Mete r Chronicle
Produced by the students of the Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School
October 2012
Volume 29, Issue 1
Battle For the Bluestone: Four Schools,
INSIDE Two Teams, One Trophy
Junior High Co-Editor
Students at Choconut Valley are
exploring life in the outdoors. Join
them on page 7.
The Lady Meteors Cross Country
team has been busy preparing for the
2012 season. Check them out on
page 13.
dents and other teachers
on something that symbolized a tradition for the
school,” Graphics teacher
Dan Lukasavage said.
Students
played
the biggest role in
creating
the
trophy.
“It felt good working on something that
will be a part of school
after I’m done,” senior
Richie DiPhillips said.
The Battle for the
Bluestone game was very
important for another reason: “pink out” t-shirts,
created by the Montrose
Student Council, were
sold at the game for $10
each, with a portion of
the proceeds was donated
to breast cancer research.
Both Susquehanna and
Montrose sold the t-shirts.
Meteor football players pose with members of the Susquehanna team before Students hope that the game
the First Annual Battle of the Bluestone football game on Friday, October 12. will bring the community
It is not uncommon for
college and high school
football teams to participate
in trophy games with their
rival schools but for years
Montrose students have had
no such tradition so they
decided to create their own.
The Battle for the Bluestone is a trophy football
game involving the Susquehanna, Blue Ridge, Elk Lake
and Montrose Area school
districts. It took place on
October 12, resulting in
14-18 loss for Montrose.
Since there are only two
football teams between the
four schools, due to Elk
Lake and Montrose combining teams and Susquehanna
and Blue Ridge combining
teams the most qualified
players from Montrose and
Susquehanna participated.
The winner of the game
received a bluestone trophy engraved with 'Battle for the Bluestone' followed by the names
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIMES TRIBUNE
By Tatiana
Sangadzhieva
of the schools participating: Elk
Lake, Montrose, Blue Ridge,
and Susquehanna, which will
stay at the winning school until
the next year’s game. The trophy
was created by the graphics and
wood shop students at MAHS.
“It was fun to work with stu-
(See Bluestone, page 2)
.................................................................................................................................................................................................
Dates to Remember
..................................
Red Cross Blood Drive
October 30
Parent Teacher Conferences
November 8-9
Thanksgiving Vacation
November 22-26
Junior
High Christmas
Dance
December 8
Cafeteria Faces Budget Issues, USDA Regulations
By Courtney Kimmell
Editor-in-chief
“We’re all in the same
boat and it’s sinking, “Ms.
Betsy O’Malley, Supervisor
of Food Services for Montrose Area School District, said.
She is referring to an increase
in the cost of food, brought about
by many factors that is plaguing
many school districts. According to a survey conducted by the
School Nutrition Association, 90
percent of districts anticipate an
increase in food costs in the current school year, and 67 percent
anticipate that the federal reimbursement for schools meals will
not cover the cost of the meals.
According to Ms. O’Malley,
the MASD school lunch program ran at a deficit of about
$7,000 last school year, making it the first time in about 25
years that the program has been
in the red. However, that $7,000
may just be the beginning.
“I
expect
there
will
be a bigger deficit this
year,” Ms. O’Malley said.
Another issue affecting the
cost of school lunches is the number of students purchasing them.
More students are packing their
lunches as compared to last year.
There are many reasons to account for this trend, especially
changes to the meals offered.
“[I pack] because they
really don’t have vegetarian options anymore,” senior Kyla Ross-Riley said.
Due to understaffing, the
salad bar was closed temporarily, affecting the students who
relied on it every day as an alternative to the main meal.
There are also fewer students in the school district
as compared to past years.
“Food costs are going up
and student populations are going down. We have to maintain
three kitchens at three schools.
The decline in the student population puts us at risk running at
a deficit, “Ms. O’Malley said.
Many students noticed reduced portions and the removal of
some favorite items.Those changes and many others are the result
of recent modifications in meal requirements set forth by the United
States department of Agriculture.
“President Obama signed
into legislation an increase in
the amount of fruit, vegetables
and whole grains we must serve,
a limit to fat and protein, and
the milk is skim or fat free,”
Ms. O’Malley said,” I think the
legislation is unsustainable.”
(See Cafeteria, page 2)
PAGE 2
Nutritional Study
Encourages
Healthy Choices
By Courtney Kimmell
Editor-in-chief
With childhood obesity
on the rise, schools are trying creative ways to combat
it. Vending machines were the
subject of their efforts when
years back soda and other unhealthy items were cut. While
removing those items helped,
it by no means made the vending machine offerings healthy.
When the Healthy, HungerFree Kids act passed in 2010,
school food service programs
were required to make an effort
to reduce childhood obesity. To
accomplish that goal, Principal
James Tallarico partnered with
The Pennsylvania State University Center For Food Innovation (CFI) and began a study
to improve the items offered in
the school’s vending machines.
The study was separated into
four phases. The first phase examined the sales of all items offered in the vending machines
for several weeks. Next, foods
that met nutritional guidelines
(nutritionally dense, low in
sugar, salt and fat) were given
a green “GO’”label in the machines and signs were posted
explaining what the labels signified. The next phase consisted of posting calorie counts
on the “GO” labels. In the final
phase, posters promoting the
benefits of “GO” foods were
hung around the school. Sales
in the vending machines were
recorded from March to May
during the previous school year.
The third and fourth phases
of the study were not limited
to vending machines. When
the students in the Life Skills
program were informed of the
scientific study they wished to
participate. The students are in
charge of their own store, open
to students and teachers, which
sells various snacks and beverages. They added “GO” items
to the store and recorded sales.
“We added healthy snacks
and flavored water,” senior
Kayla O’Brien said. Kayla
is the general manager of the
store and said she enjoyed
participating in the study.
“I
think
it
helped
the
kids,”
Kayla
said.
Student involvement in
the program was a necessity from the beginning. Se-
nior Makayla Dearborn had the
biggest role to play in making
sure the study could proceed.
“Mr. Tallarico offered me
this opportunity and I thought
it would be a good chance to
promote health in my school
and would be good senior project,” Makayla Dearborn said.
Makayla had many tasks to
complete in order to ensure that
the study was conducted properly.
“I went through everything in
the vending machines and wrote
down all the nutrition facts, organized and wrote a data list and
then sent that to Penn State.”
After receiving that list, the
foods were analyzed and the
“GO” foods were determined.
“When that was done, my job
was to hang up different signs,
make announcements about what
the ‘GO’ foods were and to do
an inventory of the vending machines every Wednesday. We
then figured out from the inventory that people were gravitating towards the “GO” foods.”
The study supported the hypothesis that making students
more nutritionally aware would
encourage them to make healthier
choices. By the fourth phase of
the study the sale of “GO” beverages had increased 565 percent
over initial sales before labels
were added and the sale of ‘GO’
foods increased 175 percent.
Part of the initiative’s success
can be credited to the administrators’ and students’ involvement.
According
to
a
report provided by the Penn
State about the experiment:
“The involvement, especially by students, was a critical
factor in increasing acceptance
of healthy food and beverage
choices in the vending machines
at Montrose Area High School.”
Though the study may be complete, the push to encourage kids
to choose healthy snacks has not
yet come to an end. The healthy
items added to the Life Skills
Store have not been removed and
a lasting impact has been felt.
“At the end of last year, after all the signs had been taken
down, the kids still gravitated towards the ‘GO’ foods,” Makayla
said. “I was glad that my senior
project had had such a lasting impact in students’ lives.”
OCTOBER 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
(Bluestone continued from Page 1) Both students and teachers hope
together and help raise funds to also give the football teams
for breast cancer research as well the recognition they deserve.
as for several families in need.
“Hopefully this turns out to be
“This is a wonderful op- an annual event that gets the playportunity for all four schools to ers from Susquehanna County recshow team and county spirit, ognition and helps those in need,”
but more importantly support a Coach Russell Canevari said.
cause that is very important to us
“I think it’s a great thing
all – Breast Cancer Awareness,” that can develop into a tradiPrincipal James Tallarico said. tion that will not only involve
The Montrose football play- four schools, but the whole
ers are very eager for this to be- student body,” US Cultures
come a tradition. They hope that teacher Sean Castellani said.
it will create
T h e
tension and
idea
for
raise
their
the game
chances
of
c a m e
winning,
from the
now that they
students
have a prize
who apto fight for.
proached
“EveryMr. Talone loves a
larico in
good
comhope
of
petition,”
making
senior John
an annual
Lawson said.
event.
Not only
Students
are football
organized
players enthe entire
thusiastic
game,
about the tro- Pictured above is the trophy made spe- w i t h
phy game, but cially for the First Annual “Battle of the student
also those who Bluestone” football game.
council
come to watch
travelthe games and support the players. ing to Susquehanna on Thurs“I think it will be fun and a day, September 27 to seal the
good game knowing what's at deal and create the tradition.
stake,” junior Holly Andre said.
After a strong battle against
Everyone is banding to- Susquehanna, Montrose ended
gether, even football players who up losing 14-18, however they
need help themselves, to help played their best.MASD was very
make this become a tradition. proud of the team regardless.
(Cafeteria continued
from Page 1)
While many of the changes
affecting school lunches and
their costs have not been encountered by school employees
before, there is one that is all too
familiar. That is, the effect very
dry weather has had on the corn
and grain crop which means an
increase in the cost of any products containing those ingredients.
“The Midwest has had a terrible season, grain and corn prices
will rise,” Ms. O’Malley said.
Indeed, the cost for almost
all food items has increased,
something that many readers may
notice every time they go the
store. Changes in food costs follow closely changes in the cost
of the gasoline used to transport
them. The school lunch program
must make adjustments to either
the cost of the meals or the menu
to keep up with the rising costs.
The school lunch program
has the task of providing good
quality, healthy and delicious food
at the lowest price possible. This
can often be a challenge, but one
the majority of the student body
hopes the program will meet.
“It is possible, in my
opinion, to reach a compromise between good budgeting and good quality food,”
senior Alex Woodward said.
..............................................................................................................................................
Students Explore Career Possibilities
By Ashlea Wilson
Staff reporter
This summer, students from
across Pennsylvania were given
the opportunity to attend a boot
camp at Marywood University.
While there, they were able to
experience the police force and be
able to do some of the things police officers do every day at work.
“We got up every morning
and ran two and a half miles, did
pushups and sit ups at our destination, and finally ran back to the
university, all before breakfast,”
sophomore Brandon Rogers said.
After breakfast, they would
drill as a platoon, which involves
marching in formation, coming to attention, and going into
parade rest. Then they would finally get a little time to relax.
Later in the week, the campers tried their hand at policing.
They pulled over their camp
counselors on the road and
mock arrested them for things
such as drinking while driving, texting and even driving
blind. The counselors treated the
kids at camp like real officers.
Some of the kids learned
about the camp through one
of the camp counselors; while
others heard about it from people who had done it before.
“It sounded like a really cool thing to do,” eighth
grader
Kyra
Ricci
said.
Ninth grade student and
brother of Kyra, Chris Ricci
would like to have a career in
law enforcement, so he decided
to attend the camp on his own.
Along with the reasons
why kids decided to attend
came the reality of being at
camp and following the rules.
“It was really controlled. If
you slipped up once, you got
in trouble,” sophomore Eddie Fish said. “But at least now
I can do a lot more pushups.”
Kids trained day in and day
out, learning as much as they could
in a 12 hour day that would help
them in a career on a police force.
“The days were long,” Brandon said. “Some classes were
hard to pay attention to, but most
classes were upbeat and fun.”
All students interviewed
had said what hard work it
was, but also how much fun
it was. The students, who go
there, however, would need to
be ready for physical training.
Although it was hard work,
some students would recommend going to this camp.
