Montrose Area School DistrictVolume 29, Issue 3 March 2013

INSIDE

Dates to Remember...............................

Produced by the students of the Montrose Area Junior/Senior High SchoolMete r Chronicle

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Montrose FBLA (Future Busi-ness Leaders of America) stu-dents are once again participating in the Hershey conference held in Hershey, PA on April 15-17. With newcomers making their way for the first time going to the confer-ence and some returning students also making their way to the con-ference, director Duane Benedict is very proud of all his students.

"I am very proud of all the stu-dents who work hard and getting to compete academically against 100 plus people from across the state can be very intimidat-

ing," Mr. Duane Benedict said.There was a lot of differ-

ent subjects for the students to choose from that suited their abilities ranging from busi-ness math to sports marketing.

“I choose sports market-ing because I know a lot about sports and I take a sports mar-keting class, so that helped me a lot with the test,"Sophmore Andreas Mittmann said.

Placing high in students events at Sayre High School was the only way that they were to make it to the Hershey confer-

ence. Only the top first, second or third place winners would be able to move onto the Her-shey conference depending on their subject. Some subjects only took the first place winner.

“Being able to move onto the Hershey competition and suc-ceed in a subject that I have a great interest in is very exciting, "Junior Myra Lattimore said.

With FBLA, the dress code is very strict. All students who at-tend the event will be required to wear very formal business attire.

After the students arrive at

the Hershey conference the atmo-spheric environment should be fun, exciting and very competitive.

Once in the Hershey con-ference, the students have a chance to move forward in the competition and succeed into the National level if they do well at the Hershey conference.

“I would not be surprised to see all the students advance to the National conference they are all so talented and hard-working students on the Her-shey list," Mr. Benedict said.

With students being able

FBLA Members Advance to State CompetitionBy Angela RussellElementary co-editor

March 8

4-8 PMClass of 2014 Fun Fair

MAHS

March 18-21

Lathrop St. Kindergar-ten Registration

Call Lathrop St. for de-tails

March 21

6 PMPTO Movie Night: Hotel

TransylvaniaChoconut Valley School

MAHS Students Travel AbroadBy Callie CurleyNews and features editorOpinion co-editor

For the first time in the nearly six consecutive years that French teacher Mrs. Polly Pritchard, affectionately called Madame by her students at MAHS, has organized a trip abroad for stu-dents, the opportunity to travel was offered to a group outside of the French III and IV classes. On November 24, 2012 nearly 30 MAHS students, teachers and family members from the French II, III, and IV classes as well as the AP European History class departed the high school for JFK International Airport in New York City. Their destina-tion? Heathrow Airport in Lon-don, England for nearly a week of learning and exploring the his-toric streets of London and Paris.

According to Mrs. Pritchard, the trip was a complete suc-cess and a positive experience to mark the last of her journeys abroad as a faculty member in the Montrose Area School Dis-trict. Already working under a

compressed schedule in the cur-rent school year, Mrs. Pritchard plans to retire officially with the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. While Mrs. Pritchard may be leaving the school, the legacy she has left with her stu-dents, both past and present is one that will surely not be forgotten.

“I have always enjoyed plan-ning international trips for my students because of the oppor-tunities they have to use the lan-guage they are learning and truly connect with the culture of the country.” Mrs. Pritchard said.

In years past, Mrs. Pritchard has organized student trips to Quebec City, Montreal, Paris, Venice, and London, always ex-tending the invitation to French students in their third and fourth year, exclusively. The 2012 trip, therefore was one for the books as it was offered to French students who were taking French II as well as members of the AP European History class. Mrs. Pritchard con-siders this change a positive one.

“Students returned from [London and Paris] inspired to travel,” she said. “Numerous stu-dents in both French and the AP class told me that their experience with our group inspired them to pursue international travel in col-lege and even beyond. To me, that is what the experience is about.”

Mrs. Pritchard also noted that although she has traveled to plac-es such as London and Paris on more than one occasion, she has never been ‘bored’ while there.

“There are new things to discover around every corner,” Mrs. Pritchard said. “Even on this latest trip I saw new and exciting things such as [Irish playwright] Oscar Wilde’s grave on the outskirts of Paris.”

Junior Jeremy Crayton found the trip to be both educational and enriching. Upon hearing about the opportunity in the spring of his sophomore year, Jeremy and his mother began planning im-mediately for the costly trip.

“I participated in the fund-

raisers beforehand to help raise the money. Doing that was very much worth it for the experiences I had in France and England.” Jeremy said.

The highlight of the trip, in Jeremy’s opinion was vis-iting the Palace at Versailles.

“It was so incredible to think about the historic events that had taken place there,” he said. “I could hardly believe that I was walking through the same halls that French monarchs had for hun-dreds of years. It was also inter-esting to connect this experience to things I had learned in class.”

Jeremy would suggest trav-eling abroad to any student who had an interest in history or for-eign culture and stressed that his experience on the trip organized by Mrs. Pritchard, Mr. Cher-ney and NETC Tour Company has encouraged him to pursue travel in the future, his next stops being Scotland and Italy.

“If any student had this op-portunity to experience the

Montrose community members reached out to a MASD student

through Valentines’ Cards

Read More on Page 8

Another winter sports season in the books!

Check Out the Scores on Page 14

MARCH 2013 METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 2

On Dec. 13, 35 Student Coun-cil members took a charter bus on a trip into New York City for the day. The trip was chaper-oned by MAHS faculty members Mr. Mike Boccella, Mrs. Sarah Brander, Mr. Russell Canevari, Mr. Dan Cherney, Mrs. Katie Fischer, and Mr. Ryan Griffiths.

Once they were in the city, the group went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum. After touring the museum, the students were free to explore Times Square. The students were able to shop around, grab some lunch, and en-joy the hustle and bustle of the city.

“I think the student’s fa-vorite part of [of the trip] was having freedom in the city and being able to do their own thing,” Mrs. Katie Fischer said.

Junior Justin Hartman spent his day in the city shop-ping with some friends.

“My favorite part was shopping,” Justin said.

Sophomore Marisa Van-Ness enjoyed the independence of going around Times Square.

After the students had time to look around and shop, the group met up again and went to see Macy’s Christmas win-dows. The students had the opportunity to shop in Macy’s or in other stores in the area.

“My favorite [stores] were Forever 21 and H&M,” sopho-more Anna Churco said. “We don’t have those around here.”

Before getting back on the bus, the group traveled to Rock-efeller center to see the Christ-mas tree. Students were able to walk around the area, ice skate in the famous ice skat-ing rink, and take pictures in front of the Christmas tree.

Student council advisor Mrs.

Brander planned the trip. Mrs. Brander held the sign-ups for the trip, as well as organized the museum ticket purchase and set up transportation. Mrs. Brander said that the New York City trip was a tradition that was started by Mr. Boccella during his ten-ure as Student Council advisor.

“This was some of the stu-dent’s first time in New York City and I think that it pretty exciting to be able to see one of the world’s most well known cities on a school trip with your friends,” Mrs. Brander said.

According to the stu-dents, the trip was a success.

“I liked the trip,” Jus-tin said. “I would go again.”

Marisa and Anna said that they’d go on the trip as well. They thought of some other attractions that they thought would be fun to visit on the trip next year, too.

“Next year, going to the wax museum would be cool,” Anna said.

“I would like to go see Madi-son Square Garden,” Justin said.

“I would like to go see Madison Square Garden or the Empire State Building,” sophomore Ali Renyolds said.

“I would love to see a Broad-way show or Madame Tussaud’s [Wax] Museum,” Marisa said.

Mrs. Brander’s favorite was being in the city at Christmas time. Another favorite of hers was when the group was at its last stop all of the students were on the bus and accounted for!

The students stopped for din-ner on the way home, and ar-rived back at the high school later that evening. Marisa Van-Ness was happy to get home, but she really liked being in the city.

While she enjoyed the city, Marisa was happy to be back in Montrose. “Even the bus ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!”

Student Council Visits the Big AppleBy Holly AndreStaff Reporter

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ognitions including ranking 10th nationally and being given ‘All American Honors’ for judging.

“Since leaving Montrose I have grown up a lot and become more willing to try new things,” Nate said. “[In Alpha-Zeta], I was always doing things that I be-lieved in, so it didn’t matter what people thought of me as much as it had [mattered] in high school.”

Nate made the most of his time in high school and was an active member of Susquehanna County 4-H, Pennsylvania Junior Holstein Association, Key Club, march-ing band and jazz band. He en-joyed classes offered by teachers including Mr. Tom Lucenti, Mr. Tom George, and Mr. Joe Moore.

“They didn’t just teach the school material, they taught about the world and how people see things. [These teachers] pushed me to become a better person, treat peo-ple with respect and do the things that are right for you.” Nate said.

To those students preparing to receive their diplomas from MAHS this spring, Nate had a few key words of advice to offer:

“For [anyone] wanting to col-lege, go, and don’t worry if you aren’t sure what you want to do. Opportunities will present them-selves and once you see one, grab hold for the ride and don’t let go because the opportuni-ties out there really are endless.”

Caitlin Feece, a 2004 gradu-ate of MAHS is currently living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she works as an Operations Spe-cialist for a residential mortgage company. On a daily basis, Caitlin is responsible for the management of a pipeline of mortgage loans for two offices. Her career has recently taken an exciting turn as her com-pany has begun the process of form-ing a new business venture from a project she began in early 2012.

“I saw an opportunity and went after it,” Caitlin said. “Now it's turned into the formation of an entirely new division of my company, [scheduled] to launch in Spring of this year. I'm still managing my daily workflow as before, but also developing processes and training our team for the new ven-ture. It's challenging, but rewarding.”

This career path, however well it is working for her today, wasn’t the one Caitlin had always envisioned for herself. As a high school student in Montrose, Caitlin held for her-self very high expectations and as-pired to attend law school and work as an attorney in Washington DC.

“I had a very glamorous and ambitious plan for myself. The prob-lem was, when I actually started down that path in college and stud-ied politics and law, I absolutely hated it,” Caitlin said. “I realized everything I had dreamed of doing

wasn't what I wanted at all, and I had to make a new plan for myself.”

This experience is undoubt-edly what inspired the advice she offered to students preparing to leave Montrose and enter post-sec-ondary education or the workforce.

“Be prepared that the course of your life after graduation may not go the way you anticipate. Be prepared to adjust your dreams as you grow and experience new things. But my most important advice? Do not take out a ton of student loans!” Caitlin warned.

Like many students, Caitlin’s high school experience helped to shape her into the adult she is today. But her time at MAHS was more than being named “Most Likely to Become President” by her fellow se-niors, an Honors and AP courseload and a semester in Berlin, Germany.

Several teachers affected Cait-lin in her years at MAHS and still do, today. Those teachers are Mr. Cunningham, retired English teacher and current Physical Edu-cation teacher Ms. Ellen Mulligan.

