1

Raider Invader April 2017

By: Arielle Dietz

On April 6th, 2017, Reynolds High

School’s very own production of Footloose the

Musical made its debut.

After having its school preview just a

few hours prior, the whole cast were on their

toes to show the Reynolds community their

talent. When the clock struck 7:30 and “places

please” were called, the Footloose cast made

their way onto the stage. The show began with

the big opening number to the iconic

“Footloose” theme song.

As lead actors and RHS students Car-

oline Hoovler and Tristan Mull made their

way onto the stage, the saga of Ren and Ariel

and the town of Bomont caused the crowd to

move to the edge of their seats. The chemistry between the two was superb, but they were not the only ones that caught

the eyes of the crowd. Characters like Willard, Rusty, Reverend Moore, Vi Moore, and Ethel McCormack also gave the

show the absolute dynamic and interest it became by Saturday night.

Thanks to the pit, the Footloose cast had their own set of live music to sing and dance to. As the night prevailed,

songs like “Holding Out for a Hero”, “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”, and “Almost Paradise” filled the ears of the crowd.

After Ren and Ariel have their first kiss, Rusty and Willard finally admit their love for each other, and Shaw allows the

town council to authorize dancing in the town limits of Bomont, the curtain closes. Loud cheers and hysterical crying

from the crowd and the cast erupted the auditorium and the cast took their finals bows.

Three weeks after the debut of the show the primary characters share their thoughts and favorite parts about be-ing in this year’s RHS Musical Production.

Garrett Heckman, who played the stumbling, country, overall wearing, mama’s boy, Willard Hewitt expressed his favorite part about the musical, “My favorite part of Footloose was being surrounded by the amazing cast and acting, dancing, and singing to every scene in the production”.

Caroline Hoovler, the outgoing, confident, stunning, but troubled girl who plays Ariel Moore proclaims, “My favorite part of the show was performing such a beautiful story, showcasing love, friendship, freedom, and courage. I also really enjoyed all the musical numbers, especially sharing the stage with my fierce girls in “Holding Out for a He-ro.” If I could change one thing about the show I would make “Can’t Stand Still” my song, not Ren’s”.

TJ Mull played the character Ren who expresses his joy of going to the clubs and dancing. Ren rocks the town

with his troubling personality and ambition to change their society completely. “My favorite part of the show was doing

what I love, all while having tons of fun. I enjoyed exploring my skills at acting and improving my vocals. If I could

change anything about the show I would make “Holding Out For a Hero” as my song.”

Lastly, Vi Moore was played by Erin Brickle. The character Vi was an understanding, kind-hearted, soulful, preachers wife in Footloose. Brickle reports that “Footloose was one of the most fun productions I’ve ever participated in, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I got to sing such a big solo in it. Everybody’s hard work was evident and I was so proud of the cast, crew, pit, and everyone else who helped make this show a success”.

The 2016-2017 RHS musical production of Footloose was an utter success for the cast and everyone who was a part of it. Much gratitude and thanks to Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Heckman, Mr. Raatz, and the rest of the staff who helped. Don’t forget to audition for the musical next year and make your big break on the RHS stage!

“Everybody cut Footloose!”

2

Raider Invader

Raider Invader Editorial Policy

The Raider Invader accepts and welcomes let-ters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty, staff, and members of the Reynolds School District community.

The Raider Invader editorial staff strives to achieve accuracy and sophistication in writing, and, therefore, any letters containing offensive language, personal attacks and other distasteful or irresponsible statements will not be included. The Raider Invader editorial staff reserves the right to edit (for accuracy, spelling and grammar) or reject any and all articles and letters submitted.

Poetry, short stories and fiction will be accept-ed according to the above guidelines for editorial let-ters. Your work must include your name and it must be in good taste.

The Raider Invader is a student-run newspaper under the direction of Mrs. Tyson, advisor. The views expressed in this paper or by its representatives are not meant to represent the views and beliefs of the Reynolds School District or any of its employees.

Members of 2016 - 2017

Raider Invader Staff

Joke of the Month

By: Raina Ferguson

Q: What do bunnies eat to cool down in summer?