“I
would
recommend
this
to
anyone
thinking
about going into the army
or police force,” Eddie said.
Also covered at the camp
were classroom experiences.
These classes were designed to
help campers get more comfortable with the duties they may
have to perform in the field. They
helped campers decide whether or
not they were serious about going
into a Law Enforcement career.
For other kids, who did not want
to be in that sort of career, they
got an experience of a lifetime,
one that they would never forget.
“It was new information to
help find the foundation for the
rest of my life,” Brandon said.
“I’m glad I experienced the camp;
it was a learning experience.”
METEOR CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 2012
Teacher of the Issue
Principal’s Perspective
New Year, New Changes
With the new school year
upon us we are continuing to
make changes to the school to
make things run efficiently keeping the education and safety for
our students as our top priority. Our schedule changes a few
years ago have now been in place
and our students and staff have
adapted without many prob-
lems. Our thirty minute lunches
have also been very well received
and because that has gone so
well, our students are now getting more instructional time in
the classroom. Those extra minutes have been very beneficial to
our teachers having more classroom time with their students.
As always, enforcing the
dress code is a work in progress.
I must say that our kids this year
have been excellent in following all the rules and regulations
put in place concerning dress
code. Our dress code referrals
are down for the first part of this
year from years past. As I’ve said
for many years, we are so lucky.
Our kids here are so well behaved
and respectful because they
make our jobs here a lot easier.
I think the biggest change this
year is how very quiet the halls
are. We’ve put into place some
new procedures to make sure that
during instructional time in the
classroom there are fewer interruptions and movement in the hallways. I must also say how lucky
we are to have the teaching staff
that we do because they’ve made
these changes successful because
of their hard work and dedication.
We’ve also made upgrades
and improvements to our security
camera system here at the high
school, and that has led to an increased help in safety and security for the students and staff in
this building. So it’s been a very
good start to the school year and
we are all very happy about that.
The one thing that must happen
now; if you’ll allow me to use a
quote from my Dad, “finish what
you’ve started.” If the start of the
year is any indication of how the
year will be, it’s going to be a very
good year here at the high school.
................................................................................................................................
Life
As We Know It...
Growing Up: A Changing
Perspective
“Life As We Know It” is a year-long
series devoted to informing teens
and the community about some of
the issues teens face.
By Kayleah Trecoske
Junior high co-editor
Our first few years of life may
not be the ones we remember as
clearly as our parents do. When
we reach an age of understanding, everything is so new and
amazing to us. From the time we
are young, our lives are molded
around the influence of everyone around us who is older and
after a point of personal understanding, we mold like putty in
someone’s hand to the lifestyle,
and many of the viewpoints our
influences have. In summary, the
world becomes what we make it
to be. Along the way, there are
these people who watch us grow
and play a part in our lives as role
models. Good or bad influences,
we naturally take to doing the
same things they do. From being
a new born and mimicking someone's smile to learning to talk,
walk and play with small, building blocks. We grow from wanting
out of our baby stroller to wanting to buckle in and drive down
PAGE 3
the road independently. As time
goes by, it’s not only the physical aspects of us that change, but
also the outlook we have on life.
Many people have heard the
statement, "You'll understand
when you're older." After a while,
it finally hits some people that,
that really is the case most of the
time. When something is placed
right in front of an individual
in the present, it's not always as
clear as it can be down the road
when it is looked back upon. This
even goes for the things in childhood that were always considered
“must haves” and doing what
“everyone else does too.” In reality though, there comes a point
when a person realizes those
pants didn’t make their friends
like them more, or the hair style
they chose didn’t determine the
outcome of their grades. Maybe
as we grow older, we discover priorities. Not just the things we feel
we need to get done, but also the
things we feel are above anything
else. The perception of our priorities changes from time to time
and somewhere between all of the
perception changes we grow up.
“Perception is defined as "the
state of being or process of becoming aware of something in
such a way," senior Kelsey Brink
says. “ I was once told by a family friend "it's all about perception and perception is reality."
And I believe that this is so true
in all aspects of life; once we
think for ourselves, as Buddha
says "All that we are is the result
of what we have thought " and
"what you think you become."
As young people, I think it's important to form our own opinions
instead of just agreeing or not
caring. Although sometimes we
don't feel like it our opinions do
matter, if we don't start thinking
for ourselves we are inevitably
letting others think for us and
their perceptions become truth.”
By Callie Curley
News and features co-editor, Opinion co-editor
The featured faculty member for this issue of the Meteor
Chronicle is a teacher whose
main goal is to teach something
new to his students each day.
This teacher strives to connect his
students to the material they are
learning in the classroom, and accomplishes this by telling stories
about historical figures that reinforce the lessons covered in class.
For him, the best part of teaching
a lesson is the looks on students’
faces as he tells a particularly
gruesome or even a funny story.
A graduate of Marywood
University who majored in secondary education and social studies, Mr. Dan Cherney has been
employed at MAHS for the past
seven years, teaching classes
ranging from junior high U.S.
Cultures to his current position
as the 11th grade Modern World
and AP European History teacher.
Also the head coach of the boys’
varsity soccer team, Mr. Cherney
sees every school day as another
opportunity to teach his students
not only the curriculum required,
but also some of the skills and
traits that he finds to be important
for life outside of high school.
“If my students are going
to learn only one thing from
me,” Mr. Cherney said, “I hope
it’s the importance of working hard and being committed to everything that they do.”
Students of all classes and
grade levels appreciate Mr. Cherney’s efforts to help them learn
both in and outside of the classroom. Junior Rachel Mordovancey has been a student in more than
one class taught by Mr. Cherney, and says that they were all
similar in the way he taught and
communicated ideas to students.
“Mr. Cherney keeps all students involved in the lessons.
Review games, projects, and
group discussions make learning
more interesting,” Rachel said.
For Samantha Bennici, also
a junior, Mr. Cherney’s class
is a refreshing change of pace
from some other classes she
has taken. While enrolling in
an AP (Advanced Placement)
course is an understood challenge, having a teacher who
is willing to work with students and help them understand
makes getting a high score on
the AP Test more achievable.
“AP European History with
Mr. Cherney is different from
other classes I have taken because I am remembering more
of what I’m learning,” Samantha said. “Because Mr. Cherney
keeps all of us interested and involved, it’s not such a conscious
habit to retain the information.”
Mr. Cherney’s dedication to
students does not end with the
ringing of the last bell at 2:48.
By establishing a class webpage
for his AP European History
class on Edmodo; an interactive,
educational site where teachers and students can ask and
answer questions, post quizzes,
and receive grades on homework assignments, Mr. Cherney,
like many teachers across the
world, is bringing his classroom
into the next generation of high
tech education, making himself
available to students on nights,
weekends, and early mornings.
The benefit of using this site is
two-fold: helping him further
his reach with students and helping students better understand
C.CURLEY/ METEOR CHRONICLE the material being covered.
PSSAs Out, Keystones Count
By Angela Russell
Elementary Co-Editor
The rules are always changing, the hallways are always
raging, but you can never
change the fact that standardized tests are always going to
be intertwined with the high
school career of most students.
Most high school students remember the days in elementary school when PSSA’s
(Pennsylvania State Standardized Testing) came around, 11
days of math and reading passage after passage in the state
standardized
test
booklets.
The rules have changed, and
students in grades nine-12 are not
required to take these state assessments. To replace the PSSA’s,
the Keystone Exams have taken
their place. Although the PSSA’s
were not a graduation requirement, the Keystone Exams are.
“With emphasis on the Keystone Exams they, are trying
to lessen the amount of material and go more in depth with
the curriculum learning now,”
math teacher Tom Lucenti said.
With the Keystones being a
graduation requirement, teachers are expecting the students
to perform well under the high
standards of passing these exams
to graduate. Although, the class
of 2014 have not yet taken the
Keystones or have had an algebra class in about two years for
the students who doubled up as
a sophomore, they will be taking
them this winter and or spring.
With the Keystone Exams
now being a state test, MAHS has
eliminated the integrated math
courses. Students in their freshmen year are required to take the
algebra I course. After their algebra I course, students will go
onto their algebra II course, and
then the following year geometry.
These changes were made for the
students to know the essential
material for the Keystone Exams.
“The Keystone Exams are
introducing more literacy to
the classroom; this means that
us as teachers are having to go
more in depth with stories to
get more out of them.” English teacher John Koloski said.
What is going to be more
beneficial to students the Pennsylvania State Standardized Tests
or the Keystones? The question was asked to many of the
MAHS teachers. The students
will be tested on three subject’s
math, English and biology.
“I don’t think that standardized testing is the best way to
judge students on their academics; I wish we could move away
from the large state testing. Although as a school I think that
we will do very well preparing for the Keystones; as a result, the students will perform
their very best,” Dean of Students Michael Boccella said.
With the switch from the PSSA’s to the Keystone Exams, many
teachers are preparing their students for anything to everything
that they could be asked. With the
Keystones being a new state test,
teachers are hoping that students
will prepare by studying, perform
their best, and try their hardest.
................................................................................................................................................
Opportunities Abound at Harford Fair
By Meghan Spellman
News and Feature Co-Editor& Arts and Entertainment Co-Editor
Thousands of people gather
at the Harford Fairgrounds each
year to see animals, eat food
from the vendors, check out different stands, and participate in
various activities. Among these
thousands are many Montrose
students and staff. The Harford
Fair is an annual event that brings
much of Susquehanna County
together. Along with the Harford
Fair comes the opportunity to
participate, whether it be helping the community out by volunteering for a stand, or showing
cows through 4-H. How people
get to be involved with the Fair
varies from person to person.
“I got involved with the Harford Fair mainly through family
members like my grandpa, who
used to run the Swine Department, and my grandma, my aunt,
and my cousin, who run the Fine
Arts Building that displays the
paintings and photographs, “ senior Ben Davenport, who helps
his aunt set up the Fine Arts Building before the entries come, said.
The Harford Fair has been going on for 155 years. For someone
who has lived near Montrose all
their life, the fair can be a tradition.
“My parents took me to the
Harford Fair when I was little. I
METEOR CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 2012
PAGE 4
have a lot of great memories from
my childhood at the Fair,” English teacher Heather Winn said.
“I’ve been at every Fair since
I was ten months old, except
2005, the only year I missed.”
In order for the Harford Fair
to be successful, many workers are needed. One can only
imagine what kind of jobs there
are at the fair. At any given day
during the week of the fair, one
is pretty likely to spot not only
Montrose students, but some
of the Montrose staff as well.
“The person who took care
of the sound systems for the fair
was an elderly gentleman who
passed away unexpectedly one
summer. A friend of mine, who
was involved with the fair, asked
me to help out with the sound
systems,” metal shop teacher
James Fluck said. “I enjoy working with sound systems, so I
saw the fair as an opportunity
to learn about large PA systems,
and there was a real need for
someone to step in and help out.”
Opportunity isn’t only held
through jobs at the fair, but the
food as well is a big hit. Everyone has a personal favorite
when it comes to the food at
the Fair. The food vendors are
New Beginnings for MAHS
Spanish Department
By Maddy Pasteka
News and Feature Co-Editor
After
many
complications in the language department, MAHS is ready for a
new beginning in Spanish. Mrs.
Bridgett Merritt has taken over
the position as Spanish teacher.
“I am very excited for this
year; the students at Montrose High School seem very
eager to learn and I can’t
wait!” Mrs. Merritt said.
The students are very excited to start the year and take
a leap into learning. Many of
the Spanish classes are behind,
so the beginning of the year
will serve as a review. Students
are very open to the changes.
“I like how she has a lot of
material to teach us, and how
excited she is to teach it!” sophomore Abbey Capwell said.
With seven classes a day, and
around 30 students in each class,
a typical day in Mrs. Merritt’s
Spanish classroom is quite busy.