“Ms. Mulligan was an amaz-ing teacher because of her dedica-tion and kindness.” Caitlin said. “It was always so clear that she loved her job and loved teaching her students, and really cared about us. Her positivity was influen-tial and I still appreciate it today.”

Class of 2004

Caitlin Feece

Nate Oleniacz, a 2008 gradu-ate of MAHS received his degree in Animal Science with a Busi-ness Management option from Penn State University in May of 2012. He is currently employed on Arethusa Farm in Litchfield, Con-necticut; an operation considered to be one of the most elite dairy show herds in the country and world. Known for exhibiting reg-istered Holsteins, Jerseys, and sev-eral Brown Swiss cows, Arethusa Farm employs about 15 people, and Nate enjoys his responsibili-ties in the milking barn, but admits that it isn’t the job he dreamed of having as a student in Montrose.

“In high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a job,” Nate said. “Most people really don’t know what [they] want to do or if that idea is something they will enjoy doing. It wasn’t until my second semester at Penn State that I thought agriculture was a [pos-sible area] for me to work in.”

While at Penn State, Nate be-came a member of Alpha Zeta, an honorary, co-educational, profes-sional agricultural fraternity and took part in many events and ac-tivities sponsored by the Penn State Dairy Science Club (DSCI). He served as chairperson for several DSCI events and enjoyed the ex-perience of being a member of the Penn State Dairy judging team, which has received numerous rec-

By Callie CurleyNews and features editorOpinion co-editor

Class of 2008

Nate Oleniacz

Alumni Offer Life Experience as Lessons

Golf Tournament to Benefit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

MAHS Junior David Max-ey will be hosting a Captain and Crew format golf tourna-ment on Saturday, April 27 at Tall Pines Players’ Club in Friendsville. The event will begin with team registration at 9 o’clock AM and con-clude with a steak dinner for all participants. Anyone inter-ested in entering a team for this event which will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Founda-

tion should contact David by email at rmaxey@stny.rr.com or by phone at 570-278-2833. Space is limited to 36 teams. Payment of $ per team is due to David by April 15, 2013 and all checks can be made payable to: David’s Graduation Project. Mailing address for checks is as fol-lows: David’s Graduation Project, 79 Mountain View Estates, Montrose, PA 18801

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“Life As We Know It” is a year-long series devoted to informing teens and the commu-

nity about some of the issues teens face.As We Know It...Life

METEOR CHRONICLE MARCH 2013 PAGE 3

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Principal’s Perspective Teacher of the Issue:Mrs. Kempa

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Students take many memo-ries with them when they gradu-ate from high school. Memories filled with both friends and teachers. One teacher that no one will ever for-get once they graduate is Mrs. Kempa, the teacher of this issue.

E v e r since Mrs. Kempa was little, she dreamed of b e c o m i n g a teacher. When she was young, Mrs. Kempa helped out at a summer program for spe-cial needs children which helped influence her decision to become a teacher. Her love of children and school also fueled her desire to become a teacher. Mrs. Kempa, who has an undergraduate degree from Mansfield University and a graduate degree from Bingham-ton University, is a reading spe-

cialist and a special education major. Mrs. Kempa, who has been teaching at Montrose since

1996, was able to jump right into the teaching world as a spe-cial education teacher and af-ter teaching spe-cial education for 17 years, Mrs. Kempa switched to reading, which she has now been teaching for six years. Mrs. Kempa enjoys teaching reading because it involves both of her majors and doesn’t

involve her least favorite thing about teaching, the paper work.

Not only does Mrs. Kempa teach reading, but she also in-volves both the high school and the elementary school in Read Across America. When Mrs. Kempa de-veloped Read Across America in 1998, she said that she was look-ing for something to promote the

By Morgan UpdykeStaff Reporter

See Kempa Page 4

Often times, the topic of teen dating violence is not discussed or even acknowledged. Accord-ing to the National Resource Center for Teen Dating Violence Awareness nearly 1.5 million high school students experience physical abuse from their part-ner in a single year alone. Many people don’t believe that abuse occurs in teenage relationships, but it does. According to loveis-respect.org, about 81 percent of parents do not believe that teen dating violence is an issue, nor do they notice when their child may be in an abusive relationship.

A study from stopdv.org, shows that less than 25 percent of teenagers have discussed the topic of abusive relationships with their parents, and one in every three teens in the U.S. alone are victims of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating part-ner. Only a small percent of teen-agers who were involved in an abusive relationship told anyone.

These statistics may not seem applicable to MAHS, but it is not uncommon for students to experience this.

“I was scared. He threat-ened me,” Elaine* said.

When people think of abu-sive relationships, they tend to think of adults and not necessar-ily teenagers. Truth is, teenage dating violence is a very authen-tic and crucial issue. The highest rate of intimate partner violence, researched by loveisrespect.org, occurs in young women ages 16-24, and as teens develop emotion-ally, they are heavily influenced by their relationship experiences.

According to stopdv.org, dat-ing violence does not discrimi-nate; it affects all ages, races, sex-uality, genders, backgrounds, and economic levels. Teenage dating violence does not only consist of physical abuse, but can also in-clude both emotional and mental abuse. It may also include stalk-ing, harassing texts, harassing

phone calls, and cyber bullying. This abuse is often times excused or denied by many. The abuser often times uses this to gain and maintain control over the victim.

“I didn’t mean for it to go that far,” Sarah* said.

According to helpguide.org, control is really the main reason for abuse. To maintain this control the abuser uses fear, guilt, shame, and mainly intimidation. Abusers often humiliate their victim or put them down when they are alone, as well as with friends and fam-ily. They see their victim as prop-erty or a sex object and blame them for the reason of the abuse.

“At first I didn’t mind when she took charge but then she didn’t know where to draw the line,” Stephanie* said.

There are common traits that some, but not all, abusers share. A few common traits amongst abus-ers include a bad temper, they typically yell at or humiliate their partner, annihilation of belong-

*Names have been changed at students’ re-

quest in order to maintain privacy.

ings, possessiveness, and threats of self-harm. They typically want control of you wherever you go and no matter what it is that you do.

“After every beating he always said he was sorry. He bought me gifts and prom-ised to never do it again. I believed him,” Rose * said

Many victims share similar traits as well. One trait that most victims share is that they are of-ten times very jumpy in intense situations. They feel they de-serve to be mistreated, feel like they can’t do anything right, feel emotionally numb or helpless, and they avoid certain topics to keep from upsetting their partner.

“I stayed because I thought I could change him,” Amy* said.

According to loveisrespect.org, while the physical abuse is horrible and considered the worst, the mental and emotional abuse can be just as bad if not even worse, especially when combined with the physical. The emotional

abuse can destroy a person’s self-worth, and more often than not leads to anxiety and depression, which can often lead to suicide. Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to do poorly in school, and show involvement in binge drinking, suicide at-tempts and physical fighting.

According to loveisrespect.org, 50 percent of all the teens involved in an abusive relation-ship or rape, attempt suicide. Only 12.5 percent of females and 5.4 percent of males who at-tempt suicide are not involved in some type of dating violence.

Dating violence can be pre-vented when teens, families, organizations, and communi-ties work together to implement effective prevention strategies. Also, it is smart to teach chil-dren that they deserve better and if they are in that situation it is not their fault. If you know someone in an abusive relation-ship find an adult and get help.

Teen Dating Violence a Growing ProblemBy Sam Poole and Lindsay DarrowArts &Entertainment Co-Editor and Opinion Co-Editor

A few years ago when we informed that we would be start-ing our own secondary life skills program at the high school, I cannot lie...there was some anxious moments as we pre-pared to meet our new students.

The major goal was to en-sure that all of our new students and their families would gain our trust that we would provide for them the education and care in our new life skills program that would be second to none.

The first major component was the hiring of our new life skills teacher, Mr. Schank. To say Mr. Schank has been an in-credible addition to our staff would be an understatement. The time, effort, care, and com-

passion he gives to the students in the life skills program is truly remarkable. The second major component of the program is its incredible kids. There is Desiree, Gregory, Michael, Dawn, Jen, and Kayla. And let's not forget about two unique women, Rebec-ca Cooley and Iris Hoffman, who serve as aides for the program.

The definition of a life skills program is to educate the stu-dents on the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Or in simpler terms, educate these students on the skills it takes to get through each and every day of their lives. Things that most of us take for granted. But our program offers so much more for these kids. It allows them to become part of our family and not just kids in a program isolated from the rest of the school. All the credit goes to Mr. Schank for imple-menting a program that involves his kids directly with the rest of the school each and every day.

From the holiday breakfasts, brunches, lunches, and dinners, they provide for our staff to guest

chef days when members of our teaching staff spend some time with the students and prepare for them some of their favorite recipes. And probably the most famous part of the program is Kayla's School Store run by man-ager and life skills senior student, Kayla O'Brien. It offers for our students and staff school sup-plies and nutritious snacks during the day for a minimal fee. Kayla greets each and every customer by name and rings up each sale in her turn of the century cash reg-ister. The store also runs it's very own coffee shop for staff, and yes, Kayla also welcomes each and every faculty and staff member by name. She is one incredible young lady who has inspired all of us.

It's been an unbelievable tran-sition these past few years. We have gone from anxious moments as our program continued to grow to a profound pride that our life skills program is now a model of success, and we would com-pare it to any life skills program in the state or country. So thank you Mr. Schank, Mrs. Cooley, Mrs. Hoffman, Desiree, Greg-ory, Michael, Dawn, Jen, and Kayla! We're glad you're here!

Life Skills and Kayla’s Store

C.CURLEY/METEORCHRONICLE

PAGE 4 MARCH 2013 METEOR CHRONICLE

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With the slopes from a dis-tance looking like a white fluffy cloud floating in the sky, a bus full of anxious skiers and snowboard-ers are ready to hit the slopes.

The Montrose Ski Club is having another year success-ful year with students being able to attend Elk Mountain and en-joy their time on the slopes.

“Everybody has a blast and we all enjoy our time that we get to spend at Elk,” sopho-more Michael Vanness said.

With this winter being much colder and quite a bit more snow falling, people would think that the ski resorts would be packed, but that’s not the case here. The Montrose Ski Club goes night ski-ing so the slopes are not as packed as they would be during the day.

“Usually the mountain is pretty empty, and because it is a week night there usually aren’t as many people there,” sophomore Hannah Dieck said

With the love of skiing and snowboarding, some students get very excited for the season to begin.

“Being able to snowboard is definitely the best thing since sliced bread,” senior Luke Brown said.

Although there are not just student skiers and snowboard-ers, there are also the advisors who participate in skiing as well.

“Ski club is what gets me through the winter. I enjoy both skiing and the students. Our shared experienc-es allows me to better know them,” English teacher Mrs. Kelly said.

Every student has their own reason to join ski club. Snowboard-ing or skiing, which do you prefer?

“ Snowboarding because Shaun White told me to,” Luke said.

“I love skiing and being with all of my friends,” Hannah said.

With the love of skiing, snow-boarding and the thrill that people feel accelerating down the moun-tain, there is never enough time so get out there and hit the slopes.

