The Tyrian

The tyrian
Vol. 1 • No. 2
Mifflin County High School
Friday, March 30, 2012
thetyrian@mcsdk12.org
Behind the Scenes
New fall sports
Huskies
around
the world
Girls’ tennis,
Cheerleading
Page 5
Page 2
MCHS Drama Production
Page 7
Students stand ready in case of emergency
By TYRIAN STAFF
LEWISTOWN – A fire or
rescue vehicle streaking by, lights
flashing, sirens blaring. Or those personal vehicles, a pulsing blue light on the dash— the
ones you instinctively pull over to
the side of the road for to let pass
because someone, somewhere needs
help.
Ever wonder who might be
in one of those vehicles? Ever think
he or she might be someone your
age, someone you might pass every
day in the halls?
Or, have you ever considered the possibility that one of your
classmates might one day answer an
emergency call made on your behalf
or on behalf of someone you love?
Ten MCHS students recently discussed their involvement
as volunteers with emergency firefighting and medical service units.
Some come from families
with long histories of volunteer
service. Others do not. Some want
to pursue related careers. Others do
not.
Different from one
Tyrian photo by FINNIAN SAYLOR
another in many ways, they are
L-R: Seth Snook, Hunter Snook, Megan Leeper, Kyle Kenepp, Matt Chester. Absent when photo was taken: Adaire Pomeroy, Bruce Mann, Jonathon Chester, Jared Lynch.
alike in ways that matter— all
have a desire to help others, to
had noticed that it had entered our response smashed into a small sedan carrying a fam- listen to anyone in the ambulance but me.
give back to the community, and
area. About five minutes after we had
ily to dinner.
I was the only one that could find out what
to continue their service throughout their
started listening, a report came over the
“At that time, we had six patients, was wrong with her.
adult lives.
two of whom were deceased, and two of
“I will never forget the look on
Below they shared their insights, scanner that the person being chased had
crashed head on into another car at a high whom were in need of immediate transport. that little girl’s face as we took her to the
their experiences and a little about themrate of speed.
“We took a small girl, who had
helipad.
selves.
“We immediately responded to the been in the back seat of the car and had
●●●
“My parents and I had been listen- scene of the crash and found that the person received a concussion. What makes this so
being chased was driving a truck and had
memorable is that the little girl wouldn’t
See Student firefighters / Page 5
ing to a police chase on the scanner and
Friends in need:
MCESF donates to high school media classes
By BEN FOWLER
Tyrian staff writer
LEWISTOWN - The
Mifflin County Education
and Scholarship Foundation
(MCESF) recently provided a
$23,000 grant to purchase 65
new televisions for the Mifflin
County High School.
Formerly called
MC2000, the foundation funded
the original media studios at Indian Valley and Lewistown Area
high schools.
The recent grant demonstrates its continued commitment
to that area of the curriculum.
The mission of MCESF
is twofold: to promote academic
achievement and career readiness
and to provide educational grants
to schools and teachers in Mifflin
County.
“Our purpose is to
provide assistance to grow and
promote further education of
Mifflin County students,” says
Jeff Gum, president and CEO
of MCESF, who also sits on the
board of directors.
MCESF relies on
funding from individuals and
businesses in the com- Hot off the press
The first issue of The Tyrian
runs off The Sentinel presses in
early February. MCESF awarded
a $2,000 grant to the MCHS journalism class to launch this year’s
student paper. It will also cover
the cost of producing four issues
of The Tyrian’s mini pages. The
mini pages target grades 3-5 and
focus on local history.
Jeff Gum (right) of MCESF presents a $23,000 grant to Supt. James Estep (far left) and
Principal Mark Crosson (center).
munity. All positions at the
foundation are voluntary.
The new televisions
are a major asset to the MCHS
media program. Principal Mark
Crosson says, “You can’t have a
state-of-the-art TV studio without having TVs to broadcast to
the students.”
Additionally, other departments will be able to watch
news channels and educational
programming. For example, the
TVs will allow social studies
classes to watch election coverage.
Television is an important tool for communication in
the visual age in which we live.
Under the direction
of Roger Herto, MCHS media
teacher, and Matt Moore of One
Stop Communications, installation of the sets is currently in
progress.
Soon all classrooms will
have them. Installation is a slow
process because only four rooms
in the high school were wired
properly for televisions, says
Herto. Herto and Moore must
run new cable lines and AC
MCHS Variety Showcase:
Tyrian photos by KATIE SPECHT
power lines in the ceilings.
Depending on the configuration of the room, installing
a television may take 20 minutes
to an hour.
The $23,000 grant paid
for all of the televisions. Purchased from Best Buy, they are
1080 dpi 32-inch flat screens.
The school district is
covering the cost of extension
cords and labor.
The year MCESF
also helped to fund the Robotics
Club, which is part of the STEM
program. Furthermore, they have
annual scholarship programs for
students.
The TV grant, Crosson
says, is “an excellent example of
the community and the school
working together.”
more details on Page 3
Tyrian photos by FINNIAN SAYLOR
People
2-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
Beyond our borders
King still helping Zambia
By BEN FOWLER
Tyrian staff writer
Nathan King’s involvement with the teachers’ college in Serenje, Zambia, during
his service in the Peace Corps
from 1998 to 2000 prompted his interest in teaching.
This May, the MCHS
biology teacher is helping to
organize the Greenwood Challenge, a half-marathon that benefits Self-Empowerment through
Education (SEED). King was one
of three Peace Corps volunteers
who established the non-profit
after returning from Zambia.
The
volunteer-operated program provides four
scholarships every two-year
cycle to students who attend
the Malcolm Moffat College
of Education. SEED sponsors
Zambian students, particularly
women, who show exceptional
potential but lack the financial resources to attend college.
SEED not only empowers the students who attend college, but it also allows them to
become teachers and to educate
other Zambians. King says this
approach is more beneficial and
sustainable than simply sending
money because corrupt leaders
often squander the funds, and
the people who need aid do not
receive it. “You can’t take someone’s education,” King explains.
Regarding
education, King says, “There’s a
thirst for knowledge in Africa.
They want to learn from us so
badly… They think we have
the answers to everything.”
Peace Corps Years
Of
his service in
the Peace Corps, King says
volunteers pick a region to
serve, but their specific location is assigned. “I picked Africa because it’d be the wildest, most different place to go.”
Adapting to Zambian
culture was difficult. King spent
three months in a training camp
to learn the language and culture. The language, called Bemba, is
“incredibly difficult to learn.”
King said learning Spanish in high
school was helpful because both
languages require conjugating.
Culturally, the rural
Zambians are relaxed; there are
50 ways to say hello, for example,
and people often stop during the
Nathan King during his Peace Corps days in Zambia
day and chat; punctuality is not as
important there as it is in America.
