.
In his freshman year, Scheuing went undefeated as a starter in Division Two baseball. The team, overall, went 45-14.
“We were a run away from getting to the college world series,” Scheuing said, looking back.
In his sophomore year, he finished as “one of the top pitchers in (his) conference,” Scheuing noted, accumulating only two losses. This caused some stir in the MLB and talk of Scheuing getting drafted started fluttering around.
In fact, one of Scheuing’s teammates did get drafted into the Phillies’ organization, and while scouts were there focusing on that player, Scheuing got a chance to show off some of his talent.
“I impressed some people,” Scheuing said.
At that point, he was unfortunately unable to get drafted because of his age.
“You have to be a junior or 21 years old to be eligible,” Scheuing said. The 20-year old sophomore was still just a bit too young.
Despite the letdown, Scheuing kept on rolling toward his goal, counting down the days until he turned 21.
In his junior year, Scheuing journeyed to Germantown, Maryland to play in the Clark Griffith League where college students of all ages would flaunt their skill. To be exact, the current history teacher played against guys all around the nation from colleges including Virginia and Florida State.
They were “top, top line,” said Scheuing.
There, Scheuing led the team in wins, a now common trend in his baseball career.
Virginia seemed to be Scheuing’s favorite place when he went down again to play with the Peninsula Pilots.
“(There), I finished just ahead of a guy named Justin Verlander in terms of ERA,” Scheuing said with a smirk.
Verlander would later become a Major League level player with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 2006. He also has thrown a no-hitter once in his career. Adding to his accolades, Verlander has finished 7th, 5th and 3rd in the American League Cy Young voting.
Not only had he finished ahead, statistically, of Verlander, in ERA, when Scheuing played for the Virginia team, he also had another neat experience while with the Pilots.
Before a game, Scheuing was practicing on the field, not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. That’s exactly what happened, though.
“All of a sudden, a guy got out from an Escalade, takes my glove and asks me to play catch,” Scheuing recalled.
Guess who? Philadelphia Eagles’ superstar and MVP contender, Michael Vick, was the surprise guest.
“I started to create some buzz,” he said.
Buzz? If leading a college-level team in wins is creating buzz, then what would coming out victorious against the Phillies’ minor league team which included studs like Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz be? Full-out vibration? Yep.
In the summer after Millersville’s baseball season was finished, Scheuing and his teammates would go down to Clearwater, Virginia to compete against the Phillies’ minor league system. In 2003, Scheuing started against Cole Hamels, a future World Series MVP. By the end of that game, Scheuing retained something that he could gloat about for the rest of his life. He beat the Phillies’ minor league squad with Hamels at their helm, 6-1. Millersville became the first ever college team to beat those future major league-ers.
Speaking of greats, he once sent Howard, a Major League Baseball All Star, Home Run Derby and World Series Champion, back to the bench dumbfounded as he went down on strikes. That strikeout was not only with two outs, but with the bases loaded no less. Talk about pressure… Maybe that’s the reason why he was “vibrating.”
“(That) may have been one of the scariest moments of my life,” he said.
By that time, the 22-year old was thinking he was right on track toward his goal.
“I assumed I was getting drafted,” Scheuing said – then the worst situation that any athlete can think of came out of his mouth – “but then I got hurt.”
Teaching and coaching have been Scheuing's top priorities since retiring from baseball. Photo credit: Alex Geli
“I overused my arm,” he said. Practicing too much came back to bite him in the rear and his hopes of playing professional baseball slowly withered away.
“The Phillies already came by when I was hurt,” Scheuing said. He was classified as a “red flag” because of his arm’s condition. The chance to display his talent to the Phillies’ organization blew right by him.
A visit to Penn Orthopedic, hand and elbow doctors couldn’t change the fact that Scheuing may never get that chance again.
“It seems very easy to get injured,” he said. “(It was) frustrating. I had a career set up. I was alright,” he added.
“I could have given up,” Scheuing said. “(But) when I have a goal, I work as hard as I can to achieve it. My family (also) had me keep pursuing.”
And that he did.
In 2003 and 2004, he played with the Bangor Lumberjacks in Maine.
“It was outdoorsmen’s paradise,” Scheuing said. “Not my kind of thing.”
By the time Scheuing was done with his baseball career, he had been to a variety of places like Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, Quebec and Florida.
There’s one place missing from that list, and that is Scheuing’s home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Herr, a former MLB All Star with the St. Louis Cardinals back in ’85, was starting a team in Lancaster and called Scheuing up to invite him to join the team in 2004. Scheuing was the first ever player to sign with the Lancaster Barnstormers – just in time for the new year. Scheuing was now playing professional baseball. His goal was finally accomplished.