Being the only Spanish teacher
in the district, a lot of work is
required from not only the students, but the teacher as well.
“I am looking forward to
positively impacting the lives of
students and welcoming the opportunity to open students’ eyes
to Hispanic cultures and their
histories,” Mrs. Merritt said.
It’s not always easy being a new
teacher to hundreds of students.
“One challenge I have encountered is catching up all of
the students to the level that they
should be. I spend extra time on
topics that weren’t covered last
year and working on building up
skills needed,” Mrs. Merritt said.
It can be a lot of work trying to catch up hundreds of students on Spanish they should
already know, but Mrs. Merritt
is determined to make an impact.
“She already has involved
us so much in Spanish, not just
by making us do bookwork like
in years past. She is so friendly,
considerate, and willing to involve students in the lessons,”
senior Cory Kimmell said.
“Teaching is a very rewarding
experience, and I look forward to
what every class will bring each
day. The students at Montrose
are respectful, open to learning
and have been welcoming me as
a new teacher,” Mrs. Merritt said.
With the start of the new school
year, students here at MAHS hope
to have fun, and learn the language of Spanish, and Mrs. Merritt plans to stay and teach them
the best ways she knows how to.
.............................................................................................
an integral part of the Harford
Fair. These food stands include
Montrose’s very own milkshake
stand for the Montrose Band.
Overall, the Harford Fair is
a week in the summer when everyone can see both friends and
family. The fairgrounds hold opportunity to visit with old friends
and to even meet new people.
“I really enjoy seeing people at the fair. I get to see students and graduates. There are a
number of graduates, that were
involved in the fair, whose children are now involved there,”
Mr. Fluck said. “I get the opportunity to work with a great group
of people at the fair. I camp on
the fairgrounds for the week and
get to know some of the vendors
that travel from place to place.
And there’s always the food.”
There is no denying that the
Harford Fair is a big deal for
much of Montrose. Whether it
is someone who helps largely
with the fair or just someone
who spends a few hours at the
fair visiting friends, everyone
comes together for a week, to
see each other, or help someone
out on the Harford fairgrounds.
French Classes Combine
By Lindsay Darrow
Opinion Co-Editor
Parlezvous
français?
This is a phrase that anyone
who has taken a French class
will know, and in translation it
means; do you speak French?
At MAHS, many students do.
They have learned this phrase
and much more from French
teacher Polly Pritchard, who has
now decided to teach part time.
“I wanted more time
for myself. I miss the pay,
but I love having my mornings,” Mrs.
Pritchard said.
The students are quite happy that she’s taking a half day.
“I like that she’s on half time
because now she will possibly be
staying instead of retiring at the
end of the year,” French II student Tatiana Sangadzhieva said.
While this seems like a
good thing, there is one item
that doesn’t sit well with
the teacher or the students.
“Instead
of
a
large
French I class, my French
III and IV classes are com-
bined,” Mrs. Pritchard said.
Because of scheduling issues, the French I class was
divided into two class periods causing more changes to
the French III and IV classes.
This has had a noticable
impact on the students. French
III student Kristin Sperry thinks
this makes it harder on, not
only her fellow classmates,
but on her teacher as well.
“It makes it more complicated to learn and it’s harder
on her because she is teaching two different classes at
the same time,” Kristin said.
Along with it being more
difficult to teach and learn, students have dropped the class.
“Two
students
have
dropped French and specifically told me the reason was
because of the mix,” Mrs.
Pritchard said slightly annoyed.
With all these changes
who knows what will happen as the year progresses.
METEOR CHRONICLE
PAGE 5
October 2012
Another Voice: Affordable Care Act Affects All
By Maria Ingaglio
Opinion co-editor
I am, by no means, a political
expert; although I think I know
enough to be informed and I am
always trying to educate myself
further. I don’t want to be a brainwashed supporter of any political
party. I want to be able to read an
article attacking a party and their
candidate and be able to counter,
not blindly agree with those who
agree with me. I am, however, an
eighteen year old who will be voting in the upcoming presidential
election. With this in mind, for
the past few years I’ve paid close
attention to political issues and
have been focusing on educating
myself further.
I don’t have it all figured out
when it comes to even my own
political opinion because I believe that takes time and life experience. So when the Affordable
Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed, I took the
opportunity to conduct my own
research on collegiate databases.
Still, even after countless hours of
skimming articles and attempting
to read the 2700 mandate, I had
trouble forming my own concrete
opinion on this controversial topic.
The mandate provides coverage
to Americans with pre-existing
conditions, allows young adults
under 26 to participate on their
parents insurance, ends lifetime
limits on coverage, ends pre-existing exclusions for child, and so
forth. If a citizen does not have
health insurance, either provided
or purchased, there will be an individual government fine placed
upon them. Basically, this creates the idea of having a universal
healthcare system.
To start on a positive note, I believe that particular parts of the
mandate are great for the future
of our country, in theory. For example, for many people living
with HIV, the ACA will greatly
improve and prolong their lives.
Purchasing insurance in the individual market is not an option
for most people living with HIV
— they will be denied for having
a pre-existing condition, or policies will be prohibitively expensive. Under the new provisions,
they will no longer be denied for
their conditions, which I believe
is a step in the right direction for
healthcare. The ACA has created plans that allow people with
pre-existing medical conditions,
including HIV, to buy health insurance. Starting in 2014, insurance companies may not refuse
to cover people with pre-existing
conditions, and they may not discriminate based on health status
or gender. In addition, I believe
that allowing young adults under
26 to participate in their parent’s
healthcare plans is a great asset
of the mandate. As most grown
adults know, getting on your feet
after college or in the workforce
can be a major struggle financially and mentally. The age extension allows, but does not force,
the idea of a continuing plan.
My problem with Obamacare
is that it wants to try and address
every minute healthcare issue on
a federal level, but that seems
practically impossible. How can a
government, which oversees millions of people over thousands of
miles across the country in varying heath, economic, and mental
state, possibly provide for every
single person in need? Which is
why, I believe, was never a responsibility of the federal government. Although the Supreme
Court believes that the mandate
is constitutional under the Commerce Clause, I do not agree with
their decision. From a financial
perspective, the country national
debt is tremendous as it is and
growing rapidly every second
that passes. Where is the money
coming from to support universal
healthcare? Some agree that the
idea of prevention will cost less
than a recovery plan, but I believe
that the United States isn’t financially stable enough to undertake
such a large cost program at this
point. Lastly, the new healthcare
act will add many citizens to
Medicaid, which means doctors
are getting lower payments from
patients. Many doctors with small
practices still have their medical centers, which are extremely
expensive places to maintain.
Throw in competition in the field
and the difficulty for small practice doctors to survive, let alone
make a profit, is slim for many.
In addition, working under such
a healthcare law would mean
doctors have to place government regulation and bureaucracy
above the health of their patients,
probably in what medications to
prescribe and what treatments to
advise.
After my own evaluations of the
mandate, I decided to have a discussion with Mr. Joseph Festa’s
Meteor Chronicle
Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School
Editor in chief............................ Courtney Kimmell
News/Features editors................ Meghan Spellman
Maddy Pasteka
Opinion editors...........................Callie Curley
The Chronicle is a student publication researched, written and
Maria Ingaglio
produced by members of the staff named here and printed by
Lindsay Darrow
the Mulligan Printing Corporation. All unsigned editori-
Arts & Entertainment editor......Meghan Spellman
Samanntha Poole
Elementary editors......................Erica Reeves
Angela Russell
Junior high editor........................Kayleah Trecoske
Tatiana Sangadzhieva
Ashlea Wilson
Sports editor............ ..................Nicki Lewis
Meghan Gilhool
Editorial cartoonist.....................Frank Fruehan
Adviser.........................................Melissa Freethy
als within this publication were written to reflect solely the
opinion of the entire newspaper staff. Letters to the editor
are welcomed and will be published as space allows but must
be signed and include contact information. Names will be
withheld upon request. The Chronicle reserves the right to
edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject
to laws governing obscenity, libel, privacy, and disruption of
the school process as are all contents of the newspaper. The
Chronicle’s editorial policy is available upon request.
Staff
Briana Johnson, Taylor Teed, Katelyn Breslin, Laura Brink, Holly
Andre, Morgan Updyke, Michaela Pike, Taylor Boswith, Samantha
Santora,
Dan Zapolski
75 Meteor Way Montrose, PA 18801
Letters to the editor are
always welcome!
[email protected]
(570) 278-3731
AP Government class in order
to see how Montrose felt about
Obamacare.
Senior Alex Woodward stated
that, “I don’t feel that I know
enough about the Affordable
Care Act to form a full opinion…
but requiring everyone to have insurance, I don’t necessarily agree
with because some people don’t
have the money to pay for that
extra expense.”
Another senior, Adam Wirth,
added that, “I support the concept
of a universal healthcare system.
Although I think that certain parts
of the mandate are harder to enforce and could potentially be
disadvantageous because they
force everyone to buy healthcare
including people with lower income who don’t necessarily have
the money. At the same time, there
are people with lower incomes
who can now get insurance with
pre-existing conditions. My main
question for this program is that
if we have such a large national
debt and are spending money on
other programs, then how are we
going to have the money to fund
this program?”
Tommy Krupinski, senior,
added that, “[f]or one, under the
commerce clause, it states that the
federal government has the right
to regulate interstate commerce.
You can only buy insurance in
the state that you live in so that’s
intrastate commerce. So the government is not regulating interstate commerce, they’re regulating intrastate commerce which is
not allowed by the constitution.”
Regardless of my wordy rambles and class discussion, The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.
The 2012 elections are now primarily a fight over whether health
insurance is a right or a privilege,
which is to say, a fight for decency.
PAGE 6
OCTOBER 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
OPINION
“What is the place of Same Sex Couples in a high school setting?”
articles about same-sex relationships
and how they just want to be accepted.
In MAHS, there is a high amount
of same-sex couples and while they
do not get hurt physically, they do
get hurt emotionally. They have
lost friends and get talked about.
Which is worse to you: Getting
talked about or having your sypposed “friends” make fun of you?
Both are wrong to do. If you don’t like
something that is going on around you,
ignore it. If everyone would just do this
and then if the topic came up just say,
‘I don’t agree with is but do what
makes you happy.’ If your friend tells
you in confidence that they are gay
just say ‘whatever makes you happy.’
Here the violence and hatred isn’t
nearly as horrible as other schools.
“I’m amazed a lot of friends that
teach in other schools have told me
about the violence that goes on and
it makes me realize that our school
is tremendous in regards to the segregations against same-sex relationships,” one teacher here at MASD said
One main problem at our school
is even though lesbian couples are
accepted; gay ones are not as much.
“I’m barely out at all and I haven’t
told a lot of people because they are
cruel and judgmental,” Derik* said.
It seems that if a girl decides that
she likes other girls it is considered
okay and is very acceptable but if a
guy decides that he like other guys it’s
wrong and he isn’t a man anymore.
This causes guys to be more closed off
because everyone is unknowingly telling them to be something they are not.
“People need to be who they
are. To ask them not to has a lot
of negative value,” Nina* said.
Compared to other schools we are
ahead of the game when it comes to accepting same-sex relationships. It will
always be a battle to feel completely
safe, but we have come a long way.
“People just need to be
educated,”
Trisha*
said.
High school is a confusing time
for most students. It’s four years of
deciding and then constantly reevaluating who you want to be,
who you want to be friends
with, and what you want to
do for the rest of your life.
Add in actual classwork,
extra-curricular activities
and, on top of it all, a social
life and suddenly it isn’t so
difficult to see why kids
are making some of the poor choices
they do. If the school system finds
that eliminating an item in a student’s
school day from which stress might
stem would benefit the student, it’s
their responsibility to do so. Because
the only reason for going to school
is to prepare students for a life after
graduation (usually in some form of
further education), it wouldn’t make
sense to limit students in their course
load or involvement in extracurricular
activities that may better aid them in
deciding what career path to follow.