Furthermore, it took a
while for King to become accustomed to the food—fish
heads are a delicacy there, and
the low-protein, high-carb diet
resulted in all of the male Corps
workers losing weight and their
female counterparts gaining.
King conformed to Zambian ways for the most part, but he
broke a cultural taboo by working
with women in the fields. Zambian men do not work with women.
King’s primary project was Rural Aquaculture Promotion, a program that established aquaculture to provide
fish to the landlocked, proteindeficient country of Zambia.
Submitted photo
hicles on treacherous roads constitute a high risk for accidents.
King described his experience as “life changing”.
He hopes one day to
return to Zambia for a year with
his wife and children and to
teach at the teachers’ college.
Describing the Zambians, King says, “They have
so little, but they’re happier than most Americans.”
To read more about
Seed of Knowledge or the
Greenwood Furnace Challenge,
consult the following links:
He taught local, rural farmers
how to raise fish. The program
addressed the need for food as
well as the poaching issues re- http://www.seedofknowledge.
sulting from a lack of protein. org/Default.htm
King was able to witness http://www.greenwoodfurnacthe effects of the program. “I went etrailchallenge.com/
back for a 10-year
Greenwood Furnace Trail Challenge
anniversary to see
all the farmers, and Benefits: SEED (Self-Empowerment through
they’re not wealthy, Education); Big Brothers Big Sisters of
‘but they have a back- Centre County; Mifflin County Huskies’ High
up source of protein.” School Wrestling Team.
A l t h o u g h When: May 6, 2012
King was bluff- Registration: Ends April 6, 2012, register
charged by an ele- online at http://www.greenwoodfurnacphant, he said that rid- etrailchallenge.com/ or by mail
ing in a vehicle was Where: Greenwood Furnace State Park
the most dangerous What: Approx. 13 miles of rock gardens,
experience. The rick- mud and some nasty scrambling.
ety, fast-moving ve-
Senior on mission trip to India
By PATRICK TRAXLER
Tyrian contributing writer
Editor’s note: Senior Patrick Traxler spent Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 in India
as a medical missionary. His team’s primary role was to set up medical checkup camps in impoverished areas. Following is a first-person account of his trip.
Submitted photos
Above: Patrick Traxler is pictured with some of the children
he helped in India. Right: a
couple of the village children.
INDIA – The experiences I encountered during my stay for our medical
camps were so life changing. The effect the trip had on me really just made me
appreciate the United States a lot more.
The slums we went into were nothing like any living conditions I have
seen here in the United States. They covered an area of about three or four football
fields with little tents made of sticks, cloths, tarps and anything else that the people
could find in the garbage dumps. These people had nothing, so if you think you
kids have it bad here, try going there once. Girls were being sold as sex slaves.
Living the way they do, it was hard to see.
I really took a liking to the kids in one particular village. They were so
happy, and nothing could change that. There was this kid playing in the streets
with an old bike tire, and he had the biggest smile on his face. I just couldn’t understand it. I pondered on that the whole time I was in this village, and finally I felt
God say to me, “They know true happiness through Me.”
I mostly just did work in the pharmacy, but I prayed for people as they
left. These two little boys came into the pharmacy where I had worked pretty
much the whole time, and the younger of the two was the happiest kid I have ever
seen. Honestly, I just wanted to bring him back to the United States with me and
have him live here, but I was reminded of something by a pastor friend of mine
living in a foreign land as a full-time missionary: if you brought home every kid
that you wanted to bring home, they would lose the mindset of their true happiness.
Their true happiness would then be measured in the kind of house they
live in, the car they ride in, the number of video games they have or the type of
clothes they wear. That is not the way true happiness is measured over in India! It
again goes back to God saying to me that they have true happiness from Him.”
Study abroad: A changed Moore returns from school year in the Netherlands
By SURUCHI SHETH
Tyrian staff writer
Imagine leaving your
school after your sophomore year,
not realizing that it won’t be there
when you get back. Not only that,
but that several major aspects of
the life you knew would be drastically altered.
Senior Patric Moore
experienced just this as he traveled
to the Netherlands as an exchange
student for the duration of his
junior year. When he arrived in the
Netherlands, he was a stranger in
a strange land. Returning to the
states, he was a virtual stranger in
his home town.
Moore had left as an Indian Valley Warrior and had come
back as a Mifflin County Husky.
That, however, was not
the only change. “Most of my
friends got jobs and cars, and I
actually came back to living in a
different house because my family
moved while I was gone,” he says.
He’s adjusted to the
changes and says he would do it
again. “There isn’t a day that goes
by where I haven’t thought about
being back in the Netherlands.”
His time there was exciting. He learned to ski in the Alps
in Austria (which was his favorite
experience), sailed on the North
Sea, attended many great soccer
(known there as football) matches,
and started kickboxing as a hobby.
In visiting 12 countries,
he toured some major cities,
among them Berlin, Barcelona,
Paris, and Rome. “It was cool to
actually see some of the things that
we see in pictures or read about,
like the Eiffel Tower, Berlin Wall,
and the Coliseum.”
What he misses most is
hard for him to limit: “There isn’t
any one thing that I can say that I
really miss. I miss everything—the
food, people, friends, families,
being able to travel, and definitely
the parties.”
How different was his life
in Europe?
His school schedule
differed considerably from what
we are used to at MCHS. For
example, he did not always have
class during all eight periods. On
Wednesdays, for instance, his
first class wasn’t until 4th period
English. Other days he was done
after 6th period. He was even able
to leave the school early to go into
town after his last class; he didn’t
have to remain at school till after
eighth period.
“At first I liked the
schedule that we have here, but the
more I thought about it and lived
through it, the schedule I had in
the Netherlands was a lot better,
and there are studies that show
that Dutch students actually
perform better and have better
test scores than Americans.”
Unfortunately, not all
of his credits as an exchange
student were transferrable to
MCHS. Moore has had to take a
few junior-level classes this year
in order to graduate.
His home life abroad,
however, was similar to family
life here.
Moore lived with three
different families during the
course of his exchange, which
he says had its advantages and
disadvantages.
“It was nice because
I was able to see how different
families live and act. The one
family went skiing, and another
one was part of a yacht club.
Each family was also different because of their children.
However, it was always difficult
switching families, though,
because by the time I started to
become close to them, I had to
switch and start all over again.”
Although Dutch teens
have pastimes similar to American teens’, the regulations on
them differ.
See MOORE / Page 3
Patric Moore was able to learn how to ski in the Alps in Austria.
