Category: Student Life

Jr. Suarez is an average teenage student who walks down the halls of Penn Manor.   There are  just a few exceptions, he has quarter-sized ear holes, known as gauges and two lip piercings.

Although not entirely comonplace, these types of piercings are becoming more of a trend at Penn Manor. It is not unusual now for teens to sport all kind of piercings which, years earlier, may have been considered weird.

Suarez doesn’t just have one gauge and one lip ring, he has two along with his statement: “two is always better than one.”

It took Suarez a minimum of four and a half months to go from an 18 gauge to a ¾-of-an-inch gauge. He now has ¾-inch gauges and double lip piercings known as snakebites.

Jr. says about his gauges “I wanted them since the seventh grade.”

Why would someone go through the pain of having a needle through their face or stretching of their ears?

“I got my eyebrow done because I want to be different and not a lot of girls have them,” said Genny Leonards, a junior at Penn Manor.

Although Adrienne Herr, a senior, doesn’t have facial piercings, she has an opinion about people who do.

“At a first glance, facial piercings may seem scary but if you judge those who have piercings without getting to know them, then maybe you’re the one who needs to change,” said Herr.

Ear Stretching is the means by which one can gradually stretch their ear piercing. A normal pierced ear is a 18/20 gauge.The largest gauge to stretch to, without the capability of returning to the normal size, is a two gauge also considered  the“point of no return” according to www.earstretching.net.

The correct way to stretch your ears is one gauge at a time (14-12, 12-10), the lower the number the larger the piercing, according to www.onetribe.nu.

If someone really wants to fix their ears from having an oversized hole they can have surgery but it shouldn’t be done until the deformity stops improving, according to www.arka-shop.co.uk.

One of the downsides of gauges is they stink.

Travis Healy said, “If you like moldy cheese then get gauges, because that’s what they smell like.”

A majority of facial piercings consist of nose, lip and eyebrow [most noticeable type of piercing.]

Work can be a problem when having facial piercings and gauges.  Some work supervisors tell their workers that they will not accept any types of piercings.

Adrienne Herr said “The biggest downfall to facial piercings might only become evident later in life when students start their job search.”

Another downside is they can interfere with day-to-day activities like eating with a tongue piercing.

Genny Leonards said, “when I sleep, it [eyebrow piercing] sometimes gets caught on my pillow and becomes sore.”

Jack Gunzenhauser doesn’t see any end in sight for his gauges. He already has stretched his ear lobes close to an inch.

“Go bigger, go, go!”

By Stephanie Herr

High school to most people is the time that you build relationships and make memories with the friends that mean the most, what better way to remember those times than by buying a class ring…or is it?

Some people think of a class ring as being something you can keep forever and look back on when you and your friends grow apart.

Some of the students at Penn Manor High School think differently about the idea of spending all that money on one class ring.

Senior football and baseball player, Jared Shearer, commented that, “It’s not that memorable, I’m just going to get a yearbook since pictures mean more.”

“I’m just not a ring guy,” said Shearer.

As the economy worsens and times are getting harder, it’s obvious that students won’t be that interested in buying a class ring this year.  They’ll save their spending money for things of their own interests.

Senior Erik Klugh said, “I’d much rather spend my money on a yearbook that has pictures of everyone and things I’ve done in high school rather than a piece of jewelry. Plus pictures mean more and can tell stories of my past…that’s something a ring can’t do.”

To some people a ring might be the perfect way to remember things; you can engrave your name on it, have sport symbols, and even your birth stone.

To senior Kenny Tomaszfski, a class ring is a good investment.

“It will always remind me of the times and memories I had at Penn Manor,” he said.

No matter what happens in school or in classes, in the halls and even at lunch, there is  always something that can be turned into a memory. You can buy a class ring and have something to wear the rest of your life or you can get a  year book with pictures to look back on.   You will always be able to remember those times you shared with fellow students during your time in high school.