MAHS Ski Club Hits the SlopesBy Angela RussellStaff reporter

Each year the Montrose Area School District hosts a Poetry Out Loud competition for students in ninth grade and up. Students pick a poem from a pre-approved list and recite that poem in front of a panel of judges, who at the first level of the competition are teachers. This contest has gained more and more interest each year. The Poetry Out Loud contest gives kids who enjoy public speaking, theatrics and poetry a chance to show off their talents.

Each year in ninth grade English with Mrs. Kelly, the students are given an assign-ment of memorizing and recit-ing a poem. They do not have to participate in the competition, unless they want bonus points towards her class. Though oth-er teachers do not offer bonus points, the competition itself gives students many opportuni-

ties to succeed. The contest was created to increase awareness in the art of performing poetry, while also offering substantial cash prizes, which are awarded to schools that participated, as well as representatives from the fifty states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Co-lumbia. The students are given a list of six-hundred poems to choose from and many chances of advancing in the competition.

Junior Casey Nickerson has competed in the competi-tion twice, once in ninth grade and again his junior year.

“I write poems and I’m interested in what po-ets write,” Casey said.

Some students at Mon-trose have participated in the competition year after year in hopes to go further and fur-ther, yet others are rookies.

Kira Karpov is a ninth grader in Mrs. Kelly’s hon-ors English class; this was her first time competing in POL. She became interested in the Poetry Out Loud competition

when Mrs. Kelly introduced it as a chance for a grade.“

I’ve done theater be-fore and I don’t think about how silly I look when i’m on stage”, Kira said, in response to what gives her an edge on the rest of her competition.

“I’m a very literal person, the more I worked at it [memorizing poetry] the more I enjoyed it.”

Unlike Kira, this competi-tion was not Marisa Vanness’s first. Marisa first learned of the Poetry Out Loud competition in Mrs. Winn’s eighth grade english class, where they had a mock Poetry Out Loud contest. She competed for the first “real” time in ninth grade, where she advanced to the state finals.

When asked what keeps her coming back to compete she said, “I just really love doing it!”

This year she recited two poems in the competition. She came up just short of Se-nior Amanda Rucker, and tied for second place with fellow sophomore, Joseph Vaccaro.

Amanda Rucker has been

A Competition of ‘Epic’ ProportionsBy Laura BrinkStaff reporter

joy of reading and boost literacy. “(I) wanted people to en-

joy reading,” Mrs. Kempa said. Another project that Mrs. Kempa

created during her years of teaching is the Pay it Forward project which was created by Mrs. Kempa in 2002.

“I got the idea after watching the movie and I think that it was a beautiful idea,” Mrs. Kempa said.

The Pay it Forward project is done by every seventh grader in Mrs. Kem-pa’s reading class. This project teach-es people to help people out, which is not as common in today’s society

as it once was. Mrs. Kempa’s students must go out and do a “ran-dom act of kindness” without receiv-ing anything for their actions. The project also includes students writ-ing a research paper on someone who has made a difference in the world and reading an excerpt from the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

“People can change the world and our actions and words are very powerful,” Mrs. Kempa said.

Mrs. Kempa’s class has been a favorite to nearly all of the students whom she teaches.

“She was always my favorite class,” eighth grader Nick Blaisure said.

Whether it be the fun games and projects or the atmosphere of the class, when Mrs. Kempa’s stu-dents leave at the bell, they wish they could have just a couple ex-tra minutes in the easy-going class.

“She was always the class I looked forward to going to ev-ery day. She always made learn-ing fun and I enjoyed her class,” eighth grader Elizabeth Kelley said.

Kempa, Continued from page 3

Student members of the MAHS IONS Club traveled to the DaVinci Science Center in Allentown, PA this February to explore the wide array of exhib-its that have been built in the past

IONS Club is a group of students who are currently en-rolled in or have taken a chemis-try course at some point in their high school career. Many stu-dents join IONS for the opportu-nities the club provides to share their excitement for science with students in the districts’ two el-ementary schools, Lathrop Street and Choconut Valley. Other ben-efits of being member include field trips like the one to the Da-Vinci Science Center and edu-cational experiences they gain.

While at the Center, the group was assigned a mentor who led them throughout the fa-cility. Students touched starfish and other animals in one section of the exhibit and used team-building to create an ‘indestruc-tible building’ in another. The Center also features an inves-tigative section where students look for finger printing and cre-ate their own DNA samples. In the Bodies Revealed exhibit, a highlight of the visit, students ex-plored invisible parts of the body as well as bodies with certain parts still attached. The exhibit had information filled cards that gives one some facts and/or in-formation about each body part.

‘Bodies Revealed’ Exhibit Draws Local Crowd

By Samantha Santora Staff reporter

competing in Poetry Out Loud since ninth grade. She is what one could call a “seasoned professional.” Amanda has been in drama club for many years and finds herself to be very comfortable on stage.

“Personally I feel it ex-tremely empowering to get up alone on a stage, with all eyes and ears on you, and passionate-ly convey a message that is close to your heart,” Amanda said.

Senior Amanda Rucker has advanced in the competition in years past. She has a fond love of poetry and recitation.

“I love recitation, there's nothing quite like memoriz-ing something and having those special words with you in your life,” Amanda said.

This year, Amanda mem-orized two poems to recite in our school competition; 'The Children of the Poor' by Gwendolyn Brooks and 'On Virtue' by Phillis Wheatley.

“The poem that I enjoyed reciting the most was 'The Chil-dren of the Poor'. The poem has

both warm and cool spots, allow-ing the reader through the course of the poem, to feel an array of emotions including: anger, re-gret, desire, resolution, tender-ness, and love,” Amanda said.

Amanda won first place this year in our school com-petition; she will be moving on to regionals. She offered some advice to students look-ing to try Poetry Out Loud.

“Don't just memorize the poem, study it inside and out. Analyze the circumstances and people surrounding that poem and pay attention to every word and phrase. You may think you know what it means, but in poetry there is almost always a deeper meaning to things,” Amanda said.

There are many people re-quired in order to make Poetry Out Loud work, from caring teachers to enthusiastic students. We would like to wish Amanda Rucker good luck as she moves on to the re-gional level of the Poetry Out Loud competition, which will be held on February 13 at the WVIA broadcasting studio in Pittston.

METEOR CHRONICLE PAGE 5MARCH 2013

Meteor ChronicleMontrose Area Junior/Senior High School

(570) 278-3731

Editor in chief............................ Courtney KimmellNews/Features editor................ Meghan Spellman Callie CurleyOpinion editor.............................Maria Ingaglio Callie CurleyArts & Entertainment editor......Meghan SpellmanElementary editors......................Erica Reeves Kayleah TrecoskeJunior high editor........................Erica Reeves Kayleah TrecoskeSports editor............ ..................Nicki LewisEditorial cartoonist.....................Frank FruehanAdviser.........................................Melissa Freethy

The Chronicle is a student publication researched, written and produced by members of the staff named here and printed by the Mulligan Printing Corporation. All unsigned editori-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

Lindsay Darrow, Michaela Pike, Samantha Santora, Daniel Zapolski, Katelyn Breslin, Laura Brink, Holly Andre, Morgan

Updyke, Meghan Gilhool, Madelyne Pasteka, Angela Russell,

Sam Poole,Tatiana Sangadzhieva,

Taylor Teed, Ashlea Wilson,

75 Meteor Way Montrose, PA 18801 newspaper@masd.info

Letters to the editor are always welcome!

As many students at MAHS approach their eighteenth birthdays, they are forced to consider a variety of prospects that were never of much concern to them as minors. While purchasing lottery tickets and buying cold medicine at the grocery store may be exciting exploits for a Sat-urday afternoon, there are also more serious responsibilities to be consid-ered such as registering to vote and, for males, the military draft.

Reestablished under the Selec-tive Service Act of 1948, the Selec-tive Service System is an indepen-dent federal agency that administers compulsory military service in the United States. The Selective Service System is, in 2013, actively stressing to American citizens that no, the re-quirement to register for the military draft did not go away with the end of the Vietnam War. Because there is no active war draft being instituted at this time or in the foreseeable future, this requirement extends to all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25, even those who are legally disabled, clergymen, and those who believe themselves to be generally in opposition to war.

As is easy to imagine, the United States of 1948 was a very different society than the one we are familiar with today. In the nearly 100 years that have passed since the draft was first instituted in 1917, many things have changed, including societal acceptance of females holding positions in the workforce outside of the home. Today, 40 percent of America’s domestic workforce is comprised of women, a substan-tial change from the 1948 report provided by the US Department of Labor, noting that women accounted for less than 30 percent of all work-ers in America. These impressive numbers extend into branches of the US Military, where 14 percent of the active force, 20 percent of the reserve forces, and 20 percent of new recruits across all branches of the armed forces.

According to an article featured in the New York Times’ student publication Upfront, over the course of the past 12 years, nearly 300,000 women have served in various branches of the US Military in Iraq

and Afghanistan with the job titles of medics, intelligence officers and military police, among others. These women were assigned to accompany all-male ground combat units on the front lines and while fulfilling these respective assignments, a large majority of these women have fallen under fire, opened fire on enemy forces and have been wounded and killed in hostile situations-even though, technically speaking, they have been barred from entering com-bat practically since the beginning of time.

According to the US Department of Defense, that is about to change. January 2013 marked the lifting of a long-standing ban on women in combat, one of the most significant military personnel shifts enacted into law since 1948 when the order was signed by President Harry S. Tru-man to end racial segregation in all branches of the US Armed Forces.

The so called ‘War on Terror’ in Iraq and Afghanistan has drastically changed our military’s needs. Today, the Pentagon reports that nearly 18,000 women are deployed Afghan-

istan, many being wounded, some fatally, while working alongside their male colleagues. While the magni-tude of this shift in gender roles from women who worked primarily as nurses in the American Civil War to today in 2013 when they are being granted the right of fighting on the front lines after years of doing so unofficially is arguably equivalent to President Truman’s 1948 resolution that allowed men of all skin colors to do the same, the public opinion polls on the subject are in no way comparable. A recent, national poll conducted by Quinnipiac Univer-sity in Hamden, Connecticut shows that 75 percent of those surveyed supported the idea of women being assigned to units engaging in close combat. Compare this statistic to the public outrage that ensued following President Truman’s WWII policy of “equality of treatment and opportu-nity in the military.” An unpopular concept in an era where a majority of military officials supported segre-gation because they believed that blacks were unintelligent and that integration would cause severe social

disruption.Contrary to popular belief, the

United States’ decision to allow women into close combat situa-tions is most likely not going to stop time, alter the course of humanity or kindle a foreign attack on the US. This is because the issues of females in combat plaguing the United States military today are neither ground-breaking nor unprecedented. Nations such as Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Germany have welcomed women into various, and in some cases, all jobs within their militaries.

