Category: Featured

Sam Bell’s life is most likely different from yours. There are days when hanging out with her friends is just not an option. On the days she can she has to sit and watch movies; otherwise she’ll get too tired to be able to have a good time. Sam has people constantly asking her if she’s capable of doing things. Sam is a teenager, but for the past three months Sam has been living with cancer.

Sam has some advice for any other kids in high school that are trying to deal with living with cancer and school at the same time, “Just keep positive, it’s only temporary.”

She found a lump on her neck-something that many of us might just ignore, something that changed her life. The lump kept getting bigger, and she and her parents decided to go to the doctor. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Cancer.

But was Sam scared when she found out? No. She was nervous, but her parents ended up being more upset than she was. Her positive attitude soon changed their feelings and showed them that they could be positive about it too.

“It didn’t really hit me until I started my treatments,” Sam recalled.

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is cancer of the lymph nodes. According to PDR health (Physicians’ Desktop Reference), this type of cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancer cases in the U.S.

School has been different this year for Sam, not only in the educational aspect, but in the extra curricular area as well. Sam is in the Ag program at school, and this year she hasn’t gotten the chance to go to any of the meetings.

Sam is also on the school’s swim team, but this year she only had the opportunity to get into the water once. This year would have been her fourth varsity letter; however she can’t achieve that goal because of her absence from practices.

She’s been swimming since she was four years old.

“I wanted to finish my senior year strong, swimming,” said Samantha.  Being two tenths of a second away from a district 200 individual medley last year, she had every reason to want to swim through her senior year.

The doctors found the cancer in her neck and her chest, for which she has been undergoing treatment. Her treatment consists of four different rounds, each 21 days. During the first three days of these treatments, Sam has to get chemotherapy, on the other days she gets different types of medicine through  IV’s. After the chemo treatments, Sam normally feels sick and tired.

The hardest part is the fact that she can’t hang out with her friends without feeling really tired.

“When you’re seventeen, it’s kind of hard because you know you’re supposed to be out with your friends having fun,” Sam said.

When Sam found out that she had cancer she began her treatment knowing that she would be losing something that is very precious to every teenage girl: her hair.

“I was freaking out,” Sam said, and she almost started “bawling”.

After the first two weeks of treatment Sam said that her hair began to fall out in the shower in huge clumps. At first she said this really bothered her plus the idea of soon having no hair left at all. After she accepted it, she realized that it would be much easier to just shave it all off.

A simple hat, bandana, or wig can easily cover up this small part of having cancer, she said.  However Sam doesn’t really care that she’s been sporting a new hair style, she just goes with it.

“It’s actually kind of easier, not having hair,” Sam said.

Easier, until the day a teacher asked her to take off her hat because hats, hoods, and any type of head scarf are in violation of the dress code. That day Sam said she had been in a bad mood and she thought all the teachers had been informed about why she was wearing her hats, because of three e-mails that had been sent out to the teachers in the high school. However when the teacher asked her to take off her hat she said very bluntly, “I have cancer.” And that was that.

“If it wasn’t so cold outside, I wouldn’t even wear a hat,” Sam said.

The teachers and students at Penn Manor have been showing Sam a lot of support, and helping her to get through this difficult situation. Sam says that people are constantly asking her how she’s feeling and if she can do the things that she’s trying to do. She says that sometimes it can get annoying to be asked so many times if she can do something that she’s attempting, but she loves that people care.

“I wouldn’t do something if I couldn’t handle it,” Sam said.

Her last treatment was Jan. 4, and she’ll have to wait just two weeks for a PET scan (a process that will make the cancer cells show up in a 3-D image scan) that will tell her if all the cancer cells are gone.

Getting My Life Back

“Now I can have my life back. I can be a kid again.”

Sam’s test results came back, and as Facebook showed all of her friends, she’s “a cancer free happy freakin’ girl”.

Sam’s parents are relieved, and Sam is feeling very positive that her cancer will not come back. And her doctors are feeling quite the same.

She will still have to go back for scans every three months for the next year, but that’s not nearly as many doctor visits as she could be having.

And that’s not the only way Sam’s life is getting better.

Sam was able to swim in the meet against McCaskey last Tuesday.

“It was awesome. It was the greatest feeling ever, I missed it so much,” Sam said.

Sam swam in the 200 free relay as her team’s anchor, and they won. She swam in the 100 backstroke and came in third place. And she topped off her winnings with the 400 free relay.