This leaves only one option: the social.
Not surprisingly, dating is the number one precursor to marriage. It’s a
known fact that many of us don’t take
time to think about. As a high school
student I am constantly surrounded by
peers who break up, make up, and get
shaken up over the misguided words or
intentions of their latest “true love”. It’s
silliness that could plainly be avoided.
How many people marry their high
school sweethearts? High school is confusing and challenging enough without
the added stress of a relationship that
probably won’t end with a diamond
ring, white picket fence, and golden retriever who fetches the morning paper.
And as distracting and confusing
as a conventional relationship may be
for high school students, imagine the
added stress of having a relationship
with a classmate of the same gender.
Numerous studies have shown that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth
have a higher rate of suicide attempts
than their heterosexual peers. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center synthesized these studies and estimated
Face Off
In high schools all across the world
there are same-sex relationships. In a
lot of schools, this is a target for bullying. These students are
abused mentally, emotionally and a lot of times,
the abuse can escalate
to
physical
violence.
While most teachers try
to stop it, some just add
to the pain by turning the
other way as a classmate
spits insult after insult at their peer.
In some schools, it is made known
that they do not accept same-sex relationships. For example in February of
2011 a high school in Wichita, Kansas produced a news editorial stating
that same-sex relationships are ‘not
normal’ and should be frowned upon
and since same-sex marriage is illegal dating should be as well because
dating often leads to marriage. It also
cited a verse from the Bible promoting violence against same-sex couples.
‘Men who lay with other men
have
committed
an
abomination; they shall be put to death’
District
officials,
newspaper faculty, and students say they
have the right to publish what they
want and that it is protected by the
First Amendment along with the
Kansas Student Publication Act.
James Pryer, the president of the
Wichita chapter of Center of Human Rights claims, “This is not free
speech but hate speech. The administrations are responsible for keeping our children safe and this article legitimizes bullying and hate.”
Students said they knew it would
be controversial, but that doesn’t
mean they shouldn’t have published it. Kansas law restricts teachers from stopping student publications, therefore Sharon Martin, the
journalism teacher, didn’t have the
right to withhold the publication.
The article caused a petition that
made sure the damage was reversed,
even if it was just a little. They also did
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of students.
that between 30 and 40 percent of LGB
youth, depending on age and gender,
have attempted suicide, and even more
astonishingly, LGB students are three
times as likely as non-LGB students to
say that they do not feel safe at school
(22 percent vs. 7 percent) and 90 percent
of LGB students have been harassed or
assaulted either at their school or in
another public forum in the past year.
Many schools across the country
have already begun taking measures
to protect their students. At Lexington
Catholic High School in Lexington,
KY, there is no policy barring students from taking part in a same-sex
relationship. So, when a pair of classmates-both female-arrived at their senior prom with a “couple’s ticket”, the
school merely kicked them out, saying
that same-sex couples would not be
tolerated at the prom. This situation
was handled poorly by administration
because there was no legislation in
place at the school regarding lesbian,
gay, or bisexual couples, and yet the
chaperones of the dance took it upon
themselves to keep the girls from entering. Had there been some sort of
clause in the student handbook disallowing same-sex couples to exhibit
their relationship in the school setting,
these actions would have been much
easier to defend. In short, schools
should not be given the liberty of picking and choosing when they will and
will not welcome same-sex couples; it
should be an always-or-never policy.
It’s not about whether or not LGB
teens are “right” or “wrong” in their
feelings, or even that those feelings
are something they can control. The
main concern for most schools is the
safety of their students, all respective
sexual orientations aside. By eliminating the acceptance of LGB teen relationships in schools across the board,
administrators will undoubtedly see
a drop in bullying, suicide, and assaults to which so many lesbian, gay,
and bisexual students fall prey as well
as, presumably, a better understanding and relationship between peers.
...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Roving Reporter
“I think that President Obama will win
the election. He has done a lot of good
for this country.” -Bradley Proof, 11th
grade
“What are your thoughts on
the upcoming
presidential election?”
“I think that President Obama will be a better
candidate because he puts his words into action.” -Kelsey Warriner, 12th grade
“This election will be interesting, and whoever wins, wins.” -Samantha Dixon, 12th grade
OCTOBER 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
PAGE 7
Hey Ma, Look What We Can
Do!
First Grade Project
Takes Flight
Harford Fair Winners
By: Erica Reeves and Kayleah Trecoske
Elementary and Junior High co-editors
By: Kayleah Trecoske
3rd Place
By: Isabel Quick
Choconut
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
room from the first day of school
until their cycle turns them from
caterpillar to butterfly approximately 30 days later. This year
there were 33 girls and 33 boy
butterflies hatched. Thankfully,
there has never been a year this
project hasn’t taken place. Even
when the outcome isn’t what
Mrs. Blaney or the kids would
hope for, they do learn that not
all of the caterpillars and butterflies survive, which is an important lesson on life in itself.
There are always a lot of
fun memories that go along
with any major school project.
A few of the kids got quite the
kick out of the caterpillar that
got out of its cage and formed
into a chrysalis under the classroom table. When it hatched,
it flew all around the room.
“I think my favorite memory is always watching the kids
reactions when they hold the
caterpillars for the first time
and of course watching them
cheer when they release the butterflies,” Mrs. Blaney says.
2nd Place
By: Alex Rossi
Choconut
CHRONI-
supply of milkweed for them.
Cleaning the cage is not always
fun either,” Mrs. Blaney says.
Unfortunately, this year is
harder than most others have been
in the past when it comes to finding
healthy caterpillars that can fully
make it through their life cycle.
“It amazes me that one year
I can find many caterpillars in a
field, and the next year I won’t find
many in the same spot. They seem
to like the “tender” milkweed
plants the best,” Mrs. Blaney says.
Although she isn’t exactly
sure why some years the survival
rate of caterpillars is lower than
usual, she did notice this summer that it seemed they got a
later start at life than most other
years. Mrs. Blaney has also contacted Penn State to see if they
know why the outcome of caterpillars and butterflies surviving
changes year after year. The class
lets them go once a week; usually
on Fridays, so they aren’t stuck
in the classroom all weekend.
On average, 150 caterpillars
are found and raised in the class
E.REEVES/METEOR
When school is just around
the corner and kids are getting
their last minute school supplies shopping in at the store,
in attempts to prepare for the
new school year, first grade
teacher at Choconut Valley Elementary School, Mrs. Blaney
is preparing in the outdoors in
a different, educational way.
Every fall you will find Mrs.
Blaney knee deep in milkweed
looking for white, black and yellow monarch caterpillars on the
undersides of milkweed. The caterpillars she finds will play a vital part in the lesson she teaches
her first grade class every year
on the life cycle and the migration pattern of the monarch caterpillar. The kids also always
like to learn the word Proboscis, [which is how the butterfly
eats] and they like to tell everyone how to tell if the butterfly is
a boy or girl. [The boy has two
extra "dots" on its lower wings.]
“The hardest part is probably finding the caterpillars
and of course keeping a fresh
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
Junior High co-editor
First grade students Elizabeth Green and Robert Welch experience firsthand the life cycle of a
monarch butterfly.
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
PHOTO COURTESY OF J. BLANEY
PHOTO COURTESY OF J. BLANEY
1st Place
By: Jennifer Dickson
Choconut
1st Place
By: Tommy Stewart
Choconut
PAGE 8
METEOR CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 2012
Independent Library Time
Little Voices
By Erica Reeves and Kayleah Trecoske
By Erica Reeves
Elementary and Junior High co-editors
Elementary co-editor
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
“How Did Breaking a
Bone Affect Your
Summer?”
“I broke my toe playing “I missed a step on a swing
soccer and couldn’t play it set and snapped my arm. I
couldn’t swim or play socfor a few weeks.”
cer.”
Riley Keihl
Michayla Stahl
Lathrop Street
Lathrop Street
1st Grade
6th Grade
For years both Lathrop
Street and Choconut elementary
schools have had the four basic
“rotations” that consisted of art,
physical education, music, and library. With the recent retirement
of previous librarian, Mrs. Natalie Hawley, also comes a change
in the traditional rotation because her position wasn’t filled.
Every day both of the elementary schools has a specified
day rotation number, where there
are six days in each cycle. These
day numbers mark which rotation
they will be going to. One day out
of the six day cycle, students will
be allowed access to the library
to get books before proceeding
to the rotation that is scheduled
for that day. This is different
than in years past because library
would have a full class in the
rotation. In that class, students
would be assigned different projects, check out books, read, and
learn how the library functions.
For some students, who
were affected by this, it is a
good change and for others they
think it was better the other way.
While some students enjoy being able to focus on just getting
books, others miss the spare time
that they were given to read.
“I really enjoy reading and I
was used to getting a full class of li-
brary,” fifth grader Caroline Stack
said. “When I finished a book before, I could get a new one, but
now I have to wait a long time.”
Mrs. Renee Hare has been
the librarian at Choconut Elementary for five years, and
now must travel between both
elementary schools to run both
of the libraries. Mrs. Hare views
this change as a good thing.
“It is good for them because
they can come down when they
need to,” Mrs. Hare said. “The
students have more of a choice.”
Some students are finding
that this change has come as a
pleasant surprise and are finding
the time that they get in the library even more enjoyable. There
is always a library aid there, so
students can access it at all times.
“I like how our library is now
better than before,” sixth grader
Adriana Scarfelato said. “You
just get to get books you want
and go right to special [rotation].”
There are still some students who prefer having library
as a scheduled rotation instead
of having it as an open resource.
“I liked having someone
read books to me and then having a class about it,” fourth
grader Matthew Williams said.
“I think that we get to use
it a lot less so we get to look
at books a lot less,” fourth
grader Cassidy Beeman said.
“Some kids just check out
a book because they have to
and then because they have no
time to read it during library,
they don’t read it at all,” fifth
grader Hannah Perkins said.
Many teachers and the principal of Lathrop Street are embracing the change as they feel
that it is a positive thing that the
students can use the library as
more of an open resource, rather than having specific times.
“I believe giving our kids the
opportunity to use the library as
a resource on a more open basis will give us positive results,”
Mr. Adams said. “One of our
main goals in education today
is to deliver common core standards to our students. Common
core standards are based on college and career readiness. Having a philosophy where students
use the library resource, in part
for research, plays a significant
part in accomplishing this goal.”
Even though basic library
skills are not being taught to every
grade, basic lessons are still being
taught to Kindergarten, first, and
second grade; so library skills
will still be kept to progress students through the rest of school.
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
E.REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
.............................................................................................................................................
“I fell over the handlebars
and got 40 stitches, chipped
my ankle, and broke my
collar bone. I couldn’t swim
for a while.”
Trent Leonard
Choconut
4th Grade
“I fell off of my fourwheeler and broke my arm. I
couldn’t play soccer or play
at recess for a few weeks.”
McKenzie Reeves
Lathrop Street
6th Grade
E As In Effort
By Angela Russell
Elementary co-editor
Ask yourself how much effort do students put into their
work? Enough just to pass the
class? Or really do their best and
give 110 percent? Putting more
effort into students work in the
elementary school level is really being emphasized this year.
With students working harder
in class and really trying to give
their all, elementary teachers are
working harder at making their
classes engaging and exciting
for the students to want to be
learning. Although some other
interests are running through
the minds of third graders, they
don’t put the amount of effort in
their work that they should be.
“Using
technology
and
activities that encourage students to be physically involved
helps students wanting to participate,” Ms. Goodman said.