The question that arises from this inclusion of women in combat is this: should women, who are after many years assuming the right to fight on the front lines alongside men in combat also be subject to the obligation of registering for the military draft? Opinions on this issue vary among Americans. Most notably in a 2012 Presidential Debate, President Obama made clear his view: if women are going to be offered equality in combat, it should be extended to the mandates that

men follow, such as registering for the draft and fulfilling assignments without option. President Obama was quoted as saying:

“I think that if women are registered for military service in the draft-not necessarily in combat roles, that it will help to send a message to my two daughters that they, as well as young men have obligations to this great country.”

He went on to say:“There was a time when African-

Americans weren’t allowed to serve in combat, and yet, when they did, not only did they perform brilliantly, but what also happened is they helped to change America, and they helped to underscore that we are all equal.”

Not the first person to compare the most current movement for female equality with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s that eventu-ally ended with the desegregation of African-Americans within the domestic workforce and the military, President Obama undoubtedly used this remark as a way of qualifying the idea that allowing women to enter close combat may ultimately result in notable advancements or improvements in various branches of the US Armed Forces. The dif-ferences, however, lie in one word: equality.

Different from the intentions of the post-WWI movements for racial integration, the intention of the US military has never been to hold men and women to equal standards. Even under the new plans for integrating men and women in varying forces within the military, women in basic training camps are subject to fewer pushups and slower mile runs than their male counterparts. The concern being, if women are held to this imbalanced standard in training and an entirely different one while on ac-tive duty, traveling miles upon miles in inclement weather while wearing heavy equipment, will they be at a disadvantage in combat? Perhaps only time will tell. As for now, women across the nation can rest assured that the branches of the US armed forces will no longer make personnel decisions based on gender, but on ability to do the job.

By Callie CurleyNews and features co-editorOpinion co-editor

Women in Combat Begins New Battle

METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 6 MARCH 2013

OPINION

By law, children cannot en-roll in a public school system without a doctor's verification of good health, and many districts also require visits to dentists and eye doctors. The Newtown school massacre should be fo-cusing the media’s attention on dealing with mental health in-stead of gun control. A key step in preventing future tragedies should be adding mental health screenings to the list of required checkups for school students.

Mental health screenings are rarely executed and prove that a huge unmet need due to the evi-dence that fewer than 2 percent of schools have a systematic mental health screening program. Ac-cording to the National Institute of Mental Health 33 thousand individuals commit suicide per year. More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have

a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive dis-order or a substance abuse disor-der, which could potentially be detected and treated if school’s re-quired mental health screenings.

According to the National Al-liance on Mental Health, four mil-lion children and adolescents in this country suffer from a serious mental disorder that causes sig-nificant functional impairments at home, at school and with peers. Of children ages 9 to 17, 21 per-cent have a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder that causes at least minimal impairment.

Most perpetrators in a mass shooting suffered from mental illness that could have been iden-tified at a young age, but spree killings should not be the only reason to make such a change. Young people with undiagnosed mental illness are at higher risk of suicide, more likely to use drugs and alcohol, and twice as likely to

drop out of high school prior to graduation. Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older who are living with a mental illness drop out of high school which is the highest dropout rate of any disability group. Moreover, since the Columbine High School kill-ings, two reports from the office of the U.S. Surgeon General have supported making mental health screenings of children routine.

Early social and emotional development is a robust predic-tor of future mental health and stability. In current times, we have not only the skills but also the reliable tools to help iden-tify children, at very early ages, whom might be at risk for mental health problems long before they erupt into debilitating illness and, though rarely, a dangerous crisis.

Then why don't we at least require a mental health checkup for all students nationwide, from preschool through college? Ar-

guments against such a long overdue step are predictable:

Is it because mental health is a private matter? Mental health records are protected by patient privacy laws that are just as or more restrictive than laws cov-ering medical records. These records remain private in all but the rarest, most at-risk cases, in which mental health profession-als are convinced that someone is a danger to himself or others.Is it because examining the mental health of children would interfere with families? Parents with seri-ous reservations could withhold permission for their child's men-tal health checkup, just as some-times occurs when parents refuse to get their children vaccinated.

Is it because children will be misdiagnosed and overmedi-cated? This could pose a slight risk, but the benefits outweigh the risks. Do we refrain from see-ing a doctor for fear she might

diagnose a non-existent illness? Maybe some people do, but most of us want a professional as-sessment of our health, no mat-ter what we decide to do next.

Is it because children will be labeled and ostracized at school? Mental health records are pri-vate, so there is no access to any descriptions that could "label" a child. And school psychologists work hard to keep individual stu-dents and the student body as a whole functioning in the healthi-est possible way without labels.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, we can and should debate gun control but that sim-ply isn’t enough. We must re-think what's required to attend school. A child must be physi-cally, mentally and behaviorally able to participate. If a mental health assessment suggests oth-erwise, we must have a system in place that offers help long be-fore a problem becomes a crisis.

Do you think that students should be subject to mandatory health screenings at their schools?Roving Reporter

"No, it should be an individuals choice not the schools’."

-Kelsea Cobb, 10th grade

"Yes, because some kids don't have help and never tell anyone about it. They can go so long without help, why

not have the school help?"

-Christi Vannostrand, 10th grade

"I think schools should know about the mental states of students so they can protect them from any potentiomal

harm."

-Anthony Bartok, 12th grade

By Maria IngaglioOpinion co-editor

Another Voice: Mental Health Before Gun Control

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METEOR CHRONICLE MARCH 2013 PAGE 7

Little VoicesBy Erica Reeves and Kayleah TrecoskeElementary & Junior High Co-editors By Erica Reeves

Elementary co-editor

Fifth Graders Change the Gift Exchange

What made you have your first crush on

someone?

The Christmas season has passed, but fifth grade students from Lathrop Street still realize the impact that giving can make. Instead of giving and receiving, these students expected nothing in return.

True Friends, the animal shel-ter in Montrose, is a nonprofit or-ganization that is always in need of donations to be able to take care of the different animals that are housed there. Everyone has their own busy schedules, es-pecially around the holidays, so at times giving to animals may be the last thing on everyone’s mind, but this is something that can’t be overlooked or forgotten. Fifth grader Catherine Lathrop realized this and decided that something needed to be done.

“I was at the bank with my mom when I saw a sign with a picture of a dog from the animal shelter on it,” Catherine said. “That is when I told my mom that I wanted to do something to help.”

The regular Christmas tradi-tion at Lathrop Street is to bring a gift for either a boy or a girl with a price cap of five dollars, but Catherine and her fellow class-mates agreed that this year they didn’t need to receive a gift from school. They knew that all they needed to do was give.

Catherine asked the animal shelter what they wanted donat-ed, and made a list to pass out to classmates which included things like food, toys and cleaning sup-plies. All of the students brought in supplies and more was collect-ed from a box placed in the main lobby. True Friends was very thankful for all of the donations and even brought two dogs with them for the kids to meet when they came to collects the dona-tions.

“I am a big dog person and I hate to see a dog in need,” Cath-erine said. “We got our dog from the animal shelter and it’s hard to know that dogs are still there.”

Catherine wasn’t the only fifth grader who realized what an

impact they had made just by do-ing something small.

“[Donating] shows that you like your community and that you like to help people,” fifth grader Lizzy Hendrickson said. “It shows your compassion.”

“Christmas is about giving not receiving,” fifth grader Des-tiny Hord said.

These students have grasped that thinking of others besides themselves can really help the community and the people around them. It doesn’t take something big and drastic to make an impact, it just takes be-ing thoughtful and thinking of others when no one else is.

“I thought it was a wonderful act of generosity that the whole fifth grade decided to forego a gift exchange and instead make donations to True Friends,” Anne Lathrop said. “The children brought in many, many items in shelter desperately needs. It was a little way to make a big im-pact.”

Sports Corner:Sixth Grade Travel Basketball

By Erica ReevesElementary co-editor

“The girl was funny, cute, and fun to be

around.”

Steven VetriSixth Grade

Lathrop Street

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“When people are spe-cial and kind to me.”

Kaitlyn AndreFirst Grade

Lathrop Street

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Update: Teddy Bears Help Console Connecticut

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As an update from issue two’s story “Teddy Bears Help Con-sole Connecticut,” Mrs. Blaney is proud to announce that in the month of December 1,016 teddy

bears and various other stuffed animals were collected to be sent to the families of the Newtown shooting that occurred on Decem-ber 14, 2012.

Above are a few of the stuffed animals Mrs.Blaney was getting ready to send to the families of Newtown.

PHOTO COURTSEY OF J.BLANEY

The Montrose Meteors sixth grade girl’s travel bas-ketball team took home first place in a tournament held on March 2nd. This tournament was held at Montrose High School and it was the first time that the Montrose team has ever won first place in this tournament.

The Meteors played a total of six games throughout the day. The team played Moun-tain View in the champion-ship, but had lost to them in one of the games earlier that day. The girls went into double overtime, and pulled through for the win with a shootout. The team was coached for this tournament by Craig Reeves, and during the regular season by both Bethany Sorenson and Craig. E.

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PAGE 8 MARCH 2013 METEOR CHRONICLE

Valentines For Madigan Prove To Be A Heartfelt Success

By: Kayleah TrecoskeJunior High Editor

Small towns, such as Mon-trose, are often known for their “everyone knows everyone” community, tight knit and always there to support the friends and family of others. The most amaz-ing aspect of living in such a small community may be the im-mense love and compassion that can be given to an individual and their family that doesn’t just stay in one little community but rather, extends out into other communi-ties and even countries. A shining example of this love and hospital-ity may be found in the 2,000 plus Valentine’s Day cards sent to one seven year old girl when “Valen-tine’s For Madigan” was spread through a Facebook page.

Madigan Gow of Little Mead-ows was diagnosed with progres-sive congenital scoliosis on De-cember 22, 2006, just a few days before Christmas and her first birthday. After 11 surgeries, her 12th was originally scheduled for Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day. Due to a viral infection, Madigan’s doc-tors were worried that because it affected her throat, it may turn into a nasty cough which is a bad combination with anesthesia, and ended up postponing the surgery for a later date in March.

Prior to the postponement of the surgery, her mother, Valerie Gow asked a few of her friends with children to draw up a Valen-tine to give Madigan after surgery to open up. As most things go in a small town, word got around and one of her friend’s daughters heard about Madigan and wanted to turn it into an event to get her friends involved. Thinking the cards were for her mom’s birth-day, she was completely oblivi-

ous to the fact the cards were for her until she was allowed to open a couple. Valentines from the community as well Australia, India, England, and a few from British Columbia made this event tearfully overwhelming for Mrs.Gow as they spent several days going over the cards ensuring not a single one was overlooked.

“It's overwhelming in gen-eral to know so many people love her,” Mrs. Gow says.

In addition to this current ex-pression of love and concern for Madigan, there are numerous oth-er helpful acts toward Madigan and her family when they need help.

“We have an amazing prayer family. Our families have always been quick to watch the older two children. My husband and I make the surgery decisions. It’s too much to ask others to even think about,” Mrs. Gow says.