A: Hopcicles

Gage Bayless

Cassidy Bonner

Tiffany Davison

Arielle Dietz

Brianna Erdman

Raina Ferguson

Frankie Giardina

Sam McClimans

Kaylee Moore

Olivia Mott

Andrew Osborne

Alexis Shannon

Emory Shrock

Nevada Wickline

Book review: The Language of

Flowers

By: Tiffany Davison

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa

Diffenbaugh is a beautifully written novel of how

a girl named Victoria spreads love, meaning,

change, and the ability to express feelings into not

only her life, but the lives of many others through

the use of flowers.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh does not shy away

from real and heartbreaking situations. She uses

Victoria as a symbol of how people can grow,

change, and become what they never thought they

could achieve.

Diffen-

baugh includes

flowers in every

setting, conflict,

and environment

to symbolize the

feeling in the at-

mosphere and por-

tray connections

between the char-

acters and their

emotions. In life,

we sometimes find

it seemingly im-

possible to speak

aloud about our

emotions and thoughts; Victoria uses the flowers

to say what she is unable to express to others.

Victoria helps build relationships in her

own life and other lives by spreading her

knowledge of the meanings of the flowers. She

shows how not every relationship in our lives,

may it be family or friends, is always lost when

we think it is.

The novel is inspiringly written to invoke

emotion in the reader. The novel gives the reader a relatable yet unique experience he or she cannot find just anywhere.

3

Raider Invader

By: De’kota Crouser

Food day for RHS Students is a reward for their participation and academic achievement placed in the classroom. It is also a teaching experi-ence as in the foreign language classes; letting students make recipes from their chosen countries. Students are

made to look up different cultural dish-es and learn more about their country in an independent way. Aside from the foreign language classes, RHS electives have food days as well. The food days are based off of profits from the items the students make and sell throughout the class.

Food days are generally once a month in many of the chosen classes; entrepreneurship, newspaper, metal shop, yearbook, and design manufac-turing. This privilege is earned by the students by their efforts, and not just given to them. In a way it is like a stu-dent’s paycheck, or free day after a lot of hard work.

RHS celebrates food days

Giving back to the VFW

By: Frankie Giardina

The Reynolds VFW does a lot

for our school and community, the

Reynolds Senior High Student Council

always makes giving back to the VFW

a top priority.

This year, the Senior High

Student Council is fundraising for Ace

Hanzes. Ace was elected the State

Commander of the VFW and in order

to lock his position, he needs to raise

money for his cause. Student Council

will be surprising Ace by helping him

out, the fundraiser is in current pro-

gress and will continue.

Student Council is selling can-

dy bars and lollipops outside of school.

Candy bars and lollipops both vary in

brands and flavors. Candy bars are

being sold for $1.00 and lollipops are

two for $1.00.

Mrs. Tyson and Mrs. Wilcox have lollipops in their room for sale. Student Council members are located in yellow hall, so please bring your money before or after school hours!

Envirothon practice day By: Kaylee Moore

On Wednesday, March 12th,

four students from Reynolds traveled

to Middle Run in Mercer, Pennsylva-

nia to participate in the Envirothon

Practice Day.

Envirothon is a program for

high school students in Pennsylvania

that are interested in the environment

and the impact we have on the envi-

ronment. Teams are made up of five

students and each student specializes

in one of the five testing areas. The

testing areas are Wildlife, Forestry,

Aquatics, Current Issue, and soils.

During the training, students learned about how to measure a tree using a barometer, how to identify dif-ferent species of trees, and how to identify different species of fish and birds! This excited the students even more for the main event in May where they will compete with different teams in the area.

By: Nevada Wickline

Thiel College was started in

1866 by a Lutheran pastor named Wil-

liam A. Passavant; it was a college

rooted in the Lutheran faith. It was

originally funded by Louis and Barbra

Thiel. It was originally in Phillipsburg

Pa. and then moved to Greenville Pa.

in 1874. In 1866 only five students

enrolled in Thiel and by the end of that

year there were thirty students en-

rolled.

It was founded as a liberal arts

school and is still following that way

of education to this day. At Thiel Col-

lege you can receive a wide array of

degrees and a very rounded education

in many subjects. You won’t leave

Thiel College without a good under-

standing of all subjects. Thiel also has

many sports to engage in for both man

and woman. There is football, soccer,

volley ball, cheerleading, and many

more.

Students like Thiel College because of its small campus and sense of community. One of our own teach-ers Mrs. Tyson went to Thiel College and said she loved her experience there. She said one of the best things was the professors and how they were very close with the students and very helpful.

College of the month: Thiel College

4

Raider Invader

Academic Decathlon looking for recruits By: Raina Ferguson

Last year, the Reynolds Academic Decathlon team had fifteen members amongst their divisions; Honors, Scho-lastic, and Varsity. The topic under discussion was World War II. In total there were eleven medalists, where there were seven bronze, one silver, and three gold.