Submitted photo
School
3-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
Getting to know
Student
teachers
in profile
By TYRIAN STAFF
LEWISTOWN - Four
Penn State students are spending
the spring semester at MCHS. They are putting to
practical use in their high school
classrooms what they learned in
their college classes.
Aspiring educators, they
are serving as student teachers with the following teachers:
English, Martin Byrne with Randy
Fluke and Luke Skerpon with
Gary Ishler; Spanish, Andrew
Davidson with Sharon Wilson and
Andrea Appel with Pat Yoder.
To get to know them
a little better as people, not just
in their role as student teachers,
the Journalism class sought their
responses to the following questions.
Tyrian photo by FINNIAN SAYLOR
L to R: Andrea Appel, Andrew Davidson, Martin Byrne, Luke Skerpon
How has the actual teaching experience differed, if at all, from
your expectations?
Byrne: In high school, I never
appreciated how hard it is to be a
great teacher. One difficulty that I
never understood was the amount
Hometown and high school from of planning and foresight that goes
which you graduated
into teaching.
Skerpon: Sayre, PA - Sayre Area Davidson: I didn’t think that I
High School
would laugh so much during my
Appel: Scenery Hill, PA - Bishop classes. My students are hilariCanevin High School
ous; they crack me up and make
Byrne: Broomall, PA - Marple
me excited to get up and teach
Newtown Senior High School
every day.
Davidson: Bellefonte, PA - Grace
Prep High School
What is one possession you
would have the most difficulty
What do you feel are the
parting with? Why?
strengths you bring to the pro- Skerpon: Without a doubt, I
fession?
would have the most difficulty
Byrne: Youth and good looks.
parting with my iPhone. With my
Davidson: My sparkling personal- involvement in and out of school,
ity, vivacious demeanor and my
I am constantly on the go. My
sense of humor.
iPhone allows me to have every-
Davidson: The beginning of time, to me, and I would still be scared.
with Adam and Eve. To both,
Now, I’m afraid of clowns. Hands
“Was the apple really that good?” down; they’re so terrifying.
Byrne: I have an irrational fear
You’re 75 and writing your
about being asked about my irmemoirs -what’s the title?
rational fear.
Skerpon: Oh the Places I’ve Been
(named after Dr. Suess’ Oh the
Places You’ll Go)
What’s the most useful bit of
Appel: An Appel a Day…
advice you’ve ever received?
Given the opportunity to meet
Byrne: What Happened to the
Skerpon: Dream big! If you put
one person from any era in
Last 53 Years of My Life?
your mind to anything no matter
history and to ask that person
Davidson: The Curse: 75 Years’ how large a goal it may be—and
just one question, whom would Worth of Awkward Moments and
you have a true desire to achieve
you choose, and what question
the Adventures They Inspired.
it—no one or anything can stop
would you ask?
you! Give everything you want
Appel: Again, there are two that
What is your most irrational
your all!
I would love to meet: Lady Gaga fear?
Appel: “Life moves pretty fast. If
or John Lennon (totally opposites, Appel: When I was younger, I
you don’t stop and look around
I know). I would ask Lady Gaga was deathly afraid of men with
once in a while, you could miss
– why on Earth would you wear
ponytails (which was a problem
it.” –Ferris Bueller.
a meat dress? I would ask John
because my uncle used to have
Byrne: Happiness is a choice.
Lennon – what was your percep- one), and I was so afraid of people Davidson: “Speak softly and
tion of the world that made you
singing Happy Birthday. They
carry a big stick.”— Theodore
write the music the way you did? didn’t even have to be singing it
Roosevelt
thing I need with me at all times.
Apps for email, internet, social
media, books/reading, a notepad,
music, video and audio conferencing, weather, and more – wherever
I go, I have my iPhone with me at
all times in order to be connected
and available (except during
school hours, of course).
Moore encourages others to go abroad
MCHS Talent Showcase
continued from Page 2
Dutch teens, for instance,
cannot drive till 18, but this does not
affect them as it would teens here. They do not need cars to get
to where they’re going. Because the
landscape is flat, it’s easy for them to
travel around the country on bikes.
And while the driving age is higher
there than in America, the drinking
age is lower, 16. Moore says Dutch
teens enjoy the party atmosphere.
Dutch opinion of Americans
in general isn’t flattering. Moore
explains, “The Dutch have very liberal
viewpoints and opinions, but typical
things they would say are that Americans are fat, lazy and only care about
themselves. They don’t like how we get involved in
so many conflicts around the world either. However, many people love to visit America because the
people here are very nice and helpful.”
Moore isn’t only in a completely different
environment after his year as an exchange student,
he is also a completely different person.
“I find it easier to talk to people, and I always look at things differently. I don’t judge people
as much either.”
Studying abroad is not common among
students in our district. April 28, 1995
A variety show
7 p.m. Saturday, April 28
MCHS Auditorium
Tickets: Students, $5 (advance tickets $3.50)
Adults, $7.50
Benefit: MCHS Class of 2014
Submitted photo
Moore encourages anyone, whether in high
school or college, to try it. “There is so much more
besides Mifflin County. Before I went to the Netherlands, I thought that a year would feel like forever,
but before I knew it, I was back on an airplane coming home.”
He added that if anyone is interested in
looking into becoming an exchange student, he will
talk to them about how to get the process started and
what to expect along the way.
Dylan A. Follmer
Attention: Students, faculty, staff!
Do you sing? Dance? Juggle? Play an instrument? Have a band? Do standup? Act?
We want to showcase your talent.
Feb. 23, 2012
Those were the days friend
We had it all
And these are the times
I got so much more
Always remember me
--Lyrics from “Always Remember Me”
Remembering Dylan
A tribute to Junior Dylan Follmer, the graphic at left is a custom
design representing items and activities his friends immediately
associate with him. Several have it tattooed on their skin. Those below opted to have it printed on T-shirts, a means of memorializing
Dylan that many others around school have adopted as well.
L to R: Brooke Riden, Katey Cramer, Eric Brought, Madison Bratton,
Morgan Harpster, James Wilburn
Sign up in Room B301
Sports
4-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
Searer a bronze medalist at states
Tyson Searer, the first Husky to medal at
the PIAA State Tournament in Hershey, finished 3rd
in the 220-pound weight class.
The senior placed 1st in the District 6 Tournament and the Northwest Regional Tournament.
Earlier in the season, he took 1st place at the King of
the Mountain Tournament.
After the season, Searer won the Rod Tate
Award.
Lucas Besch placed 3rd at the Northwest
Regional Tournament to qualify for the PIAA state
tournament at the 126-pound weight class. He also
placed 3rd at the the District 6 Tournament.
Additionally, Brandon Michael, Harry
Lowber and Joe Knarr qualified for regionals.