Mrs. Gow isn’t the only one who feels the effects of what the community has done for Madi-gan. Madigan herself has said these Valentines including some amazing homemade cards, store bought, painted, sewn, big cards, really, small cards, and a Chinese new year card in a red envelope for luck, as well as the other pres-ents she received such as stickers, candy, books, stuffed animals, art, a canvas of a horse and less than 140.00, which she may save to go toward a trip to Disney, made her day better than Christmas.

"It makes me feel good, spe-cial," Madigan says in response to the support, cards and thoughtful gifts she received before her sur-gery.

These gifts, although they are

a constant reminder of the support and love the family is enveloped in, do not take away the fear the whole family feels before seeing their daughter, and sister go in for another surgery.

“It stinks and everything that goes along with having a fragile child, tears, finances, and scars, fear of the pain or the worst, los-ing her,” Mrs. Gow says.

Mrs. Gow also expresses Ma-digan’s feelings toward the sur-geries by explaining they do not tell her too far in advance of the surgeries, for she gets anxious. Before every surgery though, rain, sleet or snow, the family vis-its the Philadelphia Zoo, a place Madigan loves to go.

“I can't imagine the pain she endures each time; we try to give her a normal life. Better yet, we try to keep everyone's life nor-mal. I fear that of anyone feeling the impact of having a sick child, it would be the other children,” Mrs. Gow continues.

It may go without saying things aren’t easy. Madigan can-not attend school in fear of expos-ing her to germs that may put ex-tra stress on her body, Mrs. Gow had to leave her job to stay home with Madigan, and the family has not been on vacation since she was three. None of that matters though looking at a family such as the Gows. Perhaps it would be fit to say, when things aren’t go-ing as planned, the people who stand by you without flinching - they are your family. It is plain to see through the love and support, what a family Madigan has ac-cumulated within this small com-munity and outside of it.

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Madigan Gow with a teddy bear she recieved in the mail through Valentines For Madigan.

Just a few of the cards Madigan recieved from friends, family and other members of the community.

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PAGE 9MARCH 2013METEOR CHRONICLE

Boy’s Junior High Basketball Team Slam-Dunks Into Their Season

The eighth grade boys’ basketball team had their first tournament on Dec. 28 and 29 at Blue Ridge High School. The team didn’t do as well as they had hoped, but that leaves a lot of room to improve.

“I think that we need to work on offense, like scoring, and de-fense is our strong point,” eighth grader John Giangrieco said.

Despite their loss, members of the team have high expecta-tions for the rest of their season.

“I feel really good about our team this year and I hope we can have a winning record,” eighth grader Christopher Spence said.

When asked who the team’s biggest rival was, both boys simply stated ‘Elk Lake.’ The team is continuing the season with hard work and effort in hopes of coming out on top.

“The season is going very well and the boys have improved

a lot. At this rate, Montrose will have a good varsity team in the future,” Coach Cody Ivy said.

According to the coach, one of the weak points of the team is lay-ups. The team is able to get the ball in past half court, but just can’t finish the shots. He also says, however, that the teams’ strongest point would have to be defense.

“I tell the guys I want the ball, and they go out there and get it for me,” Coach Ivy said.

Coach Ivy has coached pre-viously at Lathrop Street as the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade coach and says he had a lot of the same boys on the team then, and now.

Both of the new coaches this year seem to be very well liked by everyone, on the team.

“I like my coaches very much,” Spence said.

With the season quickly ap-proaching its end, the boys are giving their all to get a good record. Their current record is 4-4 and they hope to im-prove their skills for next year.

By Maddy PastekaStaff Reporter

Plaque Honors NewtownVictims

Young Artist Takes Gold Three months ago, eighth

grader and self-taught artist Em-ily Hare signed up for the grade seven through twelve Scholastic Art Award competition. As the first to be entered in many years, it was a wonderful surprise for her to receive the Gold Key Scholastic Art Award out of sub-missions from all over Northeast Pennsylva-nia and seventeen of its different counties. The artworks submit-ted were judged by a panel consisting of lo-cal educators and art professionals. When choos-ing award winners, the judges were look-ing for artwork that excelled in original-ity, technical skill and emergence of a personal vision or voice. Students had the chance to be selected for Gold Key, Sil-ver Key and Honorable Men-tion Awards. Her drawing, along with other Gold and Silver Key award winners, were on exhibit at Marywood University and the student artists were honored at an awards ceremony. As a Gold Key winner, Emily’s drawing is au-

tomatically included in the pool of work that is judged nation-ally among Gold Key winning

work from across the country.Incorporating one of the

things she loves to draw the most, the drawing combined im-ages of two different flowers and “wove” them together using a grid technique. She showed con-trast between the two flowers by drawing one in greyscale using graphite pencils and adding color to the other using colored pencils.

“She is a very talented young lady. I enjoy working with her and look forward to see-ing more of what she can do,”

Mrs. Flaherty says.Emily, growing

up with the influence of her mother who also loves to draw in her spare time, felt this accomplishment was a great confidence builder and would gladly participate in something of the sort again, as she contin-ues to work in an in-dependent art study with Mrs. Flaherty.

“Her father and I are very proud of Em's a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s . She has always been artistic, noticing de-tails that other people do not see. When she was little she loved to paint and draw

and we have always done crafts and creative projects together,” Emily’s mother Mrs. Hare says

To get her started, Em-ily also had a very support-ive elementary art teacher, Mrs. Shannon Maynard.

“It is nice to see that she has found another very influ-ential art teacher in Mrs. Jen Fla-herty, as well,” Mrs. Hare says.

By: Kayleah TrecoskeJunior High Editor

On Dec. 18, junior high choir, taught by Mr. Zimmer-man, held the annual Christmas concert. Even though, for some of them, it was their first con-cert in the high school, there were no signs of stage fright.

“They are all very en-ergetic and hard work-ing,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

According to Mr. Zimmer-man and the students, their first concert went very well. The stu-dents are excited for the next one and plan to make it better.

“We need to proj-ect more,” eighth grad-er Louise Thompson said.

“We did pretty well for the first concert; we need to be loud-er but it still went very well,” eighth grader Kyra Ricci said.

One thing that went excep-tionally well was a new song ar-rangement that Mr. Zimmerman had decided to try called Adeste Fidellas. For this, the students with the solos weren’t in their seats only to appear for their part later in the song. For a lot of the members it was their favorite.

“I think the Adeste Fidel-las was better because we had to hold our own part alone,” seventh grader Skylar Robinson said.

When asked if this would hap-pen again Mr. Zimmerman simply said that it’s a possibility but he doesn’t like to give anything away.

The students all have dif-ferent personality’s and dif-ferent backgrounds but one thing they all have in com-mon is their love for singing.

“I love to sing. I’ve been singing with my church ever since I was little and I did in el-ementary school,” Kyra said.

After their winter con-cert, preparation for the spring concert begins.

There are big plans for the up-coming spring concert. There will be something added which could be electric as well as a possibility of six spot solos. Also, as spring comes there is a choral fest May 10 where he can send one voice part.

For now the main focus is on making the group more comfort-able reading music and oral skills.

“The Junior High win-ter concert went excellent. It was a great springboard to work toward the spring con-cert,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

By Lindsay DarrowStaff Reporter

Every year, seventh grade Reading teacher Mrs. Charlene Kempa challenges her seventh grade students to complete a proj-ect called “Pay it Forward”. The Pay it Forward project focuses on doing something nice for someone and asking them only to pass a kind deed on to some-one else. This system, called ‘Pay it Forward’ would end in a chain of giving and service to others without self-benefit.

As seventh grader Jerome Washo’s pay it forward project, he decided to collect money to buy a plaque in memory of the people affected by the recent school shooting in Connecticut. Jerome chose to do this because he was deeply affected by the tragedy that took place there.

“A lot of people are rec-ognizing the person who did it, not the people affected by it. It was a terrible thing that happened,” Jerome said.

So far he has collected close to 300 dollars. He plans on buy-ing a plaque in memory of ev-eryone who lost their life. The left over money he raises is go-

ing to be given to other schools, so they can also buy a plaque to help remember those lost.

Mrs. Kempa was not expecting anyone to do this as their project.

“I think other people will be willing to do this to help other schools that have been af-fected,” Mrs. Kempa said. “I think the impact of this tragedy affected everyone. It will help everyone feel as though they can do something. I think it will be a good healing process.”

“It was such a new situation; the rest of the world was in shock and he was deciding how to take action,” Mrs. Sherwood said.

Mrs. Sherwood thinks other people will be willing to do this as their project to help other schools that have been affected.

“I think people will be will-ing to do this. It empowers oth-ers to take action and this is a simple action but sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the best impact. That’s what makes this such a great project. Every-one was trying to answer the question what could we do to help fix this while he was figur-ing out what to do. He was dev-astated,” Mrs. Sherwood said.

By: Brianna JohnsonStaff Reporter

PHOTO COURTSEY OF JEN FLAHERTY

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Junior High Chorus Concert Is Successful

Arts & EntertainmentPAGE 10 METEOR CHRONICLE

Commentary by Courtney

MARCH 2013

Another spoiler (if it could be called such, this plot twist occurs in the third chapter), the protago-nist becomes temporarily blind. One would think that this would severely limit a writer because, after all, most writers rely almost exclusively on sight to set the scene and describe action, but in Mr. Koloski’s case this was not true. Some of his strongest writ-ing occurred when he was whol-ly reliant on only four senses to convey action and description. One really feels that they are viewing the world as a blind man would and this enhances their perception instead of limiting it.

My largest criticism is the occasional use of metaphors, similes, or words that were not appropriate for the atmosphere he was attempting to create or the mood of the scene occurring. An example of this would be early on in the book, after leav-ing a combination art show/ en-gagement party, the protagonist must drive through a storm. The scene is very tense and expectant, something ominous (and likely relevant to the plot) will be occur-ring soon. Then this line occurs:

“Windshield wipers flop like netted lake bass, but they can’t keep pace with the falling water.”

This is a perfectly valid simile but instead of imagin-ing a portentous and atmo-spheric (pun intended) storm that brings heavy rain I imagine two fish flopping around where windshield wipers should be.

The effect of these words and phrases is very subtle; no one quote can capture their impact. Similes and metaphors do not just compare two separate things in a way that shows their com-monalities, they create images; they call to mind associations and connotations. The occasional unfitting images caused by these literary devices create conflict

In what seems like an epi-sode of The Twilight Zone, I was given the task of evaluating a teacher’s work. For a student that had turned in many papers, only to receive them full of marks in imposing red ink, this turn of events felt almost kar-mic. With that said, I tried, to the best of my ability, to judge the book impartially without giv-ing much thought to the author, only to the quality of the work.

Mr. John Koloski is an Eng-lish teacher here at MAHS and has recently made available his first novel titled, EMPYRES: Bloodblind. The novel focuses on the protagonist, Adam Mor-row, and his interactions with a clan of Empyres, or empathic vampires. Without giving away too many spoilers, though they will be present throughout this review, so take caution, the vampires seemed refreshingly unique. There have been many books about vampires lately, written with varying degrees of success, however you may judge it, and this book stands out. The vampires are treated as neither perfect characters to lust after nor demonic entities to fear, but as beings that were once humans with all the flaws and strengths that comes with the territory. In summary, don’t let the inclusion of vampires influence whether you will read the book or not.