Damien Oswald

The rising sun on July 10, 2009 marked the dawn of a new era for not only the Valentine family, but the entire Penn Manor community.

The death of Secretary Heather Valentine’s son, Cory, happened on that day.  And, as the community gathered to provide any modest support they could provide, the question arose in many: how is it best to support someone who is grieving.

This community reached out quickly to the Valentine family.

“Penn Manor has been a very supportive community for our family,” said Valentine.

This poses the question: what are the dos and dont’s for comforting and grieving with your friends?  With various attitudes about death, that’s no easy question to answer.

Penn Manor counselor Kimberly Marsh made it seem pretty straight-forth:

Do: understand that everyone handles things differently and to be there and listen

Do Not: change the subject when they talk about it, set a time for when you think they should be over it, or act as if you are their counselor.

Marsh also made it clear that: “They will probably never ‘get over it’ and they will have to deal with it day by day.”

And this is true with Valentine, “Cory’s never off my mind. He’s constantly on my mind. It will be with me the rest of my life.”

Senior Jenn Stumpf suffered two traumatic loses in her lifetime. Her brother was killed in 2004, her father in 2007. Her biggest help through all of the grieving: friends.

“The things that helped me the most were hanging out with friends every time that I could and staying on my daily routines. Not laying around and thinking about it all the time. It’s good to keep your mind off of the things the most you can,” said Stumpf.

Stumpf also provided some advice if you would ever find yourself in a similar situation, “I would tell them to keep their head up and stay positive. And reassure them that everything will be okay.”

Bri Delinger, Cory’s sister and a Penn Manor senior had additional advice.

“Be more compassionate,” she said.  “I would appreciate if people would be more supportive… be conscious of feelings when they say certain things.”

To summarize, do not try and be the counselor, no matter how much you think you may know, you really do not have a clue. Every person handles a situation differently, while some refuse to handle the situation at all.

There is so much pain surrounding the death of a loved one, but the stories and memories shared are worth more than anything. As the old Irish proverb states, “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”

By Tyler Barnett

The cafeteria’s popcorn chicken is amazing. There are no other words for it.

Well, at least no other word I’ve heard from students. In fact, on days when it’s the main lunch, it makes up almost 75% of the average 1010 meals sold daily.

Polling students on why the chicken is so popular brings in a range of opinions: “People just like it. Maybe it’s the spices?” “There’s no reason, it’s just automatically awesome,” “It’s not about the chicken. It’s about the gravy that comes with the chicken,” “You know, until someone invents bacon that tells me I’m handsome, I will hold up the popcorn chicken as one of mankind’s greatest creations.”

Now, strange thing is, Penn Manor’s popcorn chicken is easily available at local grocery stores as Tyson’s Any’tizers popcorn chicken bites. Nothing is changed, no ingredients added, just sent to the kitchens and prepared according to the instructions on the bag.

This information got mixed reviews. Some students loved the idea; others were indifferent, stating that they’d get tired of it if they started to have it at home.

John Erisman, a Penn Manor social studies teacher and a resident popcorn chicken specialist, said that while popcorn chicken is one of the only two cafeteria’s meals he eats, he wouldn’t have it at home, and that he suggests fans visit a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

“I’m telling you, best chicken in the world,” Erisman said.

Guess sometimes there is too much of a good thing.

By Kennedy Phillips

More?

After Lancaster County has been burdened with somewhere around three feet of snow throughout the month of February, there are speculations of a snowy first week of March.

Throughout schools and workplaces alike, people have been hearing a rumor of the supposed “42 inch snowicane.”

But no one seems to know the exact origin of said rumor. Most people seem to believe the prediction was made in the 2010 Farmer’s Almanac. However, the almanac predicted only “periods of rain and snow, chilly,” for the first week of March.

Another trusted almanac, Baer’s Almanac, predicted very nearly the same thing. Baer’s predicted there to be one less inch of precipitation than usual.