Elementary school students
are getting the pep talk now
about putting 110 percent into
all of their work. Kids agree
that they should be focused and
paying attention during their
school day to help them later in their high school career.
“With students working harder in their elementary levels, it will
give them more of an opportunity
to show what they like to do and
have more fun learning and being
able to retain more of the information,” senior David Koloski said.
It always seems as though
elementary
school
students
are always getting advice
thrown out at them to do their
best, but have fun with it.
”One of the hardest things
to get good at and to get used to
would be writing; there is so many
ways that you can express yourself
on a piece of paper,” Daniel said.
Although it might be a little
challenging to keep focused and
put 110 percent into all of the
work that a third grader does, students and teachers all agree that
if you work hard now, it will pay
off in your high school career.
METEOR CHRONICLE
October 2012
PAGE 9
One “Wo”man Wolfpack
By Kayleah Trecoske
Elementary and Junior High co editor
To do anything successfully in life, it takes passion.
More than passion though;
success takes a strong sense of
dedication to the goal at hand.
Most of us remember how
intimidating it was to branch
out from our cozy elementary school experience and
join new activities, sports and
clubs. Put aside the fact most
people are strangers, some
even from another school, and
there are girls there who have
been playing at the junior high
level already for a year; some
students are new to the sport
altogether. A fine example of
this dedication can be shown
through seventh grader, Katelyn Henry, who believed playing regardless of not knowing
anyone or anything about field
hockey would be a worthwhile experience in the end.
“I chose to play field
hockey over the summer
when I saw the women play
it in the Olympics. It looked
very fast paced and fun for
a girl to play,” Henry said.
U n f o r t u - selves in 7th grade when we
nately
the
numbers all fell in love with field hockfor a junior high field ey. It was really great for us sehockey team were not strong niors to be able to show her all
enough to meet the needed we have learned after all these
amount of players to put to- years. It was a wonderful feelgether a team this fall sports ing to be able to pass on the
season. Henry, who
had already went out
and purchased her field
hockey
equipment,
was not ready to throw
in the towel and call
it game over though.
The JV and Varsity
level teams, along with
their coaches Brianna
Strope and Courtney
Hoffa, offered for any
girl still interested in
playing to come to
practices with the up- N.LEWIS/METEOR CHRONICLE
perclassmen. Henry just so love of this sport to someone
happened to be the girl to else and show them what it’s
take up the offer and attend all about. More than anything
the daily practices that the I think this year’s seniors want
field hockey team had since the program to continue and
late summer conditioning. more girls to love it just like we
“Those first couple of have all these fall nights since
weeks I think a lot of us found junior high.” senior field hockKatelyn a dedication to this ey player Kelsey Brink said.
sport an inspiration. She was
Field
hockey
players
a constant reminder of our- started off day one instruct-
ing Henry on the basics of
the game, which were how
to pass, and dribble, mostly.
“Learning how to hold the
stick, and keep it low while
running along with where to
place your hands for different hits was probably the
hardest for me to get the
hang of.” Henry said.
Aside from the stick
work, Henry also participated in the running and conditioning
drills, doing her best to
keep up with the team.
“The seniors especially were very helpful. They taught me the
skills I needed to know
which was great because
I really had no clue what
I was doing.” Henry said.
“Although our records
not the best I know that our
friendships really are, everyone on the team absolutely
loves the sport and in turn we
love each other.” Brink said.
Welcoming
Henry
to the team was no exception
to
this
either.
“I know for sure this year
that we would do anything it
took to protect each other. On
the field we're a family and I
consider these girls some of
my best friends, and I hope
that Katelyn gets to feel the
same thing as a senior on
her team one day. We are so
proud of Katelyn and her hard
work this season!” Brink said.
Henry was given the permission to attend games as part
of the team and was also in the
team picture this year. Henry
wasn’t expecting to be as entertained as she was watching the games she attended.
“It was nice to see how
fast paced and exciting a
real game is. It was a great
experience for me to know
what to expect,” Henry said.
The biggest bit of advice
Henry could give any girl
would be “even if you believe
it’s not a good sport, don’t fully decide that before you play.
I was under the impression the
sport would be hard to get the
hang of, but once I got out there
and was shown what to do it
was very easy and enjoyable.”
..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
By Taylor Teed
Staff Reporter
The Montrose junior varsity cheerleaders, who are also
known as the MJF cheerleading squad have had a very busy
season so far this 2012 school
year. Accroding to their coaches, all of their hard work and
dedication is looking as good
as always! With assistance of
their coach, Kelly Robinson,
the girls won first place medals
in competition.
“So happy that we got the
MJF Flips Into First Place
gold, but more importantly, so
proud of my squad. We did a
great job and no matter what
our medals say, we know in
our hearts that we are the true
champions,” eighth grader
Skylar Robinson said.
The competition was between some of the nearby
cheerleading squads. There
were different categories that
consisted of cheer and cheer/
dance group. The girls won
both categories with first place
gold medals.
“We had lots of practice,”
eight grader Rebecca Pike said.
The practice doesnt only
come in handy for competitions, Mrs. Keihl who is the
varsity cheer coach feels this
practice and expirance is helpful for varsity cheering in the
future as well.
“Any prior expirance
with activities in elementary
and junior high is going to
help high school students make
choices for the activites they
would like to be a part of in the
future.” Mrs.Kiehl said.
Every Tuesday night from
6-8 the girls would practice.
This included some additional
extra practices. They also had
a performance for their parents
the Thursday before the competition and performed at some
of the Sunday football games
as well.
“It was really nerve-racking,” Rebecca said.
But with all the fan support
and such a great team by their
sides, the competition became
less nerve-racking. For the girls
it was a great experience that
they got to have.
Overall at the competition the girls got second place,
Maine Endwell got first. However, Maine Endwell was disqualified for cheating. So the
girls were given their first place
medals and the satisfaction of
getting first place.
PAGE 10
October 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
Junior High Field
Hockey is Shut Out
By Brianna Johnson
Staff reporter
For the first time at MAHS,
there aren’t enough students who
were interested in playing junior high field hockey; therefore,
they don’t have a team. The girls
who were hoping to have a team
are very disappointed that there
aren’t enough girls who want to
come out and play.
“I wish we had more girls that
are interested to make a team because a lot of people don’t give
sports a chance. It is a fun sport
to play,” eighth grader Mariah
Tompkins said.
If there was going to be a
team, the coach would have been
Heather Griffis. When she found
out there was an opening, she
wanted to take the opportunity to
coach something that she knew a
lot about.
“If I was in high school and
there wasn’t a team, I would
be very disappointed,” Coach
Griffiths said.
Eighth grader Selina Vetri is
very disappointed there isn’t a
team. She plays because she was
interested in seventh grade and
her sister’s friend did it and told
her how much fun it is. Her cousins also encouraged her to play.
“I feel very disappointed because it was really fun last year,
so not having a team this year is
very sad,” Vetri said.
Tompkins enjoys playing because she enjoys being on a team
and likes group efforts and working with other people. She also
enjoys the sport.
“I think it was harder to see
the girls disappointed [more
than it was knowing] that there
was a team more than anything,”
Coach Griffis said.
Former junior high field
hockey player Audra Everitt,
loves playing field hockey because it keeps her in shape for
the fall. She also loves it because
she loves the girls she plays with,
and just thinks it’s an overall fun
sport.
“I would be disappointed if
there was no team and I wanted to
play, because field hockey is a fun
sport. You just fall in love with it
and winning and losing doesn’t
matter,” Everitt said.
Another former junior high
field hockey player, Mayana
Trecoske, has been playing field
hockey since seventh grade and
loves it. She would also be upset
if there wasn’t a team. Her beliefs
are that they definitely need more
girls to come out and play if they
want to keep this sport going.
“I feel that the low numbers
are very discouraging because it
makes me think that the student
body doesn’t feel like it’s an important sport. It makes us as a varsity player become more active to
go get new people that may bring
more assets to the team,” Everitt
said.
It is the hope of the girls to
bring junior high field hockey
back next year with more girls
who are willing to play.
................................................................................................................................................
Junior High Gets
“Jiggy with It”
By Kayleah Trecoske
Elementary & Junior High co-editor
In ninth grade, when class
officers are elected and the advisors are assigned; the clock for a
class’s high school career begins
to tick. This includes but isn’t limited to raising money for senior
trips. The class of 2014 wasted
no time when it came to planning
and hosting their first fundraiser
of the 2012-2013 school years, a
Junior High dance.
The speakers were set up, the
decorations were put up and the
lights went down. The junior high
dance that was held on September
7th was a casual dance for any
seventh and eighth graders interested in staying after school for a
time in the school cafeteria. Admission was five dollars and profit went toward the class of 2014.
Junior Codie Malloy offered
to be the DJ for the night in order
to save the class a little money in
the long run. The junior class officers were the ones who chose the
playlist and transferred it over to
an iPod for the dance.
“I think having the junior
class there was an advantage.
they got us dancing and moving
around more than we were in the
beginning of the dance.” Said
eight grader Megan Carey.
The junior high attendees
were not the only ones who felt
the dance was successful.
“I feel the dance went well,
I didn’t hear any complaints or
anything. All of the music was
new so all of the students knew
what the songs were and could
easily sing and dance along.”
Codie said.
It wasn’t only the music that
made the dance a success though,
Holly Andre also gives credit
to the attitude the DJ portrayed
to the junior high students while
they were at the dance.
“I think having Codie as the
DJ for the dance made it more
fun for everyone who went to
the dance. He is so energetic and
fun.” Holly, who is one of the
2014 class chairmen, said.
Overall, the class could
breathe a sigh of relief and consider the dance a total success,
they raised over $600 and feel it
is definitely a fundraiser worth
doing again because it was fun,
easy and made good money.
“I think the junior class had
just as much fun as the seventh
and eighth grade students who
attended.” Nicki Lewis said, the
2014 class president.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIA INGAGLIO
In the Spotlight:
Matthew Mead
By Maria Ingaglio
Opinion co-editor
Most people see scrap paper
and simply throw it away without giving it any though, but for
Junior High student, Matthew
Mead, that isn’t the case.
This past year especially, Matt
has been creating various different types of large scale models
based off of monuments from
around world. Despite Matthew’s
autism, his artistic talents are being put on display through his paper sculptures.
One particular piece that Matt
made has caused positive feedback for his teachers and peers. A
paper sculpture of the twin towers
sits in front of a double rainbow is
the centerpiece for Matt’s favorite
model.
Often times, artists carefully
map out a visual blueprint before
starting a piece but instead, Matt
just grabs materials and begins
working. “I just think about it and
then I make it,” Matt said.
Recently, Matt has been using
a different medium than his normal, wood. He has been working
hard in art class constructing two
different wooden cars.
“My favorite part about art
class is using the wood” Matt
said.
Besides basic everyday objects such as buildings, cars, and
landmarks, Matt has also taken a
more whimsical approach to his
art.
“I made a castle out of wood
and paper,” Matt said. “It was big
and had different colors on it.”
In addition, Matt also creates
and utilizes his own versions of
popular ISPY books. Collecting,
cutting, and pasting different images from older ISPY materials as
well as some of using some of his
own images which all contribute
to his own books.
Outside of the classroom,
Matt has been working on his
own projects at home. This past
summer, Matt decided to take his
art outside of Montrose and submitted pieces to the Harford Fair.
“I made a tree house and won two
ribbons,” Matt said. “I really like
doing the Harford Fair.”
Almost everyone can agree
that anything Matthew makes
is guaranteed to put a smile on
someone’s face. For now, he
plans on continuing to construct
models out of anything he can get
his hands on.
METEOR CHRONICLE
PAGE 11
OCTOBER 2012
Arts & Entertainment
Commentary by Courtney
Gender Roles
in Literature
By Courtney Kimmell
Editor-in-chief
Readers, how many of you
were surprised to learn that J. K.