Overall, the team finished with an impressive record of 18-5.
Coach Kirby Martin says, “This year’s
group of kids did an outstanding job of building
team unity, working hard and setting the tone for
future Husky teams.”
Sentinel photos
Above: Tyson Searer wrestles with Exeter’s Jeo Giorgio in their 220-pound first-round match at the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships. Right: Lucas
Besch battles with Garrett Brown of DuBois in a 145-pound match at the Northwest Regional Class AAA wrestling championships.
Girls’ basketball
earns district
playoff berth
Boys advance
to district title,
state tourney
After an excellent first year, the
girls’ basketball season ended for the Huskies with a 60-53 loss to State College in
the District 6 Class AAAA semifinals.
They finished 18-5, which is
especially commendable considering
that this was their first season as a team.
Logan Snyder, who was second on
the team in scoring, won the Jenna Feathers Award for the second time in her career.
The boys’ basketball team finished its inaugural season 17-8 overall.
After beating DuBois 48-42 in the
first district playoff game, they lost to State
College 59-30 in the district championship.
The Huskies still qualified for
the state tournament. Their season ended
there with a loss to Seneca Valley 53-33.
Seth Wagner won the 2012
Harry Rothrock/Dick Webber Award.
Sentinel photo
Sentinel photo
Chris Wilson (12) drives against DuBois’ defender
Mark Felix during the District 6 Class AAAA
semifinals.
Whitney Corbin (11) jumps for a shot
against Bellefonte.
Winter track stars medal at states
Zach Moon and Marissa Long,
each competing in the 800, medaled at the
PTFCA Indoor track and field state championships at Penn State University in February.
They are the first track medalists
in MCHS history.
Moon placed 7rd with a time of
1:56.35.
He qualified for the New Balance
Indoor Nationals in New York City. Unfortunately, Moon was too ill to compete at
nationals on March 9.
Long’s impressive time of 2:15.86
earned her a 5th-place finish overall.
Sentinel photo
Megan Becker competes in the girls 200 Medley Relay at the District 6/9 championships at the McCoy
Natatorium at University Park.
Swimmers finish 3rd at district meet
At districts, the girls' 400 freestyle relay team of Mikala Britt, Megan Becker,
Jenna Kile and Sarah Bonson finished 3rd with a time of 4:08.64.
The girls’ swim team finished with a record of 7-3 at the swim meets, and the
boys went 4-6.
Coach Connie Welsch says, “I believe everyone had a great season filled with
learning and fine-tuning the strokes, competing in all of the events, qualifying for Districts, and establishing new friendships.”
Zach Moon (left) and Jon Colwell (right) run in the mile at Penn State University.
Sentinel photo
Spring athletes practicing
Tyrian photos by FINNIAN SAYLOR
Sports
5-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
New This Fall
Tennis: Hendricks wins one for the girls
Girls to have
own team
By FINNIAN SAYLOR
Tyrian staff writer
Tennis player Samantha
Hendricks lost a tough individual match last fall. Her opponent
was not another player but PIAA
rules.
Always a competitor,
she bounced back quickly and
won a big one for the team—
a team that did not yet exist.
Thanks to Hendricks’ tenacity,
the Mifflin County School District will be fielding its first-ever
girls’ tennis team in the fall.
Background
Introduced to the sport
by her father, Hendricks has
been playing tennis since seventh
grade.
Because the district did
not offer girls’ tennis, Hendricks
has been playing on the boys’
team and has been an asset to
that team. At the boys’ regional
competition last season, she
placed eighth in her singles
match, and she and her doubles
partner David Boozel placed
sixth in doubles.
Named to the Mountain
League second team all stars in
boys’ tennis last year, she also
earned the LAHS School Panther
Athlete award for tennis.
Boys’ tennis is a spring
sport, girls’ tennis a fall sport.
Last fall, wanting to see how
well she could perform against
other females in a more equally
matched contest, Hendricks
asked Mifflin County School
District Athletic Director Matt
Shoemaker whether he could enter her in the girls’ tennis district
playoffs in October.
In the process, they discovered that if she were to play
in the girls’districts, it would
be considered under PIAA rules
as the equivalent of playing an
Tyrian photos by FINNIAN SAYLOR
Samantha Hendricks (above) during a recent practice session for the boys’ tennis team. Below: Olivia Runk, Olivia Carter and Kaylee Knouse practice at the net. The girls look
forward to having a team of their own next fall.
entire season of the sport.
She would then be ineligible to play on the boys’ team
this spring—the only tennis team
Mifflin County High School offered at the time. This is because
PIAA rules do not permit an
athlete to play two seasons of the
same sport in the same school
year.
Informed of this, and
still wanting the same opportunity that the boys have to play
against their own gender in a
district tournament, she took action.
Taking action
Hendricks wrote to
Dean Rossi, chairman of the Dis
trict Six Tennis Advisory Board,
requesting a waiver that would
allow her to compete in the girls’
tennis districts and still play on
lowing day. She was unable
to attend that meeting due to a
conflicting volleyball game.
Because Hendricks did
not appear at the state meeting to
request a waiver, she was unable
to compete in the girls’ tourney
on Oct. 7.
the boys’ team this spring.
This waiver would not
have granted her the right to
participate the boys’ districts as
well as the girls’.
She presented her case
to the District Six board on
Wednesday, Oct. 5, two days
before the girls’ tournament.
The board expressed its
support but indicated it did not
have authority to grant waivers
and advised Hendricks to take
her case to the state level by
attending the next PIAA state
meeting scheduled for the fol-
A team of their own
There was always next
year. With Shoemaker’s help,
Hendricks set out to establish
girls’ tennis as a sport in the Mifflin County School District.
This would afford
female players a better chance
at gaining a spot on a team that
would allow them to compete
against other girls.
Shoemaker took the
proposal to the board in January. When he left, the girls had a
team of their own.
Competition squad
cheering new status
By FINNIAN SAYLOR
Tyrian staff writer
LEWISTOWN - The MCHS
competition cheerleading squad has
something to cheer about. Competition
cheerleading will be an official MCHS
sport beginning with the 2012-2013 winter
sports season. The sport will be recognized
at the high school level only.
The PIAA had been contemplating whether to classify cheerleading as
a sport since 2011, and with its official
stamp of approval, the sport is now being
implemented in high schools across Pennsylvania.
Coach Rachel Corson welcomes
the change in status, saying cheerleading
deserves the sports classification, “It’s
extremely physically demanding.”
In its inaugural season at MCHS
this year, competition cheerleading was
classified as an activity. Corson says the
new status as a sport will result in some
major changes.
As an activity, the squad had
to turn to its treasury to pay the cost of
tournament registration and travel to those
tournaments. The district will now pay
those costs.