Eric Horst, Millersville University’s meteorologist, put the rumor to rest (for now) in an interview with the Lancaster New Era. Horst said predicting any sort of weather, let alone an exact amount of snowfall is comparable to “throwing darts in the dark.”

Horst and The Weather Channel estimated that the storm expected between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week may drop, at most, an inch of the white stuff.

By Sarah Schaeffer

Jay Leno and NBC won the battle, but may have lost The Late-Night War.

Between Leno’s slowly dropping fan base and NBC’s rapidly falling ratings, this has proven to be a total public relations fiasco for the network.

On June 1, 2009, Conan O’Brien succeeded Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show while Leno transitioned to a prime-time feature, The Jay Leno Show. However, NBC’s ‘experiment’ was deemed a failure, and with negative reviews saying the show was ‘exactly what he did [on the Tonight Show] before’, The Jay Leno Show was rescheduled within seven months.

NBC’s planned remedy to this situation, involving the Leno Show moving to the 11:00 time slot and pushing The Tonight Show to midnight, and later simply reinstating Leno to his original position, did not go over well with O’Brien or his contract.

According to the agreement updated when O’Brien took the Tonight Show, NBC was obligated to keep him on as host for at least three years. With opposition mounting against the network, a $45 million deal was closed with O’Brien, as a form of compensation for his leave.

However, many fans continue to side with O’Brien and denounce NBC, even inside Penn Manor High School:

“Conan. Easily Conan. He’s…I mean, he was sold out,” said assistant principal Jason D’Amico.

“I’m going with Conan. I don’t know. I used to be a Leno fan, but…” said Richard Brenton, one of the high school’s Social Studies teachers.

But, it’s not as if Leno doesn’t have his own support:

“Leno, definitely. He’s funnier. Conan just seems like he’s trying too hard,” according to Penn Manor Custodian John Wealand.

Somewhat surprisingly, in an informal poll, throughout the school, and even among students, Leno’s fans prevail, amounting to almost four times Conan’s followers.

By Kennedy Phillips

Dance crazes come and go, but two high school students, experienced in breakdance, want to show their appreciation by teaching others.

What started as a fun hobby to do with friends, junior Marcos Rivera and senior Daryl Jarvis, plan to teach other students how to breakdance. The students have been dancing for years and now they feel the need to share their experience and expertise with others who want to learn.

In the meantime, they are hoping to fulfill a dream of becoming a breakdancer themselves.

“Everybody has a dream, when you get that [dream] it is really hard to follow through alone,” Rivera, who hopes to become a professional himself, said. “That’s what I’m here for, support.”

People have spent lots of time learning how to breakdance with Rivera and Jarvis who are sacrificing five hours out of their busy schedule, with school and after-school activities, to teach.

“I teach after school on Mondays and Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.,” Rivera said.

Rivera explained that if someone is not sure if this is for them, there are a couple of ways to get into the hype of breakdancing. There are many movies that have people breakdancing in them, or you can go to a place where people actually perform.

By Mike Bouder

“Matchmaker, matchmaker,” may just be a tune from Fiddler on the Roof, but this close to Valentine’s Day, people are inspired by the idea that something or someone beside themselves is responsible for true love.

During a homeroom period in January, some Penn Manor students spent time filling out a matchmaker test.  At a cost of $2 this test will be redistributed around Valentine’s Day with a list of students who answered the test in a similar way.  The test may seem like just a little joke, but do people actually take it seriously?

“People say they don’t care about (the test), but it really just depends who shows up on their list,” sophomore Kate Harrold said.

Other students agreed with Harrold’s statement.

“No one takes it seriously when they fill the test out,” said Karli Heiserman, “but when they get the results back it’s different because you’re getting people you know.”

On the other hand there are people who say they never thought of it as serious.

“It’s all just for fun and a joke, nothing more really,” said Alex Flurry, “Most people in high school won’t normally walk up to someone and say they like them.  A piece of paper wouldn’t change that even if they took it seriously.”

So would having a matchmaker test in high school inspire someone to try online dating services later in life?