MAHS TeacherPublishes a Novel

By Courtney KimmellEditor-in-chief

Wondering what books will be made into movies in 2013? Here's the scoop on some of the biggest movies based on books. Read ‘em now so you’re ahead of the game (errr movies, I mean!). All books on the following list can be found in the Montrose Area Ju-nior Senior High School library. COME CHECK THEM OUT!

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia - In a small South Carolina town, where it seems little has changed since the Civil War, sixteen-year-old Ethan is powerfully drawn to Lena, a new classmate with whom he shares a psychic con-nection and whose family hides a dark secret that may be re-vealed on her sixteenth birthday.

CATCHING FIRE by Su-zanne Collins – (The Hunger Games, book 2) By winning the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for them-selves and their families, but be-cause they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion.

WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks – A novel that chronicles the fictitious "zombie wars" that nearly decimated the human pop-ulation, with first-hand accounts from people who have had a brush

with the undead and facts and fig-ures documenting how many un-dead currently roam the planet.

CITY OF BONES (The Mor-tal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare - When her mom is attacked and taken from their home in New York City by a demon, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl, Clary Fray, finds out truths about her past and bloodline on her quest to get her back, that changes her entire life.

SAFE HAVEN by Nicho-las Sparks - Katie arrives in the small town of Southport, North Carolina, hoping to hide from her past and avoid raising suspi-cions, but when she reluctantly begins a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children, and befriends her neighbor Jo, Katie is forced to confront the dark secret she is hiding if she wants to put down roots and find true love.

THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer - Melanie, whose mind has been almost completely taken over by an alien named Wanderer, convinces the alien to search for her lost lover, who fled the extraterrestrial invasion, and tries to find a way in which she and Wanderer can coexist.

CARRIE by Stephen King - Presents the unnerving story of

(See Book, Page 13)

a terribly ostracized young girl who unleashes her supernatu-ral powers of telekinesis after being pushed too far by peers (remake of the 1970’s thriller).

ENDER’S GAME by Or-son Scott Card – In order to de-velop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as sol-diers. A brilliant boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is drafted to the Battle School for military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and re-spected in the Battle Room. Is Ender the general Earth needs?

SEA OF MONSTERS by Rick Riordan – (Percy Jackson & the

Olympians, book 2) Percy Jack-son has recently discovered that he is the son of Poseidon, mak-ing him half human and half god. Now, along with a demigod and a satyr friend, he must save his be-loved Camp Half-Blood from evil forces determined to destroy it.

LEGEND by Marie Lu - Set in a future where North America is split into two warring nations, Day and June are on opposite sides of the battle but both un-cover a hidden truth about their respective leaders and realize that they have a common enemy.

Reviews By Mrs. Fischer, Librarian

Book Reviews: Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture

Arts & EntertainmentMETEOR CHRONICLE MARCH 2013 PAGE 11

The arts are a widespread phe-nomenon, present all around the world. From the music industry, to movies, to Broadway, to art galleries, talent is abundant. Most of this talent began at a small place: school.

The arts program in schools - music, art, drama, graphics, shops - always need funding. Whether it’s new instruments, new sheet music, paper or costumes, funding is always needed. Unfortunately, the arts department is almost al-ways the first to be trimmed when budget cuts come along.

Luckily, this is not the case at Montrose. Support from stu-dents, faculty, the administrators and the community allows things like District Chorus and band to be possible.

The arts department is well funded and taken care of, espe-cially with the economy. Continu-ous talent keeps it going.

Every year, chorus teacher Mr. Scott Zimmerman is able to send students to District Chorus and higher. Band teacher Mrs. Susan Bennici is able to send stu-dents to District Band. Mr. Rob-ert Davis’s mechanical drawing students have won ribbons in the Hartford Fair.

Drama, though self-funded through fundraisers and contribu-tions from director Mrs. Heather Winn, has been a booming suc-cess. Though a good chunk of money goes into simply buying the rights to the plays she directs, attendance to the plays keeps the program alive.

“The drama program lives and dies by how many people come to the shows, and if we don’t have support in the community and school, we can’t continue the pro-gram,” Mrs. Winn said.

Drama will always need fund-ing, no matter how big the bud-get.

“I personally think we do okay with funding on our own and what Mrs. Winn pays from her own pockets, but help from

the school would be much appre-ciated,” sophomore Gracie Lutz said.

Generous funding and stag-gering support keep the arts alive, but scheduling conflicts cripple it.

“The cooperation from the administrators, community, and students in regards to funds has been wonderful. Unfortunately, the true issue is with time - or lack thereof,” Mrs. Bennici said.

Conflicts in scheduling are as common as books in the library. Numerous times, band, chorus, an art class, or shop classes are taken out of a schedule to make room for academic classes. Many stu-dents partaking in band, chorus or a play also do sports, creating a conundrum of clashing games/performances, even practice.

This arduous situation forces students to drop one or the other - usually the art. It’s a vexation to the art departments’ teachers who are very obliging to work around each individual’s schedule.

Within the classes themselves, students not only learn how to draw, or play an instrument, work with metal or wood, or learn to sing, they also learn skills that will last for the rest of their lives. Students going into college for majors like engineering ben-efit tremendously from the shop classes and mechanical drawing classes. Because of issues with scheduling, many students are missing out on interesting, and at times, necessary, opportunities to participate in a creative class.

“I think there are students who are going onto college degrees that don’t get the opportunity to take shops class,” metal shop teacher Mr. James Fluck said.

The myriad of talents within the departments allow students to have access to brilliant teach-ers and students who are like-minded. Though no solution for the scheduling troubles has been found, there is hope that everyone will get the chance to participate in the art they desire.

Tatiana SangadzhievaStaff Reporter

The Cost of the Arts

There are countless boy bands around the world, hoping to get noticed and make it big. Many of these bands have a typi-cal sound consisting of bland lyr-ics with synthesized pop dance music in the background that makes you want to dance, but shows no real meaning or impact. However, Walk the Moon, a four boy band hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, really breaks the status quo with a great self-titled album that everyone should give a listen to.

Walk the Moon got their start as a band in 2010. Their name came from the song “Walking on the Moon” by The Police. They independently released their al-bum called i want! i want! in 2010. “Anna Sun,” a song on this album, got much attention. They released their first official album in June 2012, self-titling it Walk the Moon.

The most popular songs on this album are “Anna Sun” and “Tightrope.” Even if you are not a fan of indie pop music, these songs are bound to make you want to get up and dance. Just be-cause these are catchy pop songs, doesn’t mean that Walk the Moon doesn’t have any consistency or depth in their lyrics. The band

all around gives great music that has yielded many fans, while still making their own path and keep-ing that indie vibe.

“Anna Sun,” their most pop-ular song, was described as being a symbol of youth. The song’s name came from the lead singer, Nicholas Petricca’s and Nick Lerangis’, a songwriter, college professor from Kenyon College. “Anna Sun” has a summery vibe to it that makes you long for sun-shine and the beach. The lyrics contain lines such as:

“Screen falling off the door; door hanging off the hinges/My feet are still sore; my back is on the fringes/We were up against the wall on the west mezzanine/We rattle this town, we rattle this scene, oh Anna Sun, oh Anna Sun”

Not only does their album show how talented Walk the Moon is, but they are a great band live, which seems to be rare any-more. Their voices still sounded very much like what was re-corded in their albums, and their guitar, bass and drum playing were remarkable. The energy and passion the band has pours out of their songs the second the notes hit you. Their infectious music at

their concerts can make you love them even more, and their charm-ing looks and boyish grins seem to make all the girls want to jump on stage with them. Walk the Moon has one of the best live shows out there, and can make your passion for music even greater.

Another great aspect of Walk the Moon is their face paint at the live shows. Featured in their “Anna Sun” music video, the band now wears face paint and brings it for their audience. This is a great way to connect the au-dience with the band, and gives Walk the Moon that whole indie, kid-at-heart vibe, which seems to be what they were going for in their music video.

If you haven’t already heard Walk the Moon, and are looking for a popular band who isn’t Top 40 but still pop, check them out. They’ll have you dancing around in less than five minutes by listen-ing to just one track. With infec-tious music, down to earth and charming members, and a pas-sionate lively fan base, Walk the Moon is truly a great band with a great mission of sharing their mu-sic with the world.

Band Review: Walk the MoonBy Meghan SpellmanNews and Feature Co-Editor, Arts and Entertainment Co-Editor

Arts & EntertainmentPAGE 12 METEOR CHRONICLE

MARCH 2013

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with the overall impact of the scene. For me, reading this book was occasionally like watching a T.V. program where the video and the audio are just minutely out of sync. It was an enjoyable show and nothing appeared to be wrong but one felt that something just isn’t quite right.

With that said, some truly lovely writing could be found. For example, this line which de-scribes a snow covered park:

“The same snow that erases man’s lines retains na-ture’s shapes and inflates them without distortion.”

But unfortunately two sen-tences later we are given this line:

“An artistic urge strikes me: I want to go down to the park and make a snow angel to honor the silence.”

The conflict between the pro-found and beautiful image of na-ture created by the first line and

the slightly comical image of a twenty-something year old man making snow angels in the city

park was just too much for me. In contrast to the some-

times off-putting word choice, the dialog seems very natural. Writing dialog can be very dif-ficult; it cannot be too affected and unnatural but at the same time everyday conversation

does not transcribe very well. A good middle ground is hard to find but Mr. Koloski managed.

My only other complain would be that the plot seemed rather choppy and hard to follow in places. It seemed to me that this inconsistency was due to the fact that novels are not written chron-ologically but rather in bits and pieces as editing occurs and writ-ers review their own work. The book almost seemed to have strata like sedimentary rock. One could guess the age of certain passages relative to the ones surrounding it by examining word choice, phras-ing and how it cohesive it felt.

With three more novels on the way, two of which continue the story begun in EMPYRES: Bloodblind, there is much to look forward to. Having read this in-triguing first novel, I am eager to see how Mr. Koloski con-tinues to develop as an author.

Six songs and five months later, MAHS chorus held their annual winter chorus concert.

Even with the struggles of blending as an ensemble, split-ting parts, lacking an accom-panist, having to work on the gospel of “Joy To the World” and “Go Tell It On the Moun-tain,” and then the constant struggle for members to hit their notes, they did a smashing job.

“I’ve adapted to not having an accompanist although having one sooner in the process would allow me to get into the choir and do more. The choir mem-bers must all strive to help others and work on collaboration not competition, and they have suc-ceeded very well at this,” chorus director Mr. Zimmerman said.

Individual members of Chorus had their own struggles to overcome.

“The biggest struggle for me was probably being able to hit the E note in my solo because I am an alto one, but I was able to over-come it before the concert with a lot of practice and I managed to hit it during my performance,” freshman Alannah Sullivan said.