“It felt great to be back home,” he said. “There was a ton of attention.”
In the ‘Stormers inaugural season, Scheuing had a 6-6 starting record.
“I thought I threw pretty well,” he said.
On the road ahead before signing a contract extension for the 2006 season, Scheuing had a roadblock.
On the side, Scheuing had adopted the career of teaching, but that summer, the two pathways collided.
“Spring training and student teaching overlapped each other,” he said.
A step back to look over the two subjects was taken by the 25-year-old.
History teacher Scheuing sifting through students' presentations. Photo credit: Alex Geli
“Lancaster could not guarantee I remain on the roster,” said Scheuing.
He also added, “If I missed three days of student teaching, I would have to start over, failing, forfeiting the semester.”
Another choice was laid out in front of Scheuing. He would have to choose from what he’d worked for all of his life or to what he just recently, at that time, had aspired.
“The closer to 25, if you’re not into the minor leagues, chances of getting in (the MLB) become slim,” Scheuing admitted.
“(The decision) was extremely hard,” he said, but two minuscule words swayed him toward the career of teaching.
Long term.
“You can’t play baseball forever, but you can work forever,” he said.
Scheuing then skipped out on spring training with the Barnstormers and focused on his teaching career.
Later, he “got that call from Lancaster,” Scheuing said, saying that he was being released for not showing up. His baseball career seemed to be over.
“I still wanted to play baseball,” he said. “As long as I got a place to play at this point, I’m pretty happy.”
The Pennsylvania Road Warriors was his next stop. Scheuing continued playing the game he loves up until 2007.
“I was physically getting worn out,” he said.
The next stage of Scheuing’s life consisted of coaching and beginning his teaching career.
Scheuing has been F&M's pitching coach since 2006. Photo Credit: godiplomats.com
Scheuing coached Millersville’s baseball team and has been Franklin and Marshall College’s pitching coach since 2006, winning the conference title in his first year. He is currently in his sixth year at F&M.
“You’re just playing and having fun: the root cause of playing sports,” Scheuing said about college level baseball.
As Lampeter-Strasburg’s coach, he also won the state title in 2005.
His teaching career began to look promising when an empty spot came up at Penn Manor High School. Buckling in and riding through a wild weekend was his next step.
“I pitched in Newark on Thursday, interviewed (for Penn Manor teaching job) Friday, drove to Bridgeport the same day, interviewed on the phone again from Holiday Inn parking lot, hired Saturday, drove back to Lancaster, started teaching that Monday and pitched again Tuesday.”
Take a minute and read over that again if you’d like. Maybe even a third time.
In the span of six days, Scheuing interviewed for the job twice, drove to play baseball three times, got the job and started teaching – possibly the busiest and most hectic weekend of his life.
“I can roll with whatever is thrown at me,” he said. “I was able to handle that,” while making sure he added, “not to say it wasn’t stressful.”
Just as his stress level was at an all time high, Scheuing had the honor of watching his former team, the Barnstormers, win the Atlantic League Championship in 2006 – without him, of course.
“Watching that was quite tough,” he said. “I missed out on a ring!” he said with mixed emotions showing on his face.
Up to 2010, in his fifth year teaching, regrets are one thing he doesn’t have any of.
“I love U.S. II (United States History); I love coaching; I love teaching,” he said.
Senior Patrick Miller is a proud member of Penn Manor’s wrestling team, even if he doesn’t always start, or star, or win.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was in third grade and every consecutive year after that so I don’t see a reason to quit now just because I’m not starting,” says Miller.
But that means Miller is part of a regime that includes cutting weight, two-and-a-half hour practices every single day, morning runs at 6:30, diet changes to stay in a certain weight class, conditioning including weightlifting, Saturday practices, sweating all the time, getting injured, and being involved in an extremely aggressive contact sport.
And, he might not get to actually wrestle in a match.
There are many athletes from Penn Manor who don’t get much playing time, get to be a star, or even a chance to show their stuff, even when many of them have true hidden talent. Sometimes their hidden talent is their knack for perseverance.
But there’s something about being part of the team that keeps them coming back.
It’s a unique mix of staying in shape, friends, van rides going to tournaments, the tournaments themselves, the challenge of cutting weight and just the fact that he’s been in it for so long that is why Miller says he sticks with it all these years.
“I don’t really know why I’m still doing it, it’s just a combination of getting an intense workout and getting pushed beyond my limit is the reason I would say I stick with it,” says Miller.