Sam’s life is finally turning a positive corner and she’s getting back to the life that she loves.

By: Abby Wilson

Moving from assistant principal to head principal, Philip Gale has completed his first successful 100 school days as the leader of Penn Manor High School.

And just like the national media who examine the country’s president’s first 100 days in office, Penn Points wanted to take a look at Gale’s first 100 days in the head principal’s office.

“I can’t believe the first semester is over,” said Gale.

Gale quickly credits his smooth transition to all the teachers and assistant principals that have helped him through.

But the job is not without its challenges.

One, he has a tough act to follow.

When beloved principal, Janice Mindish,  retired after the 2008-2009 school year and Gale was named to take her place, he said he was fully aware of the expectations and hype that were to follow.

“I will never be able to fill Dr. Mindish’s shoes,” Gale said, acknowledging the differences in their leadership styles.

Some students readily agreed.

“Dr. Mindish was more caring and personable.  She was more lenient and had more of a heart. Mr. Gale is more business about what he wants,” said Penn Manor junior, Lindsey Thomas.

“Mr. Gale is more serious and doesn’t really talk to the students, he prefers to keep it on student- principal level,” said Lizza Valentin.

Others have welcomed the change.

“He’s been doing a good job keeping up with the rules and regulations. I think it’s great how a lot of the younger kids are scared of him,” said senior Steph Herr.

“Mr. Gale is more serious about academics, based on our PSSA scores. He’s picking up where Dr. Mindish left off and taking us a step ahead,” Marcos Rivera said on a positive note.

Although there have been no major or even minor glitches in the operation of the high school, Gale does have worries.

“My biggest concern is the whole process is running well, the teachers and the students doing what they’re supposed to do,” Gale said.

But does the pressure of the job keep Gale from sleeping sound at night?

Nope.

“By the end of the day I am dead tired,” he said.

Although still trying to adjust, Gale is looking forward to the rest of his term as principal.

“I’ve enjoyed my start and hopefully will be doing it for years to come,” said Gale.

As all the seniors in Penn Manor are looking forward to graduation, some more then others, Gale shares the same excitement. This will be the first graduation he will be conducting.

“I just hope all the seniors behave and make me look good,” Gale said.

Some students miss Gale’s presence as an assistant principal, seeing him less in the hallways now that he has the head position but both students and staff know he has more responsibility this year.

“I don’t really see him as much as I do the other principals,”  Valentin said.

“I believe it’s been a smooth transition. He’s been doing a good job,” said math teacher, Liz Chismar.

“They have different personalities (Gale and Mindish) but it’s not a big change as far as rules,” Chismar added.

“Mr. Gale has a good awareness of everything, the school, the teachers and their needs and everything else. He has good communication and he was definitely ready and set for the position,” noted guidance counselor Kim Marsh.

As for Gale himself, he’s excited for the rest of the year.  He said some problems have come up, referring to the blue tarp that was used to cover the overpass as repairs were being made during Christmas vacation, but they haven’t been problems he can’t handle.

“There have been some transitions and things to get used to. I am still trying to adjust,” he said.

By Miriam Karebu

For the first time in Penn Manor history, the Penn Manor School District is charging high school students twice a year for their parking passes to use a spot in the school parking area.

In the past year, parking passes cost $20 to use the parking area for the entire school year-unless they were revoked for poor attendance or misconduct in school.

Starting this year, students will be forced to buy two parking passes, one for the first semester and another for the second. What’s interesting is that the school district didn’t cut the cost for having to pay twice.

Instead of  $10 a pass per semester, the district has decided to make the cost for the passes $20 a semester. Although the school provides a safe parking area for students to park their vehicles.

It has come as a surprise to students, especially in the economic times that our society is in today.

Some students are very upset about  the new system for the parking passes.

Ryan Wissler said, “it’s freaking outrageous.”

Vaughn Stetler and Jenna Reel also had the same opinion as Wissler towards the parking passes, agreeing that it is absurd to be doubling the cost for a year of parking at the high school.

Where does all of the money go for the parking passes?

Since the increase in cost for this year, students could be wondering where the extra money is going. If the high school’s 300 parking spots in the parking area were rented-the gross income of the venture would be $12,000 dollars, twice as much as was raised in previous years.

School resource officer Jason Hottenstein said he thinks the control of parking passes  is a good way check up on students’ grades and  attendance.