As do other sports, though, cheerleading will be required to pay the mandatory athletic dues. Members of the squad
will also have to complete the necessary
medical form to the meet requirements set
by both the Mifflin County School District
and the PIAA, something they did not
have to do as an activity.
This has the added advantage
of the same level of access to the school
trainer that other sports enjoy—as an
activity they did not have the same rights
to medical attention as sports have.
Another major change will be in
the nature of the competition. This year,
they competed against other teams representing their respective schools as well as
against independent squads. Moving from
activity to sport, they will now face only
those squads classified as sports.
Also, there is the potential for
the Mifflin County High School to be the
venue for a competition that its squad
would host. This would bring in necessary
revenue and assist in covering expenses
such as registration for competitions and
transportation.
One of the most significant
changes that could come about is one
Corson says will be an especially welcome
change for the squad: the conditions under
which they practice.
The open area stretching from
the gym to the auditorium was the squad’s
practice space this year. Corson says the
team was always working on new moves
and routines, and because their practice
spot was in a high-traffic area, they felt at
times as though they were on display and
had to execute perfectly every time.
There are a few facets of next
year’s season that are still undecided. For
example, the squad participated in nine
competitions last year, a schedule they
determined. Next year’s schedule will be
determined by Matt Shoemaker, athletic
director, and has not yet been set. Nor has
a coach been appointed.
Also competition cheerleading is
a judged sport. The PIAA has not determined who will arbitrate these competitions. Still to be decided is whether the
judges will be like referees and have to be
certified.
Corson expresses pride in the
squad and the backgrounds and skills the
cheerleaders bring to the sport. Some, she
says, have extensive tumbling experience,
while others have cheered much of their
lives.
Assessing the team, she says
they are especially strong in the areas of
dancing and stunting/pyramids and in the
harmony of their movements.
Tyrian photo by FINNIAN SAYLOR
Opinion
6-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
A formal free-for-all
My very own
Cinderella story
By ERICA GUTHRIDGE
Tyrian staff writer
Tyrian photo by ERICA GUTHRIDGE
Cinderella’s Closet: no charge to look like a million
By ERICA GUTHRIDGE
Tyrian staff writer
REEDSVILLE - Imagine, just before prom time, walking into a room full of scores of
beautiful gowns and having the
option to choose one. Free.
Take it a step further: accessories are free, too.
Welcome to Cinderella’s
Closet.
Cinderella’s Closet is a
non-profit “shop” for high school
girls and women in need of special-occasion dresses.
Open since 2009 and
located at the Church Hill United
Methodist Church in Reedsville,
the closet is run by Kathy Macchiaverna and Timi Narehood.
Between 2009 and 2011,
the closet had given away 591
dresses; that number was nearing
700 by early March this year.
The closet had humble
beginnings. Started by Macchiaverna, it opened with just 35 dresses.
Macchiaverna has three
daughters who had gone through
several-special occasion dresses
each; it was these dresses that
were the start of the “closet”.
Macchiaverna was driving on Route 80 through Williamsport when she heard a radio
advertisement for a “Cinderella’s
Closet”.
She thought to herself
what a good idea it was. She did
not act on it then.
About a year later, when
she found herself back in Williamsport again, she heard that
same advertisement. Again, she
did nothing about it.
It wasn’t until a pastor
at Church Hill Manor Methodist
Church was preaching a sermon
on how one should live your life
helping people.
The pastor said that
God sends you subtle hints to do
things.
She decided this was her
sign to do something about the
ads she had heard.
She asked the pastor about starting a Cinderella’s
Closet at their church. From
there it was a go.
Each year, dresses are
donated to the “closet”, and Macchiaverna and Narehood clean
them up and perform any repairs
that need to be done.
All of the dresses provided at Cinderella’s Closet are
free, and there is a wide variety
styles, sizes and colors.
Although typically associated with prom, Cinderella’s
Closet is not limited just to promstyle gowns.
(Note: My sister just recently found two gorgeous matching dresses for her bridesmaids to
wear in her upcoming wedding.
Macchiaverna
also
The Let Down List
They’re the little things. They come at those moments
when we’re all gas and giggles about something that’s
about to happen, only it doesn’t. Life’s little ironies. The
letdowns. Sigh…
By DYLAN CROSSON
Tyrian contributor
• The realization that you have been pulling on a door
that is labeled push for five minutes.
• Your parents buy peanut butter pre-mixed with jelly.
• Home Alone 3.
• You wake up Thursday morning thinking it’s Friday.
• When people post their schedule for the day on Facebook.
The Tyrian
Established 2011
The Tyrian is a student newspaper published four
times a year by The Sentinel, 352 Sixth St., Lewistown, PA 17044. The offices of The Tyrian are located
at Mifflin County High School, 501 Sixth St. Lewistown, PA 17044.
Mark A. Crosson ……………….……..... Publisher
Natalie Love ………………………...…...... Adviser
Ben Fowler……………………... Managing Editor
Selina Roman-White …………..…… News Editor
Suruchi Sheth.…....Creative and Technical Editor
Office Location
Mifflin County High School
501Sixth St., Lewistown, PA 17044
Office is open 8 a.m.-4p.m. Monday-Friday
Phone (717) 242-0240 Fax (717) 447-2600
thetyrian@mcsdk12.org
spoke of how she had provided
a mother and daughters with
dresses for one of the daughter’s
quienceañera.)
In addition to the array
of gowns, there is a selection of
shoes, accessories and formalwear purses.
Visitors to the closet
come not just from the Lewistown region but also from other
local areas including Bellefonte,
Midd-West, Huntingdon and
Mount Union.
LEWISTOWN - Prom
season is a stressful time of the
school year, especially for us
girls.
We have to find a date,
locate a cool ride and pin-point
our perfect dress .
For most of us, the
search starts early.
I started looking for
dresses during my sophomore
year because I was so anxious to
go to prom.
After about a year of
searching, junior year came
around, and I found myself stuck
in a rut.
As a high school student with a minimum-wage job,
who had just bought a car and
had a hefty phone bill to pay
each month, I was struggling for
money. Buying that dream dress
didn’t seem to be in my cards.
When I had lost all
hope, my aunt introduced me to
Cinderella’s Closet. I had heard
of it before but never thought too
much about it.
I had just assumed that
PROM 2012
When:
May 19 at MCHS
Where:
Mifflin County High School
Cost:
$30/ person, $50/couple (Tickets must be purchased in advance; no
night-of prom sales)
Protocols
• Non-school guests
must be registered at time of ticket purchase
must present ID badge at the door on prom night or -will be denied access to the school
may not be over the age of 20 on day of prom
must have earned high school diploma, not GED
must be at least a junior if still in high school
• The night of prom, all school rules must be observed.