“I give a lot of respect to wrestlers who continue in wrestling and stick with it even though they won’t ever be great at it,” says Penn Manor wrestling coach Steve Hess, “Every wrestler who has stuck with it over the years has always pulled through for me at one point and won a big match, I think that’s the most rewarding part of the sport, for me, and for the wrestler himself.”
“Not starting doesn’t bother me too much, I just like being part of the team,” says Miller.
Senior Brock Kauffman is another wrestler who hasn’t started too many times this year, due to injures and issues causing him to be unable to. But he still sticks with it.
“To be honest, if you quit it kinda makes you look bad, and there are a lot of benefits to staying with the sport. I’d say friends is the main reason I’ve stuck with it for all these years,” says Kauffman.
“I think the majority of the guys stick with the sport because they want to be a part of something big and they know it’s an extremely challenging sport, so that keeps them being pushed and challenged beyond their limits,” says Hess, “The good relationships with other wrestlers is a major reason for staying in the sport too.”
Miller could have opportunities to wrestle off in certain weight classes to receive the starting position in that weight class but he hasn’t done this so far. He could drop five pounds and wrestle off Tyler Funk to try and attempt to take the starting position in the 135 lb. weight class, or wrestle off Alex Source and James McElroy in the 140 lb. weight class but isn’t very confident about beating either of those components.
It’s a wonder athletes stay in sports even when they know they may never be too talented at it, but it seems by hearing a few things from these two guys that there are definitely reasons to continue with it.
“I feel learning and achieving new things you never knew before and pushing your body beyond your limits is a main reason that the wrestlers stick with it,” says Hess.
Some have said that it’s the beginning of a cyber war. Others have simply called it Wikileaks.
The events surrounding Wikileaks and the media circus that followed have captured the attention of the world.
So much information and misinformation has been bandied around that it’s difficult to find the truth of the matter hidden in the hoopla.
“The government is just trying to control what information is getting out,” said a Penn Manor student, “I don’t think that this should be such a big deal that people are making it out to be.”
Wikileaks is a organization dedicated to keeping governments transparent. Image courtesy of Wikileaks.However, many students had no idea what the word “Wikileaks” even meant, “What’s a Wikileak?” asked one, “Is that a part of Wikipedia?”
First, let’s start at the beginning. Wikileaks was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange and stated it’s reason for being: to leak any and all abuses in power in government, including torture, unlawful detention, cults, corruption, and corporate transparency. Since then, it broke stories on gag orders in the press and massacres of civilians.
Assange, 39, was born in Australia. He began hacking at 16 and was a recreational hacker. After serving time in jail for breaking into a website, he was released on good behavior. It appeared that he had simply broken the website in question just because he could.
But that was 20 years ago. Assange no longer identifies himself as a hacker.
Wikileaks was the site which released the climate scientist’s emails showing how some of the scientists had falsified data to make the climate change argument seem more pronounced than it was.
In 2010, they began to release some of the 250,000 documents collected from United States diplomatic cables. Nine hundred of these documents were published in different world news sources before in collaboration with news outlets, but now the full set is available for users to download. Many of these documents were labeled classified or secret.
“He’s heroic,” said Penn Manor student Alex Mercer, “I think this is awesome.”
Alex Mercer, along with Vaughn Stetler, has studied Wikieaks in their English class.
Assange was arrested in Great Britain recently when he walked into a police station after a warrant was released for his arrest in Sweden, where he is wanted on sexual molestation charges.
Initially, the authorities did not want to pursue his case, as the sex was consensual and the two women affected were only seeking compensation (he had sex with both of the women, but the condom was either not used or broke – which in Sweden can be considered a sexual offense). But after the cables were released, then he was suddenly an international fugitive.
The diplomatic cables were often embarrassing to the United States government, some with diplomats questioning world leaders’ right to rule. Naturally, politicians wanted Assange’s head.
The effect of the documents? Sarah Palin called for Julian Assange to be hanged for treason, although Assange is an Australian. She has been quoted saying, “He’s no journalist – he’s an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks.
“I think the man is a high tech terrorist. He’s done an enormous damage to our country, and I think he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said GOP Minority leader Mitch McConnell, “And if that becomes a problem, we need to change that law.”
Assange is not, by most strict definitions, a terrorist, since a terrorist is someone who seeks to inspire fear and terror into the populace. Assange has stated numerous times that the goal of Wikileaks is to provide a transparent insight into government.
The leaks also have been said to endanger troop safety. The newest cables were from February this year. Many of them date from as early as December 1966.
“It’s a national security risk,” said student Vaughn Stetler, “I have nothing wrong with Assange himself, but his website should be shut down. Some clarity is good in government, but leaking secret documents isn’t good.”