Rowling was female? I was halfway through Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban before
I learned the J stood for Joanne,
not John or James as I had originally thought. This gender neutral
name was not accidental; after
initially using her full name, she
changed it at the request of a publisher who believed that the target
audience for the series, young
men, would not read a book written by a female.
And then there is S.E. Hinton,
author of The Outsiders, a book
most of you are familiar with simply because it is required reading
at MAHS. The author who wrote
the often violent story following
the life of a young greaser named
Ponyboy was a female; the S.E.
stands for Susan Eloise. These
cases are not isolated; over the
years, hundreds of women took
on a male name, sometimes their
husband’s or other relative’s, in
order to have their works published and judged fairly. Less
often, males will use a female
pseudonym, especially if they are
a writing a work intended for a female audience.
While I would love to be able
to say the gender of a writer has
no influence on how the work is
experienced or interpreted, that
unfortunately is not true. Every-
one who reads the same book will
come away with something different. We read books using other
works we’ve read, our life experiences, our assumptions, and our
expectations from any gender-related stereotypes we may believe
in to give the words a meaning
that is unique to each individual.
If most readers think the author of the book is male, regardless of the writer’s actual gender,
they will find within the book a
distinct “male voice” and vice
versa. A great example of this is
the works of James Tiptree Jr., a
well-regarded writer of science
fiction short stories, whose real
name is Alice Bradley Sheldon.
For quite a while her gender was
unknown, and while many people
recognized that James Tiptree
Jr. was a pseudonym, very few
would have said the writer was
female, leading to comments like
this one made by Harlan Ellison
in his science fiction short story
anthology Again, Dangerous Visions, “[Kate] Wilhelm is the
woman to beat this year, but Tiptree is the man.”
After having read some of
her most famous works, I can say
that even I would have guessed
Tiptree was male, despite some
strongly feminist messages in
her stories. When her real name
and true gender were revealed,
it came as quite a shock to many.
At that point in time (the 1970s),
almost everyone doubted a female could write successfully in a
“male” voice and Sheldon proved
them wrong.
It is much easier for a male
writer to successfully sell a book
intended for women or with a female protagonist than for women
to do the same thing with an audience or a character of the masculine gender. Take Arthur Golden
for example, his wildly successful, if not entirely accurate, book
Memoirs of a Geisha followed
the story of a woman trying to
make a life working as a geisha
in Kyoto, Japan. Though supposedly written from the accounts of
a former geisha, much of it was
wholly of his own invention. The
book was published under his
own name and was praised for
how accurately he adopted a “female” voice and how believable
his female main character was.
Try to think of a woman who
published a book using her own
name, with a male protagonist
and that was well received by the
public. Though I’m sure they exist, I tried and I couldn’t.
Women are more likely to
read a book intended for men
than for men to read a book intended for women. While I want
to say that the men preferring to
mostly read books with male protagonists are sexist, I have to admit that I am guilty of the same
crime. Whether it is the lack of
strong female characters, with
personalities and depth rather
than the cardboard-cut out, insertyour-own-name-here types that
seem to dominate some “female”
genres (that means you Stephanie
Meyers and the majority of Y.A.
paranormal romance), that is to
blame or if the plots seem to focus
on the same issues I don’t know.
There is very little about gender
issues that has not been explored
already, so books tending to focus
on that topic can seem stale.
It is distressing to think that
most people believe there is such
a great divide between the sexes
that one human being cannot understand the mind of the other
enough to write from their perspective simply because they do
not share a few organs.
Great writing takes no notice of gender in the author or
the characters. When the issues
explored are ones all human beings can relate to, gender doesn’t
matter.
Book Reviews:
Back to School
Edition
Reviews By Mrs. Fischer, Librarian
Did you fall out of the reading loop this summer and now
you’re wondering where to begin? Well you’re in luck! Here’s
a list of some of the great new
books that came out this summer
and are just waiting for you to
read them.
Nevermore by James Patterson – The final Maximum Ride
novel that finds Max, Fang, and
Dylan involved in one last explosive adventure with an ending no
one could have seen coming.
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus
Lore - The third installment in the
thrilling, action-packed Lorien
Legacies series that launched
with I AM NUMBER FOUR.
The stakes are higher than ever as
John, Number Six, and Number
Seven desperately try to find the
rest of the Lorien Nine before it’s
too late.
Dark Souls by Paula Morris - Miranda arrives in York
with a terrible, tragic secret. She
is eager to lose herself amid the
quaint cobblestones, hoping she
won’t run into the ghosts who
supposedly roam the city. Then
she meets Nick, an intense, darkeyed boy who knows all of York’s
hidden places and histories. Soon,
Miranda realizes that something
dangerous and deadly is being
planned.
Masque of the Red Death
by Bethany Griffin - In this twist
on Edgar Allen Poe’s gothic short
story, a wealthy teenage girl
who can afford a special mask
to protect her from the plague
that destroyed humanity in the
mid-1800s, falls in love, becomes
caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow an oppressive government,
and faces the threat of a new
plague.
Eve by Anna Carey - Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been
beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she
and 200 other orphaned girls have
been promised a future as the
teachers and artists of the New
America. But then, Eve learns the
shocking truth about her school’s
real purpose --- and the horrifying fate that awaits her. Fleeing
the only home she’s ever known,
Eve sets off on a treacherous journey, searching for a place she can
survive.
(See Reviews, Page 13)
PAGE 12
OCTOBER 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
Arts & Entertainment
Fall Into Fashion!
Photos taken by Meghan Spellman and
Samanntha Poole
With fall in the air, everyone is putting their best look forward
when it comes to clothing. Here are just a few Montrose students and
teachers showing what is in throughout the MAHS halls!
Eleventh grader Gabe Hamernick strikes a pose for the camera wearing a crisp blue buttondown and black pants with a
colorful tie.
Librarian Mrs. Fischer is looking very fashionable wearing
a blue blouse with a necklace,
jeans, and black heeled boots.
Tenth-grader Anna Churco
dresses up, wearing a flowered
skirt and white button down
shirt, paired with light brown
heeled boots.
Seventh-grader
Brittney
Montonya wears a button
down plaid shirt with a long
navy blue skirt, and short cowboy boots.
(See Fashion, Page 13)
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
By Samanntha Poole
Arts and entertainment co-editor
Many cast members have the
Since the beginning of its de- but with the addition of the jitter
but, everyone has heard the story bug scene, many people are say- problem of being able to prepare
about the ruby red slippers that ing it is to be the best play yet. themselves for the play and reis now being brought to life by
With the expectations for membering their lines or having
MAHS the drama club. Drama the play set at an all-time high, to stay after school for everything
club has become a growing extra- Both sophomore Marisa Van- and being crunched on time, but
curricular activity since Director ness and eighth grader Alex Sav- senior Amanda Rucker and Marisa
Heather Winn has been in charge. age hope the play will live up each face very unique struggles.
Amanda with the acting role
Along with being the director to other people’s expectations,
of the drama club, comes the re- while David is most confident of the wicked witch of the west
is also in charge of
sponsibility to decide
making many of the
what to perform and
play’s costumes as
who to cast, which
her senior project.
can be an imaginably
She has decided to do
difficult job. Though
costume design for
the biggest struggle
the play and her sefor Mrs. Winn is to
nior project because
make sure every kid
sewing is her favorite
is encouraged and
hobby. Theatre is a
part of the show.
close second, so she
Students often
is combing two of her
join drama club for
favorite hobbies into
a variety of reasons;
one. She seems to be
some join for the ophaving no problem
portunity to act, othmanaging both the
ers join to have an exacting role and being
tra-curricular, or to
cast and crew members painting one of the the costume designer,
be with their friends. Several
props for the Wizard of Oz.
though she has had
For
David
one major struggle.
Koloski his rea“Fitting garments has been
son was a little bit different. that the play will definitely live
“I joined drama club be- up to other people’s expectations. challenging. It’s something I don’t
cause my little sister wanted
“We’ve put more effort and have a lot of experience in, though
me involved in what she’s more time into this play than any [it is] fairly simple,” Amanda said.
Marisa auditioned for the
been doing,” David said. other play, and we have had great
Mrs. Winn chose this par- community support,” David said. role of Dorothy because she
ticular play The Wizard of Oz,
Although this may be true feels Dorothy is a cute character
because she feels it is fun. It Mrs. Winn seems to have a and because Dorothy’s the one
is a step up from the previous slightly different perspective. who keeps everyone together.
plays, so it gave her cast and
“I don’t feel the play will nec- Marisa has had a hard time with
crew a chance to grow. Mrs. essarily live up to other people’s the crying scenes in particuWinn selects the people to play expectations; it’s hard to compare lar because it’s sometimes hard
each role based upon a series of a play to a movie,” Mrs. Winn said. for her to make the tears come.
Along with having the lead
things, including personality,
So far trying to make the
acting skills, and the ability to play the quality it needs to be to role she must be able to add some
memorize and perform on stage. live up to others’ expectations originality to the play by picking
and choosing what she wants to
“I chose Marisa for the lead has been a lot of work for the role, Dorothy because her person- director and the cast/crew. do like Judy Garland in the classiThe play’s cast and crew has cal 1939 film and adding her own
ality comes out when she speaks
and sings,” Mrs. Winn said. had to meet new challenges and ideas on how she wants to perform.
“I know there’s a lot resting on
Being the director Mrs. Winn solve bigger problems. Seeing
also has the opportunity to de- that the play has seven complete- my shoulders and I will work as
cide how the play is to be per- ly different sets, there’s been a hard as I can to perform my best
formed. She has decided to add lot of building and moving, fund- like any other role,” Marisa said.
The play is scheduled to be
a scene to the play that was actu- ing has been low for the drama
ally cut out of the movie. It is a club and having everyone attend performed on the 16th and 17th of
Jitter Bug scene. She has chosen has been hard, but along with November. With its added scenes
to add the additional scene be- struggles as a group each per- and orginal work, it’s a perforcause she feels it is a fun senario, son suffers their own encounters. mance you won’t want to miss.
METEOR CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 2012
PAGE 13
Arts & Entertainment
(Fashion continued from Page 12)
(Reviews continued from Page 11)
Small Damages by Beth
Kephart - It’s senior year,
and while Kenzie should be
looking forward to prom and
starting college in the fall, she
discovers she’s pregnant. Her
determination to keep her baby
is something her boyfriend and
mother do not understand. So
she is sent to Spain, where she
will live out her pregnancy, and
her baby will be adopted by a
Spanish couple. Kenzie realizes
she has some serious choices to
make about life, love and home.
Team Human by Justine
Larbalestier and Sarah Rees
Brennan - Just because Mel lives
in a city founded by vampires
doesn’t mean she knows any
personally. Until the day a
vampire shows up at her high
school and Mel’s best friend,
Cathy, starts falling for him. On
top of trying to help Cathy, Mel
is investigating the disappearance
of another friend. Soon, she finds
deep in an adventure that is equal
parts hilarious and touching.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer –
Cinder, a gifted mechanic and a
cyborg with a mysterious past, is
blamed by her stepmother for her
stepsister’s illness while a deadly
plague decimates the population
of New Beijing, but when Cinder’s
life gets intertwined with Prince
Kai’s, she finds herself at the
center of an intergalactic struggle.
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn
Anderson - Fifteen-year-old Tiger
Lily meets the alluring teenage
Peter Pan in the forbidden woods
of Neverland and immediately
falls under his spell. Peter is
unlike anyone she's ever known.
Despite being an unthinkable
match for her, soon Tiger Lily
is risking her family and her
future just to be with him.
Middle School the Worst
Years of My Life by James
Patterson and Chris Tebbetts When Rafe Kane enters middle
school, he teams up with his best
friend, "Leo the Silent," to create
a game to make school more fun
by trying to break every rule in
the school's code of conduct.