• No re-entry is permitted.
NOTE: Parking for prom and promenade will be
addressed closer to May. Address any prom-related questions to advisers Heather Palm
or Sunderland or consult your fellow
students in Prom Committee.
Erica Guthridge and Clayton Peachey
they were tacky gowns that my
mother would have worn to
prom (circa 1970). But I caved
in and gave Cinderella’s Closet a
chance.
Arriving at Cinderella’s
Closet, I saw an overwhelming
amount of dresses.
With some patience and
help from the women who run the
closet, I began trying on dresses.
I tried at least 20 gowns
in order to find my perfect match,
something I was very determined
to do.
As cliché as it is, the
very last dress I tried on was the
one that stole my heart.
My aunt had been pointing me toward pretty pastels, and
long flowing dresses.
As a “joke”, I tried on
a short, hot pink, sequin-covered
dress.
I danced my way out of
the dressing room in this seemingly ridiculous dress (compared
to the previous ones I had tried
on). My aunt just stood there in
awe. This, she assured me, was
my perfect dress.
Prom is hard on your
wallet, no doubt.
But I found a way
around spending hundreds of dollars on just one night of my life.
It’s not a terrible thing to
spend money if you can, or if you
really want to.
But how much you pay
for that one night doesn’t determine how much fun you’re going
to have.
I paid less than 20 dollars for everything that encompassed my prom night.
I had the time of my
life.
Our Opinion
Former tanner sheds light on UV radiation dangers
By ERICA GUTHRIDGE
Tyrian staff writer
LEWISTOWN - Tanned skin is in.
We feel the need to tan for prom, weddings,
the poolside/beach or other “special events”.
Studies suggest that bronze skin is more attractive to the eye than pale.
A former “tanner”, I understand the
reasons people want to tan. Tanning is relaxing, and it’s nice to be tan because you do feel
a lot “prettier”.
But tanning is a habit, and one that’s
hard to break. I started tanning at age 11 and
continued going to a tanning bed at least once
a week until I was 16. I was very unaware
of what I was doing to myself, and it’s scary
when you find out the truth.
Tanning businesses convince you that
they’re just as safe as the sun. What they’re
really saying is they’re just as harmful.
It’s important to take precautions
when in the sun: wear sunblock, hats and protective clothing. This is especially important if
you have pale skin, light hair, freckles/moles,
or you are prone to sunburn.
What are you sacrificing when you tan
your skin, whether by natural sunlight or in a
tanning booth? According to aad.org,, on an
average day in the United States, more than 1
million people are tanning in salons.
Tanning beds usually use more
UVA rays than UVB rays. Although UVA
rays aren’t as harsh as UVB rays, the wavelengths are longer; therefore, they penetrate
deeper through the skin’s layers than UVB
(livestrong.com).
Tanning beds and sun lamps generally
emit 93% to 99% UVA radiation, increasing
the benefits of a tan, which is three times the
UVA radiation given off by the sun (Vanderbilt.edu). The American Academy of Dermatology has determined that there is no safe UV
ray, and the American Cancer Society has concluded that tanning beds are equally dangerous
when compared to natural sunlight.
While tanning does enhance the
skin’s ability to produce Vitamin D, that is not
sufficient argument that tanning is healthy.
There are better ways of providing yourself
with adequate Vitamin D (i.e. eating healthy
and supplements), so “getting your vitamins”
shouldn’t be your excuse to tan.
This is one of those situations when
you may think you’re helping yourself when,
in reality, you’re harming yourself.
Tanning may make you more attractive right now (or at least feel more attractive),
but the long-term effects are frightening.
The World Health Organization
(WHO) has released studies indicating exposure to UV radiation during indoor tanning
causes damage to the DNA in the skin cells.
Indoor tanning can also lead to premature
wrinkles or age spots.
Bigger risks include: suppression of a
properly functioning immune system and eye
damage such as cataracts and ocular melanoma. The biggest risk associated with tanning,
though, is skin cancer. The deadliest form of
skin cancer, melanoma is increasing faster in
females 15 to 29 years old than in males of the
same age; this has been linked to tanning.
The more you tan, the higher the risk
of developing melanoma— the use of sunbeds
before the age of 35 is associated with a 75%
increase in the risk of melanoma (WHO).
Break the habit. You’ll thank yourself later in life when you have nice, smooth
young skin and are free of skin discoloration,
skin cancer and eye problems.
Arts & Entertainment
7-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
February 2012 Drama Club Production: The Plot, Like Gravy, Thickens
Behind the scenes
Submitted photo by PAUL SEAY
Seay sets stage for Drama Club murder mystery
By BEN FOWLER
Tyrian staff writer
Some people are gifted
book learners. Others are handson craftsmen who can skillfully
create objects and art with their
hands.
Bill Seay is talented
enough to do both when he creates a set for the Drama Club; he
can simultaneously read a play
and visualize the setting and later
build the set.
Seay has been woodworking since seventh-grade
wood shop, which was his favorite
class.
When his wife, Maggie
Tyrian photo by KATIE SPECHT
Set designer Bill Seay stains staircase.
Seay, became a teacher, Bill was
able to transition to woodworking full time. (Mrs. Seay currently
teaches English and drama at Mifflin County High School and is
adviser to the Drama Club which
produces the annual school play.)
When his wife took on
the Indian Valley High School
drama position in the ‘90s, he
began building props and parts
of the set with Dan Wilson, wood
technology instructor, who was
in charge of building sets at the
time. By the third year, Bill had
assumed the role.
Bill has developed a
system for building the sets. First,
he reads the selected play and
collaborates with his wife to get
an idea of the setting, actor movements and necessary props. Then,
he makes scale drawings of the
various sets.
Next, he builds the sets.
They spend an evening taping out
the locations of the pieces on the
stage. Finally, they work out the
bugs.
Every play is unique,
and some sets are more difficult
to build than others. “The more
locations you have to portray, the
more difficult the set is to create,”
he says.
For example, Les Miserable was one of the most challenging sets because of its complicated
parts, such as the barricades.
The Boyfriend required creative
designs as well, including movable flats and a lifeguard chair on
wheels.
Bill is particularly proud
of his work with A Tale of Two
Baker back to assist
LEWISTOWN – When
then-senior Amanda Rhodes
was entering her last year as a
student at Indian Valley, Maggie
Seay was beginning her first as
a teacher at the high school: “I
was in her first drama class (the
good part of it, not the part that
she thinks of immediately!) She
was so passionate about what she
was doing; I really respected and
admired that.”
That was their “dramatic” beginning; it didn’t end there.
