Penn Points Online

The Gift of Giving Grows at Penn Manor

Since last year, Penn Manor has offered a gift to the community – the Giving Tree, an activity that fulfills the Christmas wishes of those who can’t afford to buy Christmas gifts.

“It’s a really good activity that we’re doing,” said Megan Harris, a senior in student council since her freshman year.

The Giving Tree reaches out to families in the Penn Manor school district, elementary schools, middle schools, and the high school and puts out tags with Christmas wishes from the families. The tags with the wishes on them are to be taken, by those willing to buy a gift for a family, to the library by Dec. 16.

The Giving Tree at Penn Manor Photo by Alex Blythe

“It’s getting us into the holiday spirit,” senior student counsel member, Taylor Eichelburger, said.

This year, the number of families that were helped through the Giving Tree has doubled since last year. Students and faculty who want to help those that can’t afford to buy gifts for their family, can take a tag, and spread the holiday joy.

Last year, the Giving Tree helped 10 families with 100 tags. This year, the presents will be going to 25 families, and 450 tags were posted.

“Hopefully this year goes as good as it did last year,” junior student counsel member, Mikah Farbo, said.

“Clothing, shirts, pants and the younger kids prefer games. The boys want foot balls, the girls want makeup,” Good said about some of the Christmas wishes from the families the giving tree helps, “It’s not all toys.”

“Shoes, clothes, toiletries,” Harris said, “stuff we take for granted.”

By Michael Stokes

Christmas Wish List – What PM students want in 2009

Wish lists are a very popular thing during the Christmas season. Many parents insist on their children giving them ideas of what they would like for Christmas. Giving gifts and having a great time with family is what makes the Christmas season jolly.

According to “Radical Parenting”, the top ten gifts to get teens include…

1. A laptop

2. A cell phone (unlimited texting is the only way to go)

3. A digital camera (Ashton Kutcher anyone?)

4. A pet (no iguanas please)

5. DVDs (recent movies, favorite movies, entire seasons of shows such as Gossip Girl, Heroes, Lost).

6. An iPod

7. CDs

8. iTunes/Money/Gift Cards

9. Clothes (sometimes gift cards are a more satisfactory gift)

10. The ultimate gift—Robert Pattinson (for the girls of course) and Megan Fox (for the boys)

Penn Manor students however are asking for something a little different then “Radical Parenting” suggested, much different.

“I want a new saddle for my horse,” said Vicky Walton.

Students ask for creative things along with items that are popular this holiday season. Some of these things include an iPhone, iPod touch, digital cameras, and new cars. Tyler Dietrich wants his car repainted, “It’s all scratched up,” he said.

Andrea Groff wants a new car along with Zach Campbell and Matt Flick. Groff is sick of her car and wants a bigger one, but Campbell just wants a newer and nicer one.

“A new car… a Porsche, I will continue to drive my 95 Buick if I don’t get one,” Campbell said.

Tanner Burkhardt said he wants money, “So then I can go out and buy my own gifts rather than people screwing up.”

Money is a common request during the holiday season so teens can go and buy what they would like or even put it into their savings account. Some teens including Emily Nickel and Chandler Miller have no idea what they want for Christmas. “I have no idea, people have been asking me but I don’t know,” Miller said.

Other items teens in Penn Manor have asked for include…

Clothing

A laptop

Electric Guitar

Sneakers

Mac Book Pro

A Wii

Chocolate

Uggs

North face jacket

Kayak

Kindel

What is a kindel you may ask? A kindel holds multiple books like a library. You can download any book you want and read them on the hand held device. According to amazon.com “A kindel wireless reading device prices at $259.”

“I want an airplane for Christmas,” said Eric Gerlach.

Of course that may not be the one thing all teens want for Christmas but all teens wish for something different. This holiday season children, teens, and adults have their wish lists made hoping to receive these gifts from their friends and family.

By Cassey Graeff

Farmville a New Craze That Has Students Toiling Online

There are millions of students who should be studying, they should be doing chores around the house, they should be running errands for mom and dad but, they can’t. They have to milk cows, plant beets and harvest their crops.

The culprit… Farmville.