Now, school officials can simply check a student’s behavior before the parking pass is distributed at the beginning of the second semester, thus decreasing the amount of parking pass revocations and making it easier for school officials to keep track of students that are worthy of the parking passes, said an administration member.

Another official reason for the distribution of parking passes twice a year is to allow students who just got their license to have the opportunity to purchase a space.

Also, students that are on spring sports teams in the past were not able to get parking passes due to the cluster of students that had already gotten their parking passes.

By Patrick Miller

Each year in American high schools, 35.5% of students report being in a fight at school, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Here at Penn Manor High School, like most high schools, this issue is a reality.  Already this school term there have been a number of fights in the halls and cafeteria.

But despite the presence of the problem, Principal Philip Gale believes fighting is less prominent than in previous years.

Gale said, “It’s usually something that’s been brewing for a while.”

Gale explained that Facebook and Myspace often play a role in stirring up angry emotions.

That actually happened to one Penn Manor junior.

“I was talking to [his] friend on Facebook, joking, but [he] took it seriously,” Zach Miller recalled. “Then I heard he made fun of my pink pants.”

Soon after that conversation, Miller was involved in a fight.

Major injuries are not a common result of Penn Manor fights, Gale said.   Most injuries are minor –if they exist at all.

Along with Gale, assistant principal Eric Howe noted,  “(the violence) is down from last year.”

Howe believes what keeps fighting at bay in a building of 1,800 kids is the cameras used in the halls, because “there’s really no where to hide.”

Howe thinks having Officer Jason Hottenstein, the school’s resource officer, has helped. If things get way out of hand, Hottenstein has the ability to look at matters from a legal standpoint.

Howe gives credit to the staff of Penn Manor High School for being consistent with their discipline of students caught up in fights.

Besides cameras, Hottenstein and consistent consequences, good behavior is attributed to the students themselves.

“Our kids do a great job.” Gale said.

By Sarah Schaeffer

Dead bodies on the streets piled up, injured men, women, and children and destruction surrounding you wherever you look. The 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday devastated and destroyed thousands of lives and forced Haitians into scavenging for medical care, food, clean water and shelter.

While many here are horrified by the earthquake disaster in Haiti, for some at Penn Manor, it hit a lot closer to home.

Penn Manor teacher, Scott Hertzog, and his wife, Kristen, recently adopted a little girl, Taicha, 8 years old, from the impoverished country of Haiti and they were relieved to discover her sisters are fine.

For several days they were awaiting news of her birth mother but found out Saturday that Taicha’s birth mother had been outside her home when the earthquake hit and was not hurt.

Taicha’s birth mother has been very involved in her adoption and is considered a family friend. While only making 13 cents an hour, she couldn’t efficiently take care of Taicha and her twin sisters, and had to put them up for adoption.

When the earthquake hit Haiti Tuesday, the already impoverished towns got an even harder blow.

“The Haitians are such beautiful people,” Hertzog said. “And it’s really just painful to see.”

The quake struck on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 pm. The epicenter hit 10 miles west of Porte-au-Prince, and sent about 33 aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 4.2-5.9, according to CNN news. With about 3 million people in need of emergency aid and also some people still trapped, it is very hard for enough support to be given out.

The Red Cross has dispatched a relief team from Geneva and the UN’s World Food Program is flying in two planes with emergency food aid. Also, the Inter-American Development Bank said it is immediately granting $200,000 for emergency aid. Different relief programs are trying their best to provide money and emergency aid to Haiti and the millions of people in need.

The US is sending 10,000 troops to the coast Haiti to help with the emergency aid according to BBC news. President Obama and former presidents Bush and Clinton have joined together to make a relief effort for Haiti.

Millions of people are injured and homeless and about 40,000 bodies are already buried in graves, but thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble still. The estimated death toll in Haiti is predicted to be between 100,000 – 200,000 people. According to The Daily Inquirer, many people in Haiti are getting angry and impatient for food and emergency supplies to arrive.

Nations around the world are coming together to help this unfolding tragedy in Haiti and to give a helping hand. Money is being donated in order to provide enough emergency aid even though more is needed. Planes are being flown in with supplies, and troops are stationed in Haiti to help things flow smoothly. Haiti has experienced a nightmare and the United States along with other countries around the world are coming together as one to help the nation of Haiti in need.

Buildings collapsed, schools that have just been built seem to have vanished into thin air. So many Haitians are yet to be discovered, and the Hertzog’s had several tense days anxiously waiting for word of Taicha’s mother.