The Serpent’s Shadow by
Rick Riordan - When Apophis,
the chaos snake, threatens to
plunge the world into eternal
darkness, siblings Carter and
Sade Kane plan to use an ancient
spell to destroy the snake, but
first must rely on the murderous
ghost of a powerful magician.
..............................................................................................................................................
Tenth grader Jeff Zuber looks
very relaxed in a blue argyle
sweater and khaki dress pants.
He, along with the rest of the
soccer team, dresses up on
game days in order to present
a competent and professional
appearance.
Seventh grader Selina Vetri
smiles for a picture, wearing
a light pink ruffly top, with a
black pencil skirt.
MAHS Students Travel
To Europe
By Taylor Teed
Staff Reporter
Students in Mrs. Regan’s art class show their school spirit by wearing maroon and
white during Homecoming Week. Every day leading up to the big game students
dress up according to various themes. The themes for this year were school colors, redneck clothing, favorite sports team, Hawaiian shirts, and finally class colors.
While students are given an
opportunity to travel to foreign
countries through the trips organized by the language and history
departments at Montrose Area
High School, two MAHS students
had the chance to travel to Europe without taking teachers with
them. This summer junior Ally
Stocks and senior Sarah Lundy
traveled all the way to Europe.
Ally went through the organization People to People and Sarah
went because of soccer. Both had
experiences they will never forget.
Traveling to another country has been a dream of one the
students for a very long time.
“I
always
wanted
to
go,”
Ally
said.
Ally went to Europe through
the People to People program,
an organization that participates in community service
trips. The experience was, understandably,
rather
expensive and funds had to be raised.
“I sold Gertrude Hawk
and saved money from birthdays and Christmas,” Ally said.
Going on the trip, Ally
learned a lot of new cultures and
met a lot of new people around
the country. This included making new friends and having
many memorable experiences.
“Something I’ll always remember is running through
the Palace of Versailles to get
to the gardens,” Ally said.
Sarah went to Germany to play
soccer. She was asked to go play
club soccer by girls from Whitney Point who needed more talented players on the team. Having
played soccer for twelve years,
Sarah already knew all of the
skills needed to play so learning
was not the main focus of the trip.
“I didn’t learn any new skills.
I just played games,” Sarah said.
Sarah also sold candy bars
in order to raise the funds
necessary to go on the trip.
While the trips and the encounters the two students had were
completely different, it is true
for both that they had an experience they will likely never forget.
PAGE 14
OCTOBER 2012
METEOR CHRONICLE
Meteor Sports
Varsity Boys’ Soccer
Starts New Season
With New Coach
PHOTO COURTESY OF M. FREETHY
By Nicki Lewis
Sports co-editor
When thinking about a perfect coach, most athletes would
like someone who can relate
to them, and who knows what
they are talking about, right?
This season for the boys’ junior varsity and varsity soccer
team, 11th grade history teacher
Dan Cherney is that person.
“I missed coaching soccer,” Coach Cherney said.
“I love the game and I enjoy the players on the team.”
Before becoming varsity
coach this season, Coach Cherney has had experience coaching junior high Montrose soccer
a few years before. For anyone,
coaching any sport at a junior
high level and then a varsity level
can be seen as vastly different.
“The concepts of the game
are still the same,” Coach Cherney said of the two different levels
of playing. “My expectations for
the players never change; I want
them to work hard, learn and have
fun playing the beautiful game.”
For anyone who doesn’t
know, the boys’ soccer team is
known for their intense conditioning strategies not only this
year with Coach Cherney, but
also many previous years with
old head coach and MAHS
graphics teacher Dan Lukasavage. From running two miles on
a daily basis during conditioning
week, to running “shoelaces” up
the side of hills, the running never seems to end. Although no one
particularly enjoys all of the running, many players know that it
can mean the difference between
winning and losing a game.
Senior soccer player Joey
Zuber can’t say that he enjoyed
all of the preseason conditioning.
“Honestly, it sucked,” Zuber
said when asked about it, “but it’s
paying off. We’ve been running
all over teams at the end of games
when they’re too tired to keep up.”
Freshman Todd Lattimore
also knows well that the running will pay off in the end.
“It was terrible,” Lattimore said, “but it gets you
better. It’s just something
you have to get around.”
Lattimore, having had Coach
Cherney before in junior high,
said that the intensity level with
the coach is one of the few changes he noticed from seventh grade.
“He has you work a lot harder,”
Lattimore said. “Drills are harder,
and everything is 100 percent.”
Coach Cherney has a wide
background of soccer, having played for most of his life
and having coached at different levels for the past 12 years.
“He knows how to have
fun while still keeping practices structured,” Zuber said of
his coach. “He’s taking us back
to the type of possession soccer we strayed from last year.”
“[Coach Cherney] is a great
coach,” Lattimore said. “He has
you work really hard in practices and it shows in games.”
The potential of this year’s
team is looking good, according to Coach Cherney.
“We have an unbelievable
amount of potential,” he said.
“The players are working very
hard and will be successful.
When asked what he wanted out of his senior soccer season, Zuber set high standards.
“I want to win the district,”
he said. “We lost the district
championship my freshman
year, but I know we have the
guys this year to finish the job.”
When it comes to Coach Cherney, not a single negative word was
used to describe him as a coach.
“I love having Mr. Cherney as a coach,” Zuber said.
Ryan Martin
Senior football captains number 67 Bryce Fair, number 30 John Lawson and number one Dylan Heeman meet with the referees and the other team’s captains before the Battle for the Bluestone game
on October 12th.
..............................................................................................................................................
Montrose, Elk Lake Face Football
Season Together
By Nicki Lewis
Sports co-editor
With each new football season comes a new football team.
This year’s football program was
lent a helping hand, actually, multiple sets of hands, by our neighbors at Elk Lake High School.
After a rather low number of
varsity football players last year,
help was needed. The Meteors
ended the season with only 23 players. This was the key reason that
help was sought from Elk Lake.
Combined sports programs
are nothing new, as many are
aware that Blue Ridge High
School and Susquehanna Community High School are known
to have a combined football
team, meaning kids from Blue
Ridge wanting to play football
are able to play it while wearing a Susquehanna jersey. Students from Montrose interested
in swimming have been a part of
the Elk Lake High School swim
team for years now, sporting
the green and white. These two
concepts gave the idea for Montrose to seek help from Elk Lake,
and receive help as they did.
After finding out that
Elk Lake agreed to offer the
chance to play football to
their students, Montrose football coaches were all ecstatic.
“I was very encouraged,”
MAHS history teacher and head
football coach Mr. Russell Canevari said. “We knew that Elk Lake
School District had some good
athletes and I knew if we got a
few, we would be in good shape.”
According to Coach Canevari, the players were also
very encouraged by the news.
“I love having more kids come
out and see what we’re about and
what we do so we can become
better in the future,” senior football player Dan Zapolski said.
Senior John Lawson is also
very excited for the new recruits.
“More kids coming means
better odds,” Lawson said.
As of now, there is only
one player from Elk Lake that
plays for the varsity team. However, there are about ten other
boys on the junior high football team that Coach Canevari
hopes will stick with the game
and make it to the varsity level.
Elk Lake sophomore Adam
Curry plays wide receiver for the
Montrose varsity football team.
“I’ve wanted to play [football] my whole life,” Curry said.
According to Curry, he
gets along well with the rest
of the team and doesn’t mind
playing for another school.
When talking about the qualities of what the Elk Lake athletes
add to MAHS’s football pro-
gram, very good things were said.
“Right now the [Elk Lake]
players provide two things to the
team, depth and competition for
position,” Coach Canevari said.
“Hopefully this will continue.”
“They definitely add a lot
of character [to the team],”
Zapolski said. “I think most
of all, they show spirit and
commitment to our team.”
According to Lawson, the
new members of the junior
high, JV and varsity teams contribute valuable athletic ability.
When it comes to looking at the season ahead, attitudes remain positive and
heads are still held high.
After a few first rough losses
to start the season, the team continues to get as much out of every
week and each and every practice.
“I believe that we could
win a couple of games [this
season], but even if we don’t,
I know the kids under me will
learn from our mistakes and
have another good season after
¬¬we’re gone,” Zapolski said.
According to Lawson, the
season outlook is a positive one.
“We are going to continue to work hard and develop as a team,” Coach Canevari said. “And hopefully we
will put some wins together.”
METEOR CHRONICLE
OCOTBER 2012
Girls’ Soccer Suffers With Lacking
Numbers
PAGE 15
E. REEVES/METEOR CHRONICLE
By Meghan Gilhool
Sports co-editor
Each sport season it seems
that the teams lose and gain players, either benefitting or harming the team. This year’s volleyball program is benefitting
by gaining girls and having cuts
for the first time ever. When a
sports team gains players another team often loses players.
A program that is losing athletes is the girls’ soccer program.
The junior high team, coached
by Lonnie Griffiths, has six girls
on their team this year. There are
three seventh grade girls and three
eighth grade girls. Out of the six
girls on the team, only three have
had experience in the past. On
the varsity team, coached by John
Cherundolo, the girls team has 22
players which is just enough for
a junior varsity and varsity team.
Some of the female athletes have played in the Blue
Ridge Program and at the
dome in Binghamton, NY.
“Most of our girls have played
before, either in junior high or in
a youth league near their homes.
A few play most of the year either on club teams or tournament
teams,” Coach Cherundolo said.
The coaches have ideas
as to why numbers are low.
“I would attribute the lack
of players to other interests and
opportunities’ at the junior high
level,” Coach Griffiths said.
When players get into the
senior high, they have more options for sports and clubs. These
are affecting every area. Students leave sports for clubs and
they leave clubs to join sports.
Coach Griffiths believes that
coordinating student schedules
with their academics or other
after school activities would allow for more students to take
part in the athletic program.
Seventh grader Lauren Andre
believes that part of the reason the
team is lacking players is because
the boys’ are intimating to the girls.
Coach Cherundolo agrees and
adds, “I think many girls become
uncomfortable playing against
taller and stronger boys, so that
might keep some away who
would be there if it were all girls.”
Coach Cherundolo looks for
a player with a positive attitude
who is easy to coach and can work
as a member of the team. They
don’t have to be a great athlete,
but they need to give 100 percent.
Coach Griffiths looks for a
player with strong interest in the
game, dedication, passing, dribbling, and shooting skills, and
decision making. Eighth grader Krysten Morgan
said everyone on the team is nice
and all of the girls are good friends.
“I would like to have at
least seven girls at every grade
level. Seven would provide
each level [junior high, junior
varsity and varsity] with a full
team,” Coach Griffiths said.
Coach Cherundolo would
like to see more girls come out
for the team because there’s
more competition for players to
demonstrate their skills. This
will make the players work
harder to get more playing time.
Everyone involved in the
girls soccer program would like
to see the numbers increase.
No one wants to see the program die after the success the
girls have had in the past years!
..............................................................................................................................................
MAHS Juniors Invited to Play for PA
Hoops
By Meghan Gilhool
Sports co-editor
In past years, MASD sports
programs and individual athletes
have had tremendous success
and it’s not anywhere close to
being over. Juniors Myra Lattimore and Cameron Dean were
asked to play for PA Hoops. This
program is used to recruit the
best underclass basketball players in America! MASD athletic
director Mr. Joseph Gilhool received an email about this program in mid-August and relied
the message to the juniors at the
beginning of the school year.
The idea of this program is
to let college scouts look at the
top players in America. Dean
doesn’t know where he will be
playing at; however, Lattimore
will be traveling to Penn State
University, Harrisburg and will
play on September 30, 2012.