After all, the popularity for online services has been on the rise this year and according to The Internet Journal up to 30% of American singles currently use online matchmaking sites.

“It all depends if the list has good people.  If no one’s on it that they like, they probably wouldn’t think about it,” said freshman Willow Eimm.

“In high school, they at least know the people.  Online they could get anybody,” Harrold said.

The answers on someone’s test may not be completely true either.  People have been known to lie.

“Some people screw around with their answers, and don’t mean it,” said Catie Shipley, “No one would be able to tell if they actually made a good match.”

Although people may mess around with the results, more and more singles are using dating websites, and the cost isn’t cheap.

Match.com has a rate of $35 per month, and Chemistry.com is around $50 per month.  However, eHarmony takes the Valentine’s cake for the highest cost of an online dating service with a price of $60 per month according to Consumer Dating Review.

So whether it’s a joke or taken seriously, the matchmaker tests are sure to spark up thoughts of love and compatibility this time of year.

By Lindsey Ostrum

Another winter storm sits on deck- the parking deck that is.

Penn Manor High School students are bracing themselves for what is shaping up to be another massive snowfall, the second in one week.  Beside the conditions of the road, students are also concerned about the state of the parking deck.

“I’m paying $20 and it’s still a sheet of ice,” said Kristina Mast.

According to Eric Horst, head meteorologist at Millersville University, 10-18 inches of snow is predicted in another new storm.  Now add that prediction to our current one and a half feet accumulation.

“Half the spots (parking spots on the deck)  are already covered in snow, there is no room for everyone to park, and it’s not fair,” said Dani Leon.  “It’s a hazard,” she added.

A winter storm warning is in effect Tuesday and Wednesday.  Students are concerned about their cars and their safety.

“There are a lot of people who don’t drive because the deck is that bad,” said Leon.

If snow does shut down school Wednesday, school will be in session on Friday, which was originally a pre-planned snow make-up day.

Students have their fingers crossed for a snow day and that the deck will be ready for parking the next day at 7:30 am.

By Dessie Jackson

Do you own a car and have to pay for your gas and insurance? Have you ever run out of money and been unable to drive? Well, that seems to be a concern for many students at Penn Manor.

Out of six students interviewed at Penn Manor, all six of them had to pay for their insurance and gas on their own without their parent’s help.

Jenna Reel, a student at Penn Manor said, “yes, I think that my parents would help me if I really needed the help, but I’ve never needed it. I earn enough money to make it every month.” Reel is one of the lucky ones.

According to Allstate Insurance Company, the cost of insurance is higher for teens because they have a higher chance of getting into an accident. The prices vary by gender. Males have higher insurance rates than females, because statistically they get in more accidents than females.

Kevin Tolle owns his own car and also has to pay for his insurance and gas. Tolle explained it was not difficult for him to come up with the money.

“No, I work a lot,” Tolle said.

Insurance rates for teens can be as low as $75 to more than $2,000 per year.

According to superpages.com, there are several ways to lower your insurance rates as a teen. By choosing not to drive a sports car or driving a not-so-nice car, rates can be reduced drastically. Another way to lower rates is to get the student discount by earning good grades.

Chandler Miller, a junior at Penn Manor whom does not have her license nor permit, said, “I think that kids should have to pay for some of the insurance, because if their parents just hand their kids a car and pay for everything then the kids will learn to not care.”

Macon Kirtoey has to pay for insurance and gas, but his dad gave him a car. He said it can be hard to always get payments  in on time.

Kirtoey added “it sucks” when explaining he had to pay for his insurance and gas.

Most teens look forward to driving on the open road with their friends without a care in the world. Most of them don’t think about the fact that they will have more expenses once they get their license. Insurance companies are trying to keep the insurance as low as possible, but it will probably be very affordable.

So, next time you are driving with your friend, offer them a couple of dollars for gas money and other expenses, because it really could make a difference for them.

By Kelly Owens