Amanda (Rhodes) Baker returned
to Indian Valley years later as an
English teacher, and once again
there was drama between them.
“When I began teaching
at IV, I gravitated toward Mrs.
Seay as sort of an unofficial mentor. I volunteered to help with
auditions and anything else she
needed. Then when Mrs. (Mary)
Ford retired, they asked me to
step in, and I’ve been trying to fill
her very large shoes ever since.”
For the past three years,
Baker has been serving as Seay’s
assistant director. In that capacity,
she is heavily involved with the
planning and producing of each
season. Additionally, she assists
with fund raising “and anything
else I can do to make Mrs. Seay’s
job easier.”
Her first production as
assistant was Agatha Christy’s
Witness for the Prosecution.
Cities, another set with multiple
locations. A working guillotine
and the Bastille doors were two
complicated props he designed
and built for that show.
He also created sets
to portray the Deferge Tavern,
the Town Square, Manette’s cell
and the ship crossing the English
Channel.
His favorite element of
set building is “the staircases. I
love making stairs.”
On average, Bill devotes
about 110 hours to a set project
with up to 40 hours of additional
help.
Bill has recruited help in
the past from locals Bob Ford and
Andy White and, this year, retired
IVHS teacher Greg Evans.
Behind the Scenes
She describes that expe
They work in the shadrience as “baptism by fire! Lookows to ensure everything is
ing back I wish I could teach my
just right for those in the spotold self all the things I know now
light. They design and build
that would have made my life and
sets, run lines, gather and place
Mrs. Seay’s life easier. But it’s all
props, adjust the lights to set
a learning process.
the mood, create the look that
“In five years, I will
transforms actor into charprobably look back on The Plot
acter. The techies, the crew.
Like Gravy Thickens and think of
Meet the people on
all the things I wish I would have
whom the spotlight doesn’t shine.
done with the props!”
Moving to MCHS last
fall presented its own exciting
challenges, due to what Baker
describes as the “sheer size and
possibility of the new stage,” a
state-of-the-art facility which
Seay helped to design.
The most challenging
Submitted photo by PAUL SEAY
year to date, though, was the
Assistant director Amanda Baker and Director Maggie Seay
2010-2011 school year, her second season as assistant. The year no move. The board’s decision
when we let the curtain fall.”
held both logistical and emotional to consolidate put that concern to It had been a great run.
challenges.
rest.
The curtain would rise
Submitted photos by PAUL SEAY
When the school year
The far bigger challenge again—on a new season, a new Kelsee Russler and Kim Dutcher have their
makeup done by Erica Guthridge.
began, the configuration of the
was the bittersweet that accompa- and modern stage, a new era.
school district was still uncertain. nies the end of an era. She recalls, And as she was in her
That left open for a time “At the end of the season, we had high school days when Seay was
the possibility that IVHS would
to say goodbye to our seniors, our in her first year at the old school,
be relocating to the new building stage, and I had to say good
Baker was here when Seay began
in mid December.
bye to the memories I had created her first year at the new one: run
“We thought we were
in the space since my own high
ning lines for auditions, hanging
going to have to move mid seaschool days.”
curtains, raising money, anything
son, and we didn’t know how we Those are treasured
to make Seay’s job a bit easier.
were going to do that with a full memories. “It was wonderful
production.”
to be with Mrs. Seay when she
Becca Casner and Randa Garret help to
That meant crafting a
started her journey on the stage so --HANNAH KLINE contributed transform Courtney Bickel and Rachel Jost
into character.
plan that would work, move or
many years before and to be there to this article
Cast and Crew
Yoder sets
the mood
Submitted photo by PAUL SEAY
Front L-R: Mackenzie Brownsberger, Allison Rhodes, Jenn Kline, Hannah Kline, Janie Shaffer, Becca Casner, Erica
Guthridge, Randa Garrett, Selina Roman-White, Katie Forshey, Megan Donahey, Katie Buffington, Miranda Shoop.
Middle L-R: Rodney Patterson, Blake Yoder, Paige Spicher, Allison Eldredge, Greg McDorman, Finnian Saylor,
Olivia Tunall, Nate Foster, Adaire Pomeroy, Colton Fleming. Back L-R: Dakota Macknair, Courtney Bickel, Kayla
Buffington, Mike Kavala, Ashley Victoriana, Bri Varner, Ben Hain, Rachel Jost, Shana Wagner, Shannon Hoefel,
Kelsee Russler, Kim Dutcher, Dylan Freemire, Tyler Shimp.
Tyrian photos by KATIE SPECHT
Blake Yoder is the lighting
and sound technician.
The audience never sees her
at her post in the sound booth, but her
role is important.
She controls every light and
sound during the performance, creating
the overall mood of the show.
Headsets allow her to receive
light and sound cues from the stage
manager.
Spicher
runs
show
As stage manager, Paige
Spicher assists the director and the
assistant director in running rehearsals. Duties include recording blocking, cuing the script, keeping track
of rehearsal attendance, and staying
on call to convey announcements
from director to cast and crew. On play night, she relays
sound and light cues via headset to
the light/sound crew and stays on
script throughout the night to assist
with prompting.
arts & entertainment
8-Lewistown, PA
Friday, March 30, 2012
Flights of Spring Fancy
Tyrian photos by FINNIAN SAYLOR
Mrs. Erin Welsh’s Survey of 3-D Design students used wire to create insects. Despite the hard medium, Ashley Shawver (left) and Jenn
Lake (top), both seniors, were able to transform the wire into representations of their delicate real-life counterparts-- a butterfly and
dragonfly, respectively.
Student firefighters and EMTs ready to respond
continued from Page 1
“That image will forever be
burned into my brain.”
--MCHS Junior Jared Lynch, junior EMT
●●●
“It was April 15, 2010. We were
dispatched around 01:00 (1a.m.). We
could see the glow in the sky as we drove
down Main Street. I still remember our
Assistant Chief looking back at our crew
in the engine and saying, ‘Guys, it’s gonna
be a long night!’ It certainly was.
“My role was to get off the truck,
hook the supply hose to the hydrant on
Route 655 & Barrville Road. From there,
I assisted with pulling hundreds of feet of
hose to supply other companies.
“As the engine pulled into the
parking lot, we could tell that there was no
saving the building; a failed interior attack
by members of Belleville and Reedsville
proved this.
“Late in the morning as the fire
consumed what was left of the building, I
was told to pull a line and start hitting the
remaining fire in the restaurant.
“Fire companies from five counties responded and remained on the scene
all night and most of the day, mopping up
any remaining hot spots. Without a doubt,
it was the largest fire I have ever—and
probably will ever—respond to.”
--MCHS Senior Matt Chester of the Belleville Fire Co.