When Taicha saw the post disaster Haiti, she had two comments, according to Hertzog. She asked if the children at her old orphanage where okay and if her mother was safe.

When Hertzog first saw the pictures of Haiti, he was devastated.

“I haven’t cried so much in my life,” he admitted.

Taicha’s didn’t want to talk much about her mother before she knew her fate, Hertzog explained, saying she seemed distant.  She told Hertzog’s wife that she doesn’t want to talk about Haiti for awhile.

Hertzog and his wife have been very involved with Haiti for a long time. They run the Connection Network and his wife has traveled there more than a dozen times. The Hertzogs also have many friends who call Haiti their home. And they all are safe, giving them a little bit of hope for Taicha’s mother.

If you want to help the Haitian people, you can go on to www.connection-network.com, or follow them on their Facebook and Twitter.

By Caitlin Blake and Cassey Graeff

The team of six students in the Penn Manor FFA has put together a new technological display to show how milk from a cow comes to be ice cream in your freezer.

They have teamed up with Turkey Hill Dairy as their sponsor and have now built a display to show how one of the dairy’s most popular products is processed.

The team includes Cameron Long, Kaleb Long, Caleb Hess, Cade Murry, Joe Herr, and Tyler Bauman.

According to Caleb Hess the group has been working on their presentation since the end of October.

Hess said that after they were paired with Turkey Hill, they decided to design their display around ice cream because it is a major product of the dairy, it was easier and “it just made more sense.”

Hess also explained that they knew how to show the milking process and how to have the final product; the hardest part about it was that they “weren’t sure how to display the rest of the process.”

Their display starts in a small milking parlor, where they show a cardboard cow being milked, and ends in a freezer filled with empty boxes of ice cream. The team gave out cups of ice cream on Saturday as part of their presentation.

The display was entered in a competition against seven other schools. It took place at the Farm Show Complex and which has been open to the public since Saturday, January 9 and will close the following Saturday.

There will be people’s choice award, where visitors to the complex could enter ballots and pick the winner.

There will also also judges for the competition. Awards will be given Saturday and teams could win up to $1000 for their hard work according to Caleb Hess.

By Stephanie Carroll

It’s the darkness.  It’s only 5:00 pm and the black curtain over the sky has dropped for the night.  Slight depression slips in and laziness is at its all time high.

It’s the cold and you’ve noticed that you are suddenly gaining weight, you’re craving the sweets and starches; you are tired and constantly trying to stay focused in class but cannot; the worst part of it all:  final exams and the stress on you make you irritable and increase in your anxiety.

What you are experiencing may be SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  The change of the seasons is the cause, and you’re not alone.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, as many as half a million people in the US are diagnosed with the full-blown SAD disorder.  While another 10-20% of the US population experience a milder form.

As the seasons change, the loss of light usually causes some strange effects.

“I don’t know why, but now I’m pissed  off a lot, like all the time,” said freshman Addison Myer.

Other students said they noticed no change in their emotion and behavior, but some said the winter makes them feel “sad or depressed for no reason.”

The effects are stronger in women than in men, but anyone can experience the symptoms.

The tolerances are short, and the fuses are even shorter.

Irritability and short-tempers are common in the hallways of Penn Manor, especially now with the on-set of winter.

“I’ve noticed it a lot in my friend,” a sophomore here at Penn Manor said.  “Tension is really in the air now.  I feel like anything I say she’ll snap and get mad at me for, and then I get mad because she got mad at me for nothing!”

“I think I mostly get grumpy and unhappy because it’s getting colder, and exams are coming up.” said senior Marie Ondeck.

By Alyssa Funk

Combine a Van Gogh masterpiece, tiny bits of multi-colored glass and high school art students. What could that possibly amount to? Chaos? What about a multi-thousand dollar project to decorate a school wall? In this case, that’s precisely what you get.

Since last year, Penn Manor art teacher, Mrs. Teri Hay, has been diligently working to create the latest artsy addition to the high school. A mosaic mural of Vincent Van Gogh’s “A Starry Night” will decorate a retaining wall in the Penn Manor courtyard.

This mural is a rather pricey project and Hay has written proposals and received grant funds from the Penn Manor Educational Fund. Not only have supplies, such as the colored glass, needed to be purchased, but a consultant needed to be hired. In order to achieve a basic understanding of mosaic creation and mural creation, Mr. Mike Bovie, of Lancaster Stained Glass, was brought in. He was able to explain to Hay and her students how to create a substantial outdoor mural. The outdoor factor also added to the overall cost of the project, since the wall needed to be prepared to withstand the seasonal weather changes.