Farmville is an online game created by Zynga and hosted by Facebook. The game allows members to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing, and harvesting virtual crops, trees, and livestock.

farmville

Though the game has been out no longer than six months, Farmville has become the most popular game application on Facebook, having a total of 70,476,996 members as of December 7, 2008.

Farmville has become worldwide, and many Penn Manor students have found themselves swept in by its power.

“It’s alright, I didn’t like it at first but it’s addicting,” said Justin Herr a junior at Penn Manor, “I still don’t like it that much but I have nothing better to do.”

Started only months ago, in June of this year, by November 9th it had claimed more than 63 million members.

Although the game is meant for just fun, once you begin a farm, the game requires certain things of you. Crops must be harvested at certain times or they are worth nothing.

“It depends on my crops; but normally I play every two days,” stated Herr, “the crops dictate my life.”

Kirsten Bechtold agreed, “I play every other day, no… make that everyday.”

There are times you actually have to play the game, if not, you might lose everything. For instance, once strawberries are planted, it takes four hours until they can be harvested.

That’s four hours of real time. That’s four hours when lots of other things could be getting done, like chores, homework, those kind of things.

“If my crops died I would get really pissed off,” stated Herr, “I tried to earn that money and it would just be going down the toilet.”

In Farmville you have a plot of ground where you grow your crops and raise your animals; however there are farm plots around you where you can have neighbors. pink_cows

“All my friends are my neighbors,” said Bechtold, “my neighbor is my neighbor on Farmville.”

One of Herr’s neighbors is Jeremiah Mazzur.

Mazzur commented that the music on Farmville is amazing, and his favorite part is the cows.

“The strawberry cows to be exact,” added Mazzur.

Who said Penn Manor isn’t a farm school anymore?

“It’s addicting,” said Bechtold, “once you start; you can’t stop.”

By Lyta Ringo

Do I Look Sexy To You?

Sprinkled throughout the halls of Penn Manor are girls in short shorts and ripped jeans, and guys with their backsides exposed for all to see.

No matter what rules are put into place about the dress code, it never fails that students will be showing too much skin to handle.

Many students in Penn Manor are familiar with Dr. Mindish’s infamous video about the dress code which highlighted points about what not to wear to school. Inappropriate clothing includes:

1.) Hats and hoods

2.) Shirts that reveal cleavage

3.) Tank-tops that are less than three inches wide

4.) Midriffs that are not covered

5.) Shorts/Skirts/Dresses that are shorter than mid-thigh

6.) Holes in jeans above mid-thigh

Yet, everyday, students in Penn Manor violate the dress code.

“If I can see your undergarments, I’m saying something,” Jason Hottenstein, school resource officer states.

Girls may be sent to Krista Cox’s (high school principal) office due to dress code violations. They will then be asked to change into a unisex pair of sweatpants or an oversized tee shirt, according to Hottenstein.

Despite the penalties, student Taylor Smith said, “I feel very sexy,” when she breaks the dress code, wearing things like low cut shirts and ripped jeans.

Karli Heiserman believes that she wears what she wears because “I really don’t feel like it concerns anyone what I wear,” and, “a little cleavage never hurt anyone.”

Many other students agree with Heiserman. Cheryl McDonald also thought that “You should be able to wear what you want.”

“I’m not trying to impress anyone,” says Teerney Nace, who reportedly breaks the dress code by wearing holes in her jeans and having shorts that are considered to be too short for school.

Lauren Richards also said, “ripped jeans are just in style.”

Also in style now, are low cut shirts and short dresses with leggings underneath, all which are violations of the dress code, and can be found on the bodies of many students walking though the hallways.

As opposed to the students’ cries that ‘it’s just what is in style,’ and their claims that ‘they just want to wear what they want to wear.’

Michelle Wagner, part of the staff at Penn Manor exclaims that, “I would say that they (the students) are looking for attention.”

By: Kimmy Bowman

The Flannel Fad

It may look as though a slew of lumberjacks have taken over Penn Manor, don’t be mistaken, it’s just the new fad.

Freshman Adrienne Eager says simply, “It got hooked on people.”