The hard work and effort paid off.

“I would rate the group’s over-all performance a nine on a scale of 1-10 because we definitely brought it and we were all locked in on our parts,” Alannah said.

“I think for such a young group of kids, we all did fairly well and made Mr. Zimmerman proud be-cause we are such a young group, but we produce good quality mu-sic due to all the preparation and practice,” senior Mollie Host said.

This opinion was shared by

many of the chorus members. “I think the group as a whole

did very well. They were fo-cused and energized. There are still things we need to work on to improve our quality of per-formance for the spring con-cert, but overall I’m very happy with how well we did,” senior Mary Kate Robinson said.

As every year, Mr. Zimmer-man performed “O’ Holy Night” as the senior selection, which is a tribute to all the graduat-ing seniors where they sing a group solo including each and every individual senior.

“The “O’ Holy Night” ar-rangement I sang myself in high school for a senior salute and over the years it’s grown and how solos go is very inter-esting,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

Many people seem to fa-vor that song as opposed to the other songs they had prepared.

“O’ Holy Night the senior song was my favorite song for this concert. It’s the song they sing every year and it’s my all-time fa-vorite,” senior Caitlyn Daly said.

As for freshman, Antonio Bennici had a different favorite.

“I really enjoyed “Joy to the World” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain” because it was a gospel piece, and there were improvised solos near the end which made it my favor-ite selection,” Antonio said.

The performance turned out to be pretty successful.

“Overall the performance was very good as with any per-formance some arrangements were significantly harder, but they all rose to the occasion quite nicely,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

(Book continued from Page 12)

Junior Rebekkah Oakley could be called a very artis-tic person. She has been in art as an elective since ninth grade but has been drawing since she was very young.

“The best thing about art is that you can express yourself,” Rebekkah said.

This year she is cur-rently in Art 3 and plans on going into Art 4 next year during her senior year. She has been in Mrs. Regan’s class for two years now.

“I started drawing be-cause I couldn’t do much else. I’m certainly not an athlete,” she said.

She has created countless things, but her favorite thing she has ever drawn is a lady-bug. Sometimes she shows her art at the Harford fair.

“She is very talented and fo-

cuses most of her work on paint-ing people,” said Mrs. Regan.

While she likes draw-ing the customary portraits expected of an artist she has also worked from a rather less concrete model, dreams.

According to her teacher, Rebekkah is very creative.

“She seems very com-fortable coming up with her own ideas and has devel-oped her own style of art. She primarily works with acrylic paint on water color paper in a very precise, real-istic way,” said Mrs. Regan.

Rebekkah is drawn to the emotional release art can bring as well as its universal appeal.

“Art gives us a free-dom to express our feelings and emotions and every-one can interrupt it anyway they want, there’s no lan-guage barrier,” she said. When she graduates high

school she plans on becom-ing a high school art teacher.

“Art is a way for kids to ex-press themselves. A lot of teach-ers don’t care about their jobs and o want to be a teacher that lets kids do what they want,” she said.

By Katelyn Breslin Staff Reporter

By Sam PooleStaff Reporter

Artist of the Issue: Rebekkah Oakley

Chorus “Did a Smashing Job” With Their Winter Concert

PAGE 13METEOR CHRONICLE MARCH 2013

Meteor SportsSPORTLIGHTCommentary

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Whether the sport they have come to love and play is baseball, basketball or anything from rugby to water polo, professional athletes always seem to owe gratitude to the person who introduced them to the game, encouraged them, and helped them come to love it.

The same can be said for ath-letes of all ages, especially those who have stuck with the sport since first starting it, maybe as ear-ly as kindergarten. There are many of these athletes representing MAHS and proudly sporting the maroon and white every season.

If you were to ask any ath-lete around the high school, each has a different story as to how they got involved in a sport or the sports they play today.

The amount of high school kids involved in at least one sport still today is obviously much lower than when the kids were in elementary school. This is be-cause of the required amount of commitment one needs to put forth in order to be a success-ful high school student athlete. For those still in a sport or mul-tiple sports, credit is due to the role models of their past who helped the interest and dedica-tion they have in the sport today.

Senior athlete Megan Hinds is a part of both the tennis team and softball team at MAHS. Although each and every one of her childhood coaches do not stand out in her mind, the ones she does remember played a significant role in making her the athlete she is today.

“I think they really shaped my game,” Hinds said of her youth coaches. “Their coach-

Youth Coaches Rightful RecognitionBy Nicki LewisSports co-editor

ing styles were always sup-portive and they would push me to my full potential.”

According to Hinds, without them she wouldn’t be nearly as skilled at her sports as she is today.

Also a senior, Samantha Po-irier owes credit to coaches of her past. Involved in soccer in the fall and softball in the spring, Poirier started her sports career later than many. Speaking of soccer, Poirier began the sport in seventh grade.

“We were always taught to work hard and achieve results, but above all we always had fun,” Poirier said about being a part of the girls’ varsity soc-cer team for the past four years.

According to Poirier, much credit is due to the coaches of her high school career, Lathrop Street sixth grade math teacher Mr. John Cherundolo being head coach and being assisted by now also MAHS’s varsity wrestling coach Jerry Homsher.

“To Mr. C and Jerry I would say thank you for helping me learn so much about myself in the past four years,” Poirier said in recognition of the coaches.

Sophomore Michael Vanness is a young, passionate athlete at MAHS, being a part of both the varsity football and baseball team. According to Vanness, he remembers several little league coaches and without them he thinks he may not even be in-volved in sports like he is today.

“They made me strive to achieve and work hard to get to my goals,” Van-ness said of the role models.

Junior Matt Lewis, a dear ac-quaintance of mine, said he start-ed playing baseball as soon as he was old enough to, and has loved

(See Sportlight, page 16)

Lifting Their Way to SuccessBy Taylor BoswithStaff Reporter

On Nov. 17, 2012 Rebecca Timm broke the state bench re-cord for the 130 weight class for ages 16-17 by benching 105. After months of dedica-tion and training in the weight room with the rest of her team, she finally pushed herself to be the fourth girl Montrose power lifter to break a state record.

“Rebecca is a hardworking and dedicated lifter,” powerlift-ing coach Eric Stallings says. “She worked very hard to break that record, and I’m very proud of her that not only has this helped her become stronger for lifting, but for other sports as well.”

The team has programs given out by Mr. Stallings that help them build up their strength and endurance for their upcoming meets. In their previous program, Timm and the rest of the team would work out their chest and triceps on Mondays. Wednes-days would be biceps, back and traps and Friday would be back to chest, triceps and forearms. The reason for not having lifting five days a week is because mus-cles need time to heal. If a stu-dent were to lift the same mus-cles every day without taking a break then they won’t see any improvement because they keep

tearing up the same muscles. This could also lead to serious injury. So these so called “rest days” are extremely important not only to the team, but to anyone who works out. But aside from the regular workout program, Timm also deadlifts and squats on Wednesdays to build up strength in her legs for the deadlift and squatting competitions that are also given along with benching.

Timm also has the pres-sure of being one of the only girls on the powerlifting team here in Montrose. But even though she is, all boys fully support any girls being on the team along with everyone else.

“Girls are people too and if they want to be on the team along with the rest of us and work hard, I don’t see why they couldn’t be in there,” team captain Adam Beylo says. “Also, most people don’t break records the first meet they go to. It shows how much talent Becca has and determina-tion she really has for the sport.”

With all the support from her fellow teammates, it drives Timm for bigger and bet-ter things in the lifting world.

“My favorite thing about lift-ing would have to be the consis-tency of improvement,” Timm

says. “I don’t really have any-thing to complain about it except for the triceps soreness. But other than that, I would like to eventu-ally qualify for nationals in all three lifting areas and maybe even go to world’s one day.”

Coach Stallings also hopes Timm reaches some of the goals she has set out for.

“I’d like to see Rebecca break the High School bench press re-cord,” coach Stallings says. “And maybe even see her qualify for nationals in all three lifting com-petitions and eventually have the opportunity to be chosen for the women’s world team.”

Not only does her coach look at Timm’s future ca-reer in lifting as a bright one, but so does her whole team.

“I can definitely see her breaking more records in the meets to come,” sophomore Frankie Evangelista says. “She’s a great lifter, dedicated, focused and always pushes herself to do her absolute best. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that she broke this record for her first meet.”

So all in all, this record being broken is only the very beginning for Timm and is almost guaranteed to break future records of her own in all three lifting competitions.

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Junior wrestler John Shaffer attempts to pin his opponent at Tunkhannock High School on February 16th. For more on wreslting, see page 15.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COLLEEN PARKS

METEOR CHRONICLEMARCH 2013PAGE 14

“People ask me what I do in the winter. I tell them I look out the window and wait for spring.” --Rogers Hornsby. That famous quote describes the at-titude of many spring athletes here at MASD. While winter sports are underway, athletes are focusing on their spring sport by staying after school lift-ing and conditioning with fel-low athletes and their coaches.

Baseball players and track runners alike are getting geared up for their spring season and are really looking forward to it.

“Track brings out true com-petition. I always have a lot of fun with the team and I en-joy competing,” junior track hurdler Rebecca Timm says.

“I am looking forward to the season because it’s sim-ply baseball,” junior base-ball player Matt Lewis says.

Track conditioning with Coach Sean Castellani is held two days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On these days, they do running activities such as 20, 100, 200, and 300 meter speed workouts. They weight lift as well including complet-ing: squats, bench press, dumb-bell press, lunges, and dead lifts.

“We emphasize strength during this period along with developing an aerobic base,” Coach Castellani says.

Sophomore Hannah Di-eck’s favorite thing about track conditioning is getting to hang out with teammates be-fore the season officially starts.

Baseball conditioning is four days a week Monday through Thursday. During baseball con-ditioning, they lift and condi-tion. According to junior Jus-tin Hartman their main focus is abs, arms, legs, and chest.

“Our program is geared to the spring sport. We’ve set a three-phase program that progresses the athlete from strength to speed then sport specific exercises,” head baseball coach Ryan Soden says.

“My favorite thing about con-ditioning is ladders and my least favorite is planks,” Lewis says.

Along with athletes having their favorite and least part about the conditioning, they’re all put-ting in this hard work for goals they plan to reach this season. Athletes always have goals per-sonally and within their team.

According to Coach Castel-lani, he wants to expand on the success of what athletes had last season and get every athlete better than they were last year.

“I want to run a state qualifying time,” Timm says.

Dieck wants to get on the medal stand for triple and long jump and hopes her 4 by 1 team can run a state qualifying time.

Hartman wants to get a district title with the baseball team. Lewis has personal goals of getting on the base more.

With ten-20 athletes show-ing up for baseball and about six-12 showing up for track, there are always people who decide late in the conditioning season to come out for the team.

“There are many advan-tages of coming into the sea-son in shape, however; the big-gest is you won’t be sore over the first few weeks. Off season conditioning in no way shape or form affects playing time or positions,” Coach Soden says.