Last year, Hay’s art classes began and completed the design for the mural. They created cartoons (15”x10” panels of the design) for each section of “A Starry Night.” The classes selected shades of glass and began cutting it into the needed shapes. They were also able to get the first section, section A, up on the wall. Hay said the most difficult parts of these beginning processes were the organization and visualization of the finished product.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” says Hay.

Continuing where the classes of 2008-2009 left off, this year’s classes have started work on the mural as well. They have placed the glass pieces on the cartoons, really bringing the bigger picture together. Throughout this school year, each of Hay’s classes will get the chance to work on the project for a week.

Grace Gundel, a sophomore who has already had the opportunity to work on the mosaic, says that this project is “a great way to creatively bring together the art students of Penn Manor.”

Hay optimistically hopes for the project to be finished sometime in October 2010. Her secret to efficiently accomplishing this goal?

“Keep a positive attitude.”

By Sarah Schaeffer

Nowadays taking a simple stroll around the block on a brisk evening is comparable to stepping into a winter wonderland.

One step out the door and one may be blinded by the festive decorations littering neighbors’ yards.

Many know the right places to go to look at numerous light displays. One may just have to take a quick walk or drive down the street and enjoy a free view of pure holiday joy, while other times gazers will have to pay $20 for one spectacular light setup.

No matter where you live, you know the right places to look at all the best lights.

“It’s a Christmas wonderland,” Dylan Kurtz exclaims about the lights in the local Georgetown Hills neighborhood, right off Valley Drive.

Alyssa Thompson also says that she goes to Georgetown Hills to see Christmas lights. When referring to the same house as Kurtz, Thompson said, “That one house is like crazy.”

Here one can spot an assortment of lights including a blow up snow globe and Santa on a sleigh.

There is also a spot on Marietta by North School Lane that has a huge light display surrounding a large house. They feature a “peace on earth” sign, and quite a few angels.

Make a quick right off the end of Donerville Road. onto Stony Battery and your eyes will be amazed.

These few houses set up their lawns, just to create the temptation to walk right in.

“Sweet Lights,” is another place that is good to go light searching. It is what they call the lights at Hershey, by Hersheypark. The Sweet Light includes two miles and over 600 animated displays that you can view from your car for the price of $20.

Another favorite place to see lights is in Rocky Ridge Park in York right off Mt. Zion Rd. In its 26^th season, Rocky Ridge is striving to have even more wonderful displays, ones that you can walk through, drive through, and some that are even indoors.

The lights at Rocky Ridge range in cost from, $8 for adults, kids ages 4-12, $6, seniors & and ages three and under are free.

Around every bend there are lights to be seen, the beautiful sights are begging to be admired.

By Kimmy Bowman

Whether you’re nailing cakes to the door, blowing up scarecrows, or eating grapes, every country has their own way of ringing in the New Year.

Not only in the United States, but in other countries around the world, it’s tradition to have parties with your friends and families, drink champagne at midnight, and kiss your loved one.

Many people in the United States come up with a resolution they want to change or overcome in the following year.

A few of the typical New Year’s Resolutions for adults include working out, quitting tobacco or alcoholic products, learning something new or simply helping others.

PM math teacher, Kim Frey, said she “would like to exercise more regularly.”

However, many younger Americans would rather get a job, be happy more often, get into a good college, maybe even Harvard, or just save money.

“I want to do my best in school,” says junior, Jessen Smith.

Some people don’t put as much thought into their resolution, and decide upon something wacky and new.

Sophomore, Tim Deubler, said, “I plan on wearing all the clothes in my closet.”

“Eat more mayonnaise,” jokingly said math teacher, Jarod Staub.

In the United States, there are many other traditions.  Watching the ball drop in Times Square, New York City, is one way many Americans celebrate.  At midnight, lots of noise is made, champagne is drunk, and people kiss their significant other.

A classic Lancaster County tradition is on New Year’s Day is to continue to celebrating, by eating a dinner full of pork and sauerkraut, for good luck throughout the coming year.

New Year’s Eve and Day are celebrated differently all over the world, but the tradition each person has is special to them, in each and every way.

By: Brittany Burke and Sarah Nagy