Originally, the flannel was associated with certain groups of people such as lumberjacks, woodsmen, farmers, or “manly” men.

But not anymore.

This fad seems to be coming out from all angles, from preps to skaters to hicks, or just anyone who wants to be comfortable. This seems to be one of the main reasons that many Penn Manor students like to sport their flannels on a regular basis.

Junior Ryan Wissler, who has been wearing flannels for what seems his whole life, says that he just wakes up in the morning and puts on his flannel because its there. He also says that he doesn’t care if other people have started to wear them.

“Whatever floats their boat,” Wissler says.

Tonya Fox, also a flannel wearer, agrees with Wissler, “I don’t really care they can wear what they want.”

Despite what these Penn Manor students may think, they aren’t the only ones who support this fad. It seems to be one of the newest fads in America and many stores including American Eagle, Hollister, Pac Sun, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Zumies now sell the beloved flannel.

However other students seem to feel offended that so many kids in Penn Manor have started to turn onto the flannel fad.

Tonya Fox and Angie Keagy photo by Noah Kuhn

Angie Keagy says, “It’s overrated. Now preps wear it, everyone wears them and it’s annoying.”

Whatever your style, it seems that the flannel will find you and according to the students and Penn Manor, you’ll be comfortable and happy in your new lumberjack attire.

By: Abby Wilson

Overpass Called Safe Despite Wind Damage

Wednesday night into Thursday morning, in the Millersville area, high winds ripped through the county hitting Penn Manor High School’s overpass and caused extensive damage.

School officials say that there is no structural damage, only cosmetic, and the overpass may be repaired by the end of the day, Thursday.

“Yes insurance covers it all,” said dean of students, Eric Howe.

According to a weather website in Millersville, Pa., the wind gusted up to 26 mph during Wednesday night’s storm.

A good portion of the bottom of the overpass was blown off and pink insulation is exposed. Debris was strewn across the high school’s main entrance. Workers blocked off the area underneath the overpass with cones and detour signs on saw horses.

Workers clean up debris knocked off of overpass. Photo by Alex Blythe

School officials say the overpass is safe for students to walk across from one end of the building to the other.

“No (it’s not dangerous) not at all, unless walking underneath it, you must wear a hard hat,” said Howe.

Although this had never happened before, the school officials are confident that this will be fixed to prevent it from happening again. “But you can never tell with the weather,” said Howe.

According to WGAL news site, South Eastern School District dismissed before 11 a.m. due to power outages, most likely caused by the storm while Lampeter-Strasburg School District had a two-hour delay due to power outages as well.

“Were a lot tougher than L.S., we decided not to cut off school,” joked Howe.

By Cassey Graeff and Alex Blythe

A Class Project Goes Above and Beyond

When Sally Muenkel assigned a “cell analogy project” she had no idea what to expect

For the project the students had to compare a cell to a real life situation such as a city or a school.

The students used their creativity, mixed with science, and put it into a project which allowed students to excel above and beyond, according to Muenkel

“I’ve never had these results” Muenkel says. “The creativity exhibited by the students is more than good.”

The projects varied from a field hockey game, to a farm, and then to the Harry Potter Hogwarts school.

In every model, the students had to compare every single part to a cell.

“It was one of the hardest projects I’ve had to do,” says Teerney Nace, a student in Muenkel’s, honors biology class.

Sara Bennis, also a student in the class, said “It took a week of class time to cut out the models.”

They put 100% of their effort into the project , said Nace.

“It was more fun to express the ideas of the project,” said Ian Toomey.

According to the students, the project took a lot of time to finish because “everyone was trying to be more creative than the other,” said Bennis.

“Everyone pretty much passed though,” says Kegan Miney.

All in all Muenkel said she was thrilled with the outcome and how this years project came out.

By Miriam Karebu

Grotesque Grub

Sweet, sour, spicy, savory, tart, tangy, bitter and just plain scrumptious. Food has just as many flavors as there are taste buds (about 10,000 to be exact).

From pickle-flavored chips, to peanut butter slathered on top of pancakes, “weird” foods seem to be getting more popular, but come out tasting like a million bucks. There are “weird” combinations of food that people put together that just seem to work.