Both of these athletes have
had experience playing. Lattimore was one of the starting five
on this past season’s varsity team
that made it to the state semifinals and contributed points, rebounds and assists in every game.
She also has played A.A.U basketball (Amateur Athletic Union)
in Binghamton, NY for the
Southern Tier New York Flyers.
Dean also started varsity
this past season and helped the
boys team in the same areas
as Lattimore did. He as well
played A.A.U in Binghamton,
and he travelled all over the
east coast playing basketball.
“My initial reaction was
excitement. I was looking
forward to participating in
the tryout,” Lattimore says.
Dean
was
excited
as
well, but wanted to learn
more about the program.
The athletes got invited to
the program based on previous season accomplishments.
“I think it’s a big honor because very few people are recruited. It shows how good
they are,” Mr. Gilhool says.
Both players play a power
forward position on the court.
Dean has had experience
playing in front of college coach
His thoughts on playing in
this program are, “It is going to
be very similar because the level of the kids on my team and
against me is going to be high.”
Both athletes don’t think playing in front of college coaches is
going to affect how they play because they have played in front
of scouts at their tournaments.
Both of the players’ coaches have been notified about
them being asked to take part
in this program. Lattimore’s
varsity coach, Coach Al says,
“I am honored to coach her.”
“I think it’s good for him, anything to keep him playing. He could
benefit a lot from it and it gives
him exposure to college scouts,”
Coach Madden stated. Mr. Gilhool was excited to get
to have people participate because
it promotes the school and athletic
talent that the school has to offer.
Both players have worked hard
to get this opportunity and are excited to show the college scouts,
team mates and their school that
they are going to do great things
with their basketball
talents.
Lady Meteor tennis players from left Lizzy Escobar, Erica
Reeves, Ceara Hartman and Victoria Hinds.
.............................................................................................
Familiar Face Takes
New Tennis Position
By Maria Ingaglio
Opinion co-editor
No stranger to the game,
Mrs. Anne Hoopingarner takes
a new spot on the tennis court:
head coach. Coach Hoopingarner may be new to position as
head coach, but she has been
with the girls’ team for years.
“I began assistant coaching girls' tennis nine years ago
and boys' tennis for about four
years. I coached under three
different head coaches,” Mrs.
Hoopingarner said. Alongside
of Coach Hoopingarner is Assistant Coach Potter. Having
prior experience with the team
and other coaches, Coach Hoopingarner is implementing new
methods of coaching to the team.
“I'm using methods that I have
learned from past coaches that
have had positive results as well
as some new practice drills I have
read about. I also have to employ some occasional creativity
in order to help the girls sharpen
skills” Coach Hoopingarner said.
Senior and doubles player,
Ceara Hartman stated that, “[s]he
taught some of our younger players
the fundamentals of tennis which
is important for the development
of the team in the next few years.”
Since the start of the season,
there has already been a noticeable difference to the team.
“I have seen improved tennis
ability in my players which is
a result of their hard work and
desire to improve their game.
Many of the girls have spent
time playing and getting lessons
in the off-season. Also, many
players make an effort to practice during the season on their
own,”Coach Hoopingarner said.
The tennis season started on a
positive note and holds a record
of 6-4. “The season has gone very
well and, as long things continue
to go well, the girls could earn
the wildcard spot for team districts,” Coach Hoopingarner said.
With five matches to come,
both the players and the coaches have high hopes for the remainder of the 2012 season.
“I think that our team will do
better this year than last. Our seniors are ready to get out on the
court and do what needs to be
done,” senior Ceara Harman said.
“The team has adopted the
simple motto of 'believe'. It was
inspired by tennis player Melanie Oudin who in 2009 competed in the US Open as a wildcard entry. She battled her way
into the quarterfinals defeating
tennis greats like Elena Dementieva, Nadia Petrova, and Maria
Sharapova all at the age of 17,”
Coach Hoopingarner said. “On
her the heel of her sneakers was
the word 'believe'. It has been our
team’s 'battle cry' ever since.”
OCTOBER 2012
PAGE 16
METEOR CHRONICLE
Lady Meteors Take Runner Up Spot MAHS Graduate Tony
in Foundation Race
Bistocchi Honored on
By Angela Russell
Football Helmets
Elementary co-editor
After a long, nerve racking
The Montrose team consist- scores and runners frantically
drive to Hershey PA , the Mon- ing of Samantha Bennici, Al- waiting for their placement, the
trose girls cross country team fi- lison Lewis, Emma Washo, An- girls headed back to the tent.
nally arrived to their hotel, know- gela Russell and Taylor Warner
With everybody back at the
ing they had a very important race were off with the start of the tent and Coach Lewis not far bethe next day.
gun. After run- hind, the girls were ready to hear
The Foun- A. RUSSELL/METEOR CHRONICLE ning three miles how they did. School after school
dation Race
was being checked
held at Heroff the page and
shey P. A. on
the final two were
September 22,
still left to be called
was the race that
out, Elk Lake and
loomed in the
Montrose. An exfuture.Knowing
cited Coach Lewis
that it was gocalls the Montrose
ing to be a big
Girls as the runrace, they all
ners up. Everyhad goals set in
body was ecstatic.
their heads and
“ I got 8th
competition they
place at the race, I
wanted to leave
ran hard and at the
in the dust. The
end of the season
girls were ready
I will do even betto run the race.
ter at the course,”
“Not
only
Bennici
said
is Elk Lake
With
the
our competi- Varsity cross country runners from left: Emma Washo, Angela Montrose girls
tion but also Russell, Allison Lewis, Coach Tom lewis, Courtney Harding, cross
country
other
vari- Samantha Bennici and Taylor Warner pose with their trophy af- team
bringing
ous runners ter taking second place at The Foundation Race in Hershey, Pa. home the Founin the race
dation race runfrom
variners up trophy evous
other
districts,”
ju- and the home stretch to go, erybody was leaving with a smile.
nior Samantha Bennici said. coaches trying to predict the
..............................................................................................................................................
New Beginning for Girls’ Volleyball
By Maddy Pasteka
News and features co-editor
The varsity and junior varsity
girls’ volleyball team is starting off their season right with a
strong new line of players after
losing six seniors last season.
“Our team this year is in
a rebuilding process as we
lost six very important seniors
last year,” Coach Dean said.
But with a lot of new freshman and a strong junior varsity
program, the opportunities for
this season are looking bright.
“I hope that this season
will be good; I see a lot of
potential in this team!” senior Miranda Dunne said.
The number of players on
the team this year is slightly
lower than that of last year,
but that will allow the girls on
the team to all get equal, quality playing time and experience.
Unlike last year, there
are only two seniors leading the
team, Dunne and Emily Swingle.
“We have two excellent seniors on our team this year; they
always give 150 percent in practice as well as games and are
great team leaders. I believe they
will end their volleyball careers
on a high note,” Coach Dean said.
Not only does the coach
love this year’s seniors, but
the lower classmen do as well.
“I love our seniors! They believe in us so much and are always helping us lower classmen
out,” sophomore Lacy Nealy said.
Being a senior is not only
your time to shine, but your
time to enjoy the last bits of
high school and its sports.
“It’s so weird being a senior!
I knew this year would come;
I just can’t believe how fast it
came!” Dunne said. The JV program is made up
mostly of freshmen but once the
second half of the season rolls
around, Coach Dean believes that
once they learn the differences between a JV and varsity game, they
will have great varsity potential.
“The first practice was a
lot of fun! It was hard to play
in the beginning, but I eventually got the hang of it!”
freshmen Alexis Wells said.
Going into varsity and
junior
varsity
sports
for
the first time can be scary.
“It was kind of scary going into the first practice; I
was really nervous,” freshmen Kasey Warner said.
Most players were happy
to hear they survived the cuts.
Only a few were made this year
because of the number of girls
who showed up for tryouts.
Some girls joined because
older siblings and friends play, or
because they wanted to try something different in their sports life.
“My sister played and it
looked really fun! I used to
play soccer but I wasn’t very
good, and volleyball seemed
more fun to play,” Warner said.
The gain of girls worked perfect for this team’s loss of seniors.
“I am excited about the potential of this team; if these
girls continue to work hard,
stay positive and have fun, I
expect a number of wins in
the future,” Coach Dean said.
With dedication and hard
work, the girls and the coach both
feel that they can have a winning
season in the not too distant future.
By Nicki Lewis
Sports co-editor
This past spring, the world
lost a young, talented and admired Montrose Area High
School graduate to a tragic motor vehicle accident. Anthony,
or “Tony Bistocchi” was the 21
year old son of Mrs. Lisa Bistocchi, a loved teacher at Choconut Elementary School. Tony’s
death affected many, even those
who didn’t know him personally.
Looking around the halls of
Montrose Area High School, one
is bound to find something with
Tony’s name on it, whether it’s
a project done by student council back in the days when Tony
reined president, or a plaque or
trophy including Tony’s name and
accomplishments as a part of the
Montrose varsity football team.
Up on the football practice field in the weight room,
Tony’s name jumps out at you
for accomplishing several lifting goals. Tony contributed
much talent and dedication to
the Montrose football program.
For this reason, the Montrose varsity football team
proudly sports stickers on their
helmets each and every game
in memory of “Big Tony.”
MAHS football players had
the idea of the stickers, and confronted Principal Jim Tallarico
about the thought of following
through with it. According to
Mr. Tallarico, the message hoping to be sent by the stickers
was to show honor to a young
man who cared deeply about the
school and its football program.
“The memory of Tony and
how hard he worked while he
was here should help motivate
our current members of the football team,” Mr. Tallarico said.
Tony’s family was asked permission to sport the stickers ahead
of time. Mrs. Bistocchi loved hearing the idea from Mr. Tallarico.
“I was deeply moved that
after all these years of Tony being out of the high school that
the football team still wanted
to honor him,” Mrs. Bistocchi said. “I felt proud of those
boys and their thoughtfulness.”
The stickers are no more
than about an inch wide and an
inch tall, but they sure show a
lot honor for a great young man.
Having
graduated
from
Montrose in 2009, some of
the
upperclassmen
personally knew and admired Tony.
“Tony was not only a teammate of mine, but also a good
friend,” senior Dale Harder said.
“I believe that he would greatly
appreciate this tribute to him.”
When the rest of the football team heard about the idea
of the stickers, every member was very supportive.
According to varsity football
coach Mr. Sean Castellani, many
of the players had known Tony
growing up and looked up to him.
“They aspire to one day do the
many things Tony was able to do
as a player and a student,” Coach
Castellani said. “The sticker
commemorates the positive impact Tony made on the school,
community and football team.”
Junior
Brenton
Warner
is glad the team is representing the teammate, classmate
and role model Tony was and
thinks Tony would appreciate it.
We can conclude that “Big
Tony” would enjoy the idea of
the stickers in his honor, but what
about the thoughts of the community members who also knew
what a great person Tony was?
“I believe that the community will like the new addition to
the helmets because they bring
back great memories of Tony’s
football days,” Harder said.
According to Warner, the
community should, and hopefully will, agree that the stickers are a good way to show respect to Tony and his family.
“I hope the community
thinks of him as a role model and remembers him as the
kind, caring individual he
was,” Mrs. Bistocchi said.
As losing a loved one for
anyone would be, times have
been tough for the Bistocchi
family. Many thanks are in order, according to Mrs. Bistocchi.
“I couldn’t even begin to list
the many people that have offered
support through this awful time,”
Mrs. Bistocchi said. “Thank you
to everyone for all your kindness, thoughts and prayers.”
When
asked
if
there
was any other known ways
the football team honors
Tony, Harder answered yes.
“We all play our best every game, every play in
honor of him,” Harder said.
Although not here in person
any longer, Tony Bistocchi will
always be remembered by those
who knew him and those who
didn’t. His accomplishments
and contributions to the whole
community will always live on.