Lewis thinks conditioning will help him be in shape and it will help the teams become closer.

“The only students that are usually affected are those who don’t do anything prior to the start of the season. Stu-dents that participant in other sports will be just as success-ful,” Coach Castellani says.

New seasons bring new changes; both coaches and players are thinking about those changes.

“Last year was a great year, but we only met one goal out of three, so we need to make a lot of changes to ensure we get it right. In order to do that we need to re-member that so far in 2013 our re-cord is 0-0. We haven’t won a sin-gle game yet,” Coach Soden says.

Lewis says the team is still going to be a family, but a young-er family compared to last year.

As for Mr. Castellani he says, “We will emphasize many of the developments in training from the previous season, as they have proven to be successful.”

Dieck thinks the season will be less stressful because she’s not a freshman and doesn’t have to worry about making friends.

Track runners and baseball players are putting in hard work for their season, and needless to say, they’re all staring out the window waiting for spring.

WinterConditioningEasing the Wait for SpringBy Meghan GilhoolSports co-editor

Boys’ Basketball Season Proves SuccessfulBy Taylor Teed Staff reporter

Sophomore Troy Ely and Junior Cameron Dean go up for the block against their Elk Lake opponent while senior teammate Lance Nealy looks on...............................................................................................................................................

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As league games begin the boys’ varsity basketball team is looking forward to a season hopefully filled with a lot of wins and minimal losses. Hoping to make it as far as possible, the team aims to work hard and prac-tice harder.

“We need to keep our heads up and keep working,” senior Joey Zuber said.

Currently, the team is hoping to rebound from a couple of early losses. With the team being mostly younger students and with a new coach, the team is still trying to adjust and work on finding their identity.

“It’s a new experience for me, especially at varsity level. I think the team just needs to start playing all four quarters,” Coach Madden said.

Leadership is helping out the team a lot this year. With the current seniors, and some new players stepping up, the team is bound to get back on track and go far.

“I’m trying to step up and be a leader,” Zuber said.

Improvements this season include playing with better chemistry, more athletic ability on the team, more potential with the size of the players, better at finishing, better defense, more intensity, better offense balance, and learning more in defense.

“I think I’ve gotten more con-fident and improved my shoot-ing,” sophomore Troy Ely said.

The boys’ are aiming far this year with a set goal for the team to make it all the way to the district championship.

“Hopefully we’ll win the league and make a run for dis-tricts,” Ely said.

With the biggest competition this year being Elk Lake and Holy Cross, the boys’ are keep-ing their heads up and bringing it.

“Play hard, fight hard, and we’ll win,” senior Lance Nealy said.

With taking it one game at

a time and practicing hard, this season’s sure to go far.

“We’re solid, but could prac-tice better. We have fun but we need to practice harder and not take everything as a joke,” fresh-man Austin Smith said.

The team’s exciting, hard earned 42-40 win against Elk Lake on Friday, January 11th proves that the team’s willing to work hard to reach their goal.

“We need to learn to keep our heads up after a loss and try not to pull each other apart,” junior Brenton Warner said.

Some members of the team feel as if this season is more of a prep season for the team to adjust to a new coach and young team.

“I’d say we’re building, rather than competing,” junior Erik Burgh said.

However, other members believe that this season is for the most part good to go and will go far.

(See Basketball, page 15)

METEOR CHRONICLE March 2013 PAGE 15

Wrestling Starts New Season With New Coach By Dan ZapolskiStaff reporter

Every season starts a new journey. This winter the wrestling team got to look forward to a new coaching staff. For the team this year, the change was a good one. Five out of nine wrestlers went on to wrestle in districts.

“We did very well. We started off the season 2-2 by beating our rival Elk Lake, and then G.A.R to start off even for the season,” sophomore Patrick Parks said.

With a record of 7-5 as an in-dividual, Parks went to districts on February 22 and 23. With a tough fight, he placed fifth to re-ceive a medal.

The level of intensity has grown since coach Lucenti has taken over the program. As for senior Gary Parks he likes having coach Lucenti as his coach.

“I like Coach Lucenti. He has structured the practices very well and fit so that we don’t feel like we are tired while on the mat. My goals weren’t out of reach,” Parks said.

Parks got sixth at districts, and even though he put up a tough fight, he was not able to advance to the regional level.

The commitment and dedica-tion has also grown with all the kids this year. They all feel as

if Coach Lucenti is a huge role model for them. Nick Moore only one of the two seniors on the wrestling team this year had a great season.

“I got fourth at the Tunkhan-nock tournament; I know I could have done better, but there is al-ways time for improvement,” Moore said.

Nick advanced on to districts and placed sixth. He did not ad-vance to regionals.

The last thing that is always taken into account into the many things that come with a new coach is pride and courage given. Junior John Shaffer took some pride home when he won first place at the Tunkhannock tournament.

“I got third place in districts. I like coach a lot and when I got that medal, I just thought to my-self, he’s the reason I got this; if it wasn’t for his practices we all couldn’t have made it this far,” Shaffer said.

On March 1 and 2 regionals was held and Shaffer was the only wrestler to advance on to wrestle in regionals. Shaffer has been wrestling for five years now and this is the first time he has ever had the opportunity to experience something like this before. When

he first became a wrestler, he had very little experience. After tak-ing a year off, he returned this year and made it to regionals.

“I wish I could have had more time before the week of regionals to practice. I feel I would have been more successful,” Shaffer said.

At regionals, he lost his first match on Friday, March 1 with a score of 7-2. His second match on Saturday, March 2 was also lost with a score of 7-2. Regionals are a double elimination match, so once two matches are lost, the wrestler doesn’t advance. Even though Shaffer tried his hardest to make it to regionals and that was a success, he put his best effort into it and he did not advance in regionals.

“There is always next year to go to regionals. I will have a bet-ter understanding of what to ex-pect if I make it next year, so I can practice more on those things that went wrong this year and just im-prove my techniques in a whole to help me advance in regionals next time,” Shaffer said.

The team members are look-ing forward to what future sea-sons hold for them.

“I think we can be successful this year; come watch us play,” junior Cameron Dean said.

As the season ended, many goals were reached as the team made it to district playoffs. Now that the team has this years’ ex-perience, they are sure to do even better next year.

“It was a very successful year. We went 9-3 in our league and made it to the quarterfinals of districts. I’m happy with that,” Coach Madden said.

The team this season worked together and played the best they could to end up with the record they did. For a team with a new coach and young players, the boys’ definitely impressed and showed people that they can ad-just and play as a team.

“We had a great time being together as a team. It was fun and probably the most enjoyable sea-son I’ve had,” Dean said.

As seniors graduate, they have some advice for the team next year and for years to come,

“Work harder and stay fo-cused in practice. Work toward a common goal,” Nealy said.

Coach Madden has some plans for changes in next years practice and plans to improve as much as needed. Next season will be full of games to go watch for sure.

“Our focus coming into big games could’ve been improved. We were very nervous sometimes and I plan to put the guys in im-portant and stressful positions next year in practice to help us to become more poise on the court to where we control the situation. We have to get stronger, faster, and more aggressive. This off season will be tough. But this is how we will improve,” Coach Madden said.

(Basketball continued from page 14)

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Senior Gary Parks pins down his opponent at Tunkhannock High School at their wrestling tournament on February 16.

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Sophomore wrestler Pat Parks has his opponent in a head lock.

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METEOR CHRONICLEPAGE 16 MARCH 2013

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The Montrose Area High School girls’ varsity basketball team competed in the Denise Reddon Christmas Tourna-ment on Dec 28 and 30, 2012 at Elk Lake High School. There were four schools that competed in the tourna-ment: Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Susquehanna, and Montrose.

The girls prepared for this tournament by practicing hard and playing a tough exhibi-tion schedule. Practices started in November, and the games first started on November 30, 2012. Even though there was a rough start to the preseason, it only made the girls better.

“We played a lot of top schools which challenged us to improve,” the team’s only senior, Sam Dixon, said.

After the team’s hard pre-season, the girls looked forward to the tournament with the hopes of taking the title yet again. The Lady Meteors have won the tournament since it start-ed three years ago. The team was upbeat and ready to win.

“I felt confident because we had been doing well in practice, but also very fo-cused knowing that we would have some good competition [during the tournament],” ju-nior Myra Lattimore said.

Lattimore’s confidence was not unsubstantiated as the girls played through the tournament very well. The team first went against Susquehanna on Dec 28. The Montrose girls kept a lead the whole game. Montrose won with a final score of 49-24.

The girls then went against Elk Lake, who had won against Blue Ridge on the first day to meet Montrose in the champio-ship game. This game was originally planned for Dec 29, but was postponed until Dec 30 due to poor weather con-ditions. The Montrose team played hard and earned a win. The final score was 50-32.

“Hard work pays off,” sopho-more Fallon Gurn said of the win.

And that it did, as the girls earned themselves the Denise Reddon title again.

Girls’ Varsity Basket-ball Takes Chirstmas Tournament Title

it ever since. A certain youth baseball coach of his has always stood out to him as a person hav-ing a great impact on his life, both on and off the field.

“I will always remember how much he loved the game of base-ball,” Lewis said. “He always said you had to have fun while playing the game, even when things weren’t going well, and you would most likely succeed.”

According to Lewis, with-out learning the many things he did from this baseball coach, he strongly believes he would not have as big of a love for the game as he does today.

Little league coaches can range from middle-aged doctors wanting to spend all of their free time with their children, therefore coaching little league baseball or softball, to teachers who coach summer ball for something to do. No matter the case, many of these people do not realize the true im-

(Sportlight continued from page 13)

By Michaela PikeStaff reporter

pact they have on a young ath-lete’s life, many more times a pos-itive impact than a negative one.

Most sixth graders are going through that phase when they want to be away from their par-ents as much as possible, so what happens when you find out they took the position of your team’s basketball coach? It may have seemed like a nightmare at the time, but many athletes in ninth through 12th grade look back on it now and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Junior basketball player Cam-eron Dean took part in the experi-ence of having a parent as a coach in sixth grade when his mother took the basketball coach position.

“[Having her as a coach] was good most of the time, but we cer-tainly had our disagreements just like we still do to this day,” Dean admits. “She vows to never coach me again,” he added with a laugh.

Sophomore baseball and

soccer player Kyle Watkins has played the sports since the age of four, and continues to love them today. More than once, Watkins has had his father as a baseball coach and had all positive things to say about the experience.

According to Watkins, an advantage of having his dad as a coach was that he could help him work on his game at home because he wasn’t afraid to speak up and ask for pointers.

It is clear that for the most part, youth coaches for any sport really played an influen-tial part in the shaping of to-day’s student athletes at Mon-trose Area High School. Without their guidance, leadership and encouragement, many athletes don’t think they would have en-joyed or even been involved in the sport they are in today.

It is now that we recognize and thank these people, and give the credit to where it is due.

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Junior wrestler Chad Robinson prepares to make a move against his opponent.

Junior wrestler Jabe Blom has his opponent in a head lock.