I’ve made many tasty discoveries in my 18 years, as well as some, well…not-so-tasty.

Try dipping Oreo cookies in peanut butter, or salt and pepper on cantaloupe. Peanut butter and chocolate syrup pancakes with whipped cream, and mayonnaise on red-beet pickled eggs.

I decided to roam the halls of Penn Manor to find out other people’s strange food habits.

Here are some of the most disturbing but debatably delicious food combinations that I found:

Put Peanut butter in the microwave and pour over ice cream.

Mustard on a salad

Dipping French fries in a chocolate milkshake

Ketchup on sauerkraut

Mustard on Mac & cheese

Ketchup and mustard mixed in mashed potatoes

Mac & cheese on top of a hot dog

Grape Jelly on eggs

Salt on watermelon

BBQ sauce and peas in mashed potatoes

Hot sauce on chicken alfredo

Ketchup on spaghetti

Peanut butter mixed with sugar

BBQ chips and peanut butter

French fries dipped in honey

Peanut butter and jelly on Doritos

Potato chips in apple sauce

Nacho cheese on a sub or hoagie

Nacho cheese on a chocolate chip cookie

Mayonnaise sandwiches

Gummy bears and chocolate

Of course, then there is always the infamous “fried foods” at fairs and other events. It is, however, Lancaster County. Now, don’t judge before you indulge.

Fried Oreos

Fried Broccoli and cheese bites

Chicken-fried Bacon

Fried Twinkies

Fried Coca-Cola

Fried Snickers bar

Fried ice cream.

These are crazy but sometimes actually delicious combinations. So as soon as school is out for the day, it looks like I’m going home to try some crazy food combinations.

By: Alyssa Funk

How to Get a Guy in 10 Days

In 2003, the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” was released.

Here at Penn Manor, we looked at this from a different angle.

We want to know how to get a guy in ten days and we got advice from several Penn Manor students.

Flirty girl isn't quite winning over her love interest. Photo by Damien Oswald

“Don’t tell a guy you’re drama,” said junior Emily Land, “they don’t care, they don’t wanna hear it.”

“I want an all American renaissance girl,” said Eric Bear a junior at Penn Manor, “I’ve gotta be able to take them home to mom, but also take them to Vegas.”

To get a guy you’ve got to act normal. No one wants a girl who plays to be something she truly isn’t.

“She’s gotta be attractive and funny,” said Macon Kirtley.

“She’s gotta have a bod, be a girly-girl, and be prim and proper.” said Bear.

“I want a girl who can chill with me and my friends,” said Zach Miller, “she’s gotta be able to deal with me and my shenanigans.”

It seems easy to win a guy over doesn’t it? I mean their just guys, right? Just be laid back, be yourself, and have a good time.. If you’re lucky enough, you might just win over your guy.

Think you can do it?

By Lyta Ringo

It’s Not Over for Comet Football; the Dream Continues

The season is over for Coach Mealy’s Comets, but dreams for the future will still remain.

This year the Penn Manor squad made the deepest run into post-season play, getting to the semi-final competition in districts.

The Comets faced their toughest match up of the season last Saturday against a very strong Bishop McDevitt football squad.

“This team was bigger and better then the Millersville College football team,” die-hard fan, Mark Curtin, said regarding McDevitt.

Penn Manor put up a good fight and played better than expected according to many Comet fans who traveled to Harrisburg to see the game.

For awhile, the score was tied at 21 points apiece. But when a facemask penalty was called on the Comets as time ran out in the first half, McDevitt got one more chance. They scored making the tally 28-21 at halftime.

The second half started out perfectly for the Comets as they recovered an onside kick and were on a mission to tie this game.

Unfortunately for Penn Manor, everything went downhill from there as the drive opened up with an interception thrown from Aaron Fredrick on a trickery play.

The game ended with Mcdevitt over Penn Manor 49-21.

“The comets are proud of what they accomplished this season and proud to be a part of history,” Mealy said.

It’s time for the Comets to move forward and to start focusing on next season and to continue the tradition, Mealy noted.

“We have no choice but to move forward and to continue this program known for consistently winning,” he said.

By Conner Rowe