The military has now banned using thumb drives, CDs, and DVDs on the Department of Defense’s network, SIPRNET – which stands for Secret Internet Protocol Router Network. The penalty for violating this order? Court martial.
The military is pursuing the prosecution of army corporal Bradly Manning, who is the man taking the blame for leaking the documents. Manning downloaded the documents onto a recordable CD, and gave them to Wikileaks.
Lady Gaga had a role to play, too. According to MSNBC, Manning also “listened and lip-synced to Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” while exfiltrating possibly the largest data spillage in american (sic) history.”
There is at least one irony in the situation: the federal government just released a press statement announcing the 2011 World Press Freedom Day.
Another thing is that Wikileaks is a media outlet, whether cable news likes it or not. The message that seems to be sent out to other world leaders is that this is how the United States deals with journalists sending out things that they do not agree with.
Early in November, the cyber war began.
First, Wikileaks was bombarded with a series of attacks against it’s website, taking the official wikileaks.org site down within days. It struggled to survive, until finally going to its mirror sites. Wikileaks has over 1300 identical sites listed on its website, each one based in different locations around the globe.
The site refused to die. Then Pay Pal pulled its services from the website. That was the last straw for the internet hackers.
On Wednesday, December 8 the credit card provider Visa’s website went down under a flurry of Direct Denial of Service – or DDoS – attacks. DDoS attacks are relatively simple; send small packets of data to the website in question. With enough computers doing this, it will overload the computer’s ability to process all the data and will shut down the site.
The Guy Fawkes mask, made popular by the movie V for Vendetta, is the official uniform of Anonymous.
Eight hours earlier, Mastercard had fallen. The culprits? The internet collective Anonymous.
Anonymous has been reported by major news media as many things from internet vigilantes to a group of sinister hackers. The truth is that they are none and all of these.
Anonymous is said to have originated on the image board 4chan, where a user can post anonymously. With that kind of freedom, anything and everything can be posted. That means the 4chan is a breeding ground for memes (cultural trends spread from the internet). Over 9000? That came from 4chan, along with Leroy Jenkins, the phrase Om Nom Nom and LOLcats.
Anonymous sprung from this, when many users came together with a common goal – to take down the Church of Scientology. In what is called Project Chanology, Anon has promised to destroy Scientology and discredit all of their members. The mission to “save the internet” is called Operation Payback or CableGate. They have so far succeeded several times in knocking down the Church’s website.
Anon has been known to hack into people’s accounts and post online, just for fun. They flood online children’s games and post intentionally offensive messages in a practice known as trolling. They also believe that the internet is an almost sacred place and to violate free speech by jailing Assange is grounds to fight back. A common misconception about them is that there is a leader, which is false. The fact that the collective consciousness of the web can work single mindfully toward a common goal might be cause for enemies of Wikileaks to start getting nervous.
“We are the clear logic used to unveil wrongdoing. The general public, clouded by misleading information mostly by the media with a political agenda, fails to see and understand this wrongdoing. Because of this, those who do the wrongdoing escape unpunished. Anonymous is here to ensure punishment does not go unserved to those who deserve it,” said a supporter of Anon in a Wired.com article.
Senior Ben Clark has followed the events around Wikileaks closely.
“Anonymous is great,” said senior Ben Clark, “I wholly support Assange.”
Over the weekend, several identical flash animation websites popped up over the web – each one containing a button and a slider. All a user had to do was select the number of requests per second, and press the button. The program would then use the user’s browser to make request after request per second – DDoS made easy.
Twitter and the social network Facebook have deleted several accounts that have said that they either support Anonymous or post the dates of the attack and the sites to be attacked. The organizing websites that directed traffic were hit repeatedly by DDoS attacks.
Several members of Anonymous have been arrested in conjunction with the DDoS attacks. DDoS is illegal in the United States.
Wikileaks continues to exist on one of its 1300 mirror sites, as the original site has long ago been wiped from the servers of the Internet by self labeled “patriotic hackers.”
After a week long barrage of attacks, Anonymous has a new strategy: instead of trying to take down those who are hurting Wikileaks, now they will attempt to spread the posts far and wide. These include posting videos to Youtube with misleading tags like “Bieber” or “Tea Party,” and sifting through the documents and posting summaries of the content online.
Operation: Payback is now Operation: Leakspin.
Visa was down for most of last Wednesday. Image courtesy Visa Inc.
They might have a good strategy. During the time Wikileaks was offline, it was incredibly difficult for a user to access the documents and decide for themselves whether or not it was such a big deal. Now with the documents being distributed through the 1300 mirror sites, and the help of Anonymous, it might become very easy indeed to view the documents.