●●●
Adaire Pomeroy: senior
An EMT, Pomeroy has volunteered with Milroy Fire & EMS for about
two years, averaging about 30 hours per
week at the station.
Planning to be an LPN, she credits her father’s stories with her decision to
become involved with the company. “My
dad runs with Milroy, too, and he ran on
Sunday nights. When got back from a call,
he would tell us about it, but not enough
to violate HIPPA.”
Knowing she helped someone in
the community, she says, is her reward for
her service.
Her other activities include
Medical Careers Club, Extreme Club,
Girls’Softball and Drama Club.
Hunter Snook: junior
In his four years as a junior member of the Yeagertown Fire Co., Snook
says his most memorable experience has
been working the A.J. Peachey commercial fire. “It was a long operation and a
total loss. The good thing was that no one
was hurt.”
Putting in about 15-30 hours
per week with the company, he spends
his time “hanging out and doing chores
around the firehouse.”
Snook joined the company
because he wanted to give back to the
community and is considering firefighting
as a possible career.
In addition to many hours of
training in Mods A, B and C of Essential
Skills, he logs five in-house training hours
in one-on-one training and book review.
His other outside activities
include working with MJCTC Residential
Construction.
Jonathon Chester: sophomore
A junior member of the Belleville Fire Co. for the past six months,
Chester says “the desire to help protect the
community from the unexpected dangers
that have touched so many” is the reason
he signed up.
His other activities are Boy
Burnham), church youth group, hunting and fishing and spending time with
friends.
Patrick Traxler: senior
Traxler is secretary and chaplain
of McVeytown EMS at Granville and
a member of City Hook and Ladder in
McVeytown.
He has been a junior firefighter
for four years and started EMS training
this year.
“I always was interested in fire
trucks since I was a little kid. I just always
wanted to be a firefighter.”
An incident he says was a reward
for his service happened New Year’s Day.
“I was so scared. Then realizing I could help encouraged
me to continue, and I forgot how scared I was that day. I
realized I want to help any way I could.”
-Megan Leeper
Scouts, TSA, band and youth group.
Matt Chester: senior
“It’s in my blood,” Chester, who
since his 18th birthday is a senior member of Belleville Fire Co., says of why he
volunteers.
“My father has been involved in
emergency services most of his life. He
worked as a paramedic when I was young
and continues to be a volunteer firefighter.
He now works as a police officer in Mifflin County. Growing up, I would watch,
and continue to watch, re-runs of the
1970s TV series, Emergency! This show
and my father have inspired me to become
a firefighter.”
In addition to the rewards of
helping other people, Chester says what
he has learned through working in emergency services applies to everyday life. “Training teaches trust,
teamwork, dedication, and time management. Surprisingly, some of the subjects
covered in “Essentials” apply to biology,
chemistry and physics classes.
“Before joining the fire company
and starting college plans, I never knew
that some companies open their stations to
college students to live for free in return
for staffing a piece of apparatus.”
In fact, Chester, who is heading
to Shippensburg University in the fall,
will be living at West End Fire Rescue Co.
When he graduates, he plans to go to the
University of Maryland to pursue a degree
in Fire Protection Engineering and live at
College Park Fire Dept.
He plans to work either as a fire
marshal/fire investigator or as an engineer
designing fire suppression and other protecting systems in new buildings.
“Wherever my career takes me, I
plan to remain active in the fire service by
at least volunteering.”
Extracurricular activities include
Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout for Troop 6 in
After hours - under a full moon
“I got to help save a lady in cardiac arrest.
I later found out she was brought back,
and I was the one who initiated CPR.”
Not all his rescue memories are
pleasant.
About a year after he joined, he
responded to a rescue in Decatur Twp.
“We arrived on scene and found a car
wrapped around a tree with five young
occupants still in it. It was pouring rain,
and we had to work to cut them all out of
the car. The screams were unreal. To this
day, I can still picture it.”
Other activities include Outdoor
Adventure Club, missions through his
church and an after-school job.
Bruce Mann: senior
For four years Mann has been a
junior firefighter with East Derry (FAME
EMS). Other members of his family are
members, too.
His most memorable moment
happened in his early days with FAME
EMS. He responded to a motor vehicle
accident and “all three patients were
killed. This was the most memorable because it was the first fatal accident I ran.”
Kyle Kenepp, sophomore
Kenepp joined Belleville Fire
Co. six months ago as a way to serve the
community.
Because he is so new to the
company, his experience on rescues is still
limited.
Like many of his fellow firefighters, he joined to serve the community. “Knowing that someone’s home
has been spared” is one of the best rewards of serving he says.
Seth Snook: junior
Junior firefighter Snook has been
with Yeagertown for about a year and a
half.
Snook says he spends about
15-30 hours per week working with the
company. In the time since he joined, his
most memorable moment was responding
to a fatality near Vira.
Jared Lynch: junior
Lynch has been with the McVeytown EMS since he received his worker’s
permit at the age of 14. He is classified as
a junior EMT.
He and his parents work a 12hour shift at the station every other Friday,
but regardless when a call comes in over
their pagers, they respond to the opportunity to serve the community.
“I grew up with my parents serving in the EMS field, and I felt called to
follow in their footsteps.”
Being an EMT, Lynch says, can
be an emotionally and physically draining job. “It takes a special person to be
able to handle the things that I often see
on my job, such as broken bones, vomit,
etc. “It is my hope that more kids my
age will one day join the Emergency Services field. I find it a very rewarding job,
and I would like to educate more people
about what it is I do so that they may find
an interest in doing it as well.”
Megan Leeper: junior
A member of the New Lancaster
Valley Vol. Fire Co., Leeper has been a
firefighter for three years.
She spends as much of her free
time as she can at the station, about 16
hours a week unless there is training or a
call. Then it’s more.
Her father and older sister are
also with the company.
She says she never imagined
the rewards. “Knowing I am helping
someone when they need it the most is the
biggest reward. I never imagined how it
would reward me emotionally, knowing
I made a difference. I have also become
stronger.”
She remembers the fear she had
on her first call. “I was so scared. Then
realizing I could help encouraged me to
continue, and I forgot how scared I was
that day. I realized I want to help any way
I could.”
Leeper is considering going to
college for fire science or fire engineering. Regardless whether she decides
to make firefighting a career, she says she
will always continue to volunteer her time
in any way she can.
Other activities include Science
Club, Envirothon, Marching Band, Jazz
Band, Saxophone Ensemble, Indoor Percussion Ensemble.
“Firefighting changed my
outlook on life. Now being involved in
the medical side is changing my life even
more. I encourage anyone to get involved
in some way.
“Support your volunteer fire
companies; they always need more help.”
Tyrian photos by FINNIAN SAYLOR