On December 14th, a British judge released Assange on bail until his hearing. He still maintained that he is right in releasing the United States documents. The guidelines of his bail are strict. He has to live in his London home until his hearing, in a sort of modified house arrest.
“My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the ideals I have expressed. This circumstance shall not shake them,” said Assange.
“The fact that everyone is making such a huge deal out of this is very silly,” said Clark, “The documents basically embarrassed the government, and that’s it.”
“He’s lucky,” said Mercer, “He isn’t under house arrest, he’s under mansion arrest.”
He also made known his disdain for the companies who have made moves to cut him off from funding, “We now know that Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and others are instruments of U.S. foreign policy. It’s not something we knew before.”
The story of Wikileaks, whether or not it turns out to decide the fate of free speech or the web, will be one that will continue to fascinate and intrigue.
There are a lot of injustices in the world of high school: no mashed potatoes with popcorn chicken, a misplaced paper you know was handed in or being broken up with at the homecoming football game.
But nothing is more horrible, more embarrassing or possibly more emotionally scarring than being a senior and being forced to, yes, I’m just going to say it.
Ride. The. Bus.
Some seniors are still riding the bus. Photo by Whitney Reno
The infamous parking pass that comes with driving to school has been a senior privilege and most seniors are eager to do just that. But not everyone is not that lucky.
Although you can rationalize that some seniors are lucky enough to take the bus.
It’s a reliable source of transportation, and will always get you to school on time; it isn’t so bad.
NOT!
One senior, Eric Clark, rides the bus on occasion when his car breaks down, and is less than thrilled to be a passenger.
“It’s a pain in the butt, literately and figuratively,” said Clark shaking his head. “It’s uncomfortable – grouped with a lot of obnoxious kids.”
Truly, never having grilled cheese again would be better than riding the bus.
“Not driving feels awkward because most of the other kids are underclassmen. I feel like I miss out on a major senior privilege!” said Danie Beck as she pounds her fist on the table and her look of annoyance says it all – she does NOT want to take the bus. But she will. Sigh.
And it’s not like these students can socialize with others on the bus. Who would be caught dead talking to underclassmen? Right?
Walking home would be favorable over having to hear about their underclassmen drama and who is dating who. Who cares?!
“I keep to myself most of the time, I don’t really want to meet new people on the bus,” said Clark with a small laugh.
No one can blame you Clark, the bus is a shady place to meet new friends.
If talking to underclassmen doesn’t put a damper on their social life, then the inconvenience of riding the bus will.
Most after school activities, whether it be hanging with friends at the Sugar Bowl, or sports practice, have these seniors relying
Beck is unhappy about riding the bus. Photo by Whitney Reno
on their parents to pick them up.
No mom, don’t bring the minivan! I don’t want to wear my coat, its 78 degrees out!
Senior Helen Hutchens says that her parents don’t mind getting her for her after school activities, but Beck says that she feels guilty because she must rely on friends to get her home if she doesn’t ride the, you know.
Getting up early on her senior year adds to the list of drags of riding the bus for Beck.
Cleaning the bathrooms at work would be more fun than get up extra early on my senior year. I’m sure everyone would rather sleep than do a lot of things, I know I would. But that’s besides the point.
Senior year is supposed to be a time for laziness, and getting up early to catch the bus is more motivation to participate in Senior Skip Days.
And there’s always the kid that should have stayed home. You know who you are.
With a look of disgust, Emily Miller recalled having to stop on the side of the road for ten minutes because a passenger threw up in their book bag. As if the bus didn’t smell bad enough, this kid had to make it worse! Oh yes, you did.
Never watching Glee again would be better than having to deal with bus mishaps. There are so many things that can, and will, go wrong. If you don’t think this then you’ve never fallen down the bus steps… or up them.
Some students, such as Hutchens and Beck rationalize their bus riding by saying that it’s environmentally friendly and cuts down on fuel emissions, but there is no way to rationalize riding the bus your senior year.
Carpooling with a friend cuts down on fuel emissions too, you know. You can try to rationalize. But save your energy. It’s okay, you will get through this.
Beck and Miller sacrifice the torment of riding the bus to save some cash.
“It’s stupid that we have to pay money for a parking pass. If they gave us a list of where the money goes, then maybe I wouldn’t mind it,” said Beck.
Is it really worth riding the bus, though?
Nope. Nothing is worth riding the bus, not even for all of the popcorn chicken in the school.
In 2003 and 2004, he played with the Bangor Lumberjacks in Maine
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