The topic chosen for this year is Africa, which involves separate parts of the continent. These include sciences that will focus on biology of infectious diseases, literature that will include the novel of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and multiple short stories, art and music will be the fundamentals of African cultures, social sciences that will show the history of Africa with its main focus on West Africa, fundamental economic concepts, and mathematics that will be an introduction to college level math.

Academic Decathlon is currently searching for members to join their divisions. If someone you know who is in ninth grade and above, or you yourself wants to join Academic Decathlon, please talk to Mrs. Ziegler and Mrs. Wagner, one of the current members of the group, or go to their Instagram page @rhsacdec. Academic Decathlon is for people of all grade point averages and personalities.

Baseball season underway

By: Andrew Osborne Its summertime outside, the sun is out, spring is in the air and that means that baseball season has begun.

The Reynolds boy’s baseball team has three seniors this year; Grey Deciancio, Evan Ferguson and Damion Gearhart. The team has started off with a record of 4-3 and are 1-2 in the region. When asked, Grey Deciancio said, “The season is going really well, we are a very young team so we just need to keep improving and build team chem-istry and we can be a very good team.”

The Raiders are a very young team but have shown a lot of promise, with the three seniors leading the way and a lot of young talent this team could become very good.

Games are usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday, barring any rain outs. Come out and support the Raiders as they kick off a brand new season.

By: Sam McClimans The Lady Raiders softball team is off to a slow start with a record of 3-5. Their most recent game

was on April 19th and resulted in a loss against Maplewood by a score of 11-7. The team is led by only one senior this year; Second baseman Rachel Micsky. When asked what her expectations were for her final year as a Lady Raider, her answer was optimistic and to-the-point, “I want to win and I want to have fun”. On another positive note, the girls have been fortunate this year with the weather, as previous years have not allowed them to practice outside due to cold and rainy weather. They are led by pitchers Hali Hoover and Kelly Park, and are looking build their chemistry as a team and improve their perfor-mance.

Girls softball hoping to gain experience

5

Raider Invader

Track takes off on what could be a record breaking year

By: Alexis Shannon

As everyone knows, Reyn-

olds has exceptional athletes in the

district. This year, the track and

field team is doing phenomenal in

their performance.

The boy’s team has a record

of 6-0, including beating Greenville

for this first time in over thirty

years, while the girls hold a record

of 3-3. Both teams are doing well,

as the girls are at a disadvantage

due to not having enough girls to

compete in each event, causing

them to give many points away dur-

ing dual meets.

A few of the girls might

even see states in their future as

they are already performing at a

district and state level. Hayley Fen-

ton is running the 400 faster than

last year, when she missed state

qualifications by one second. Tess

Cadman is only two feet short of

throwing state distance in javelin

along with Rachel Cowan who is

only five feet under in dis-

cus.

“When the weather

warms up, we warm up.”

Coach Masterofrancesco

commented. There is about

a month left in the season

and he predicts that many

of the athletes will contin-

ue on to states and even

medal.

Last season, the

boys 4x1 relay team broke

the school’s record that had

been in place since 1993 at

districts. The team consists

of seniors, Dylan McDanel

and Ryan McQuown and

juniors, Austin Carrerra

and Tyler Gill. The team is already

running faster than that, with a

43.93 second record.

“We are going to change up

our steps and practice more, and

maybe even break our record

again.” McDanel commented on the

sloppy performance with

the handoffs at the last

meet. “I’m proud of the

way our team has prac-

ticed this past couple of

years and it is finally

paying off by beating

our own records.”

Along with the 4x1 most

likely going to states,

the 4x4 and 4x8 relay

teams are looking

stronger as well, as they

continue to lower their

times and run faster.

McDanel and McQuown

may also qualify in states with their

long jump distances. “Dylan and I

constantly push each other to be the

best we can be and I hope that we

can place well at states together,”

McQuown commented. Whether it

be long jump or the 4x1, they have

a good chance.

“My teammates are the best, I’m proud of what we have accomplished and we’ve had a

good run. (Pun not intended).” McQuown said about the upcoming end to the season. There are seven

seniors leaving the team at the end of the season, but with good talent coming up from the underclassmen,

the track team should stay strong, and even ride on the glory that the boy seniors set up this year.

6

Raider Invader

Shooting straight at states

By: Alexis Shannon

On April 1st 2017,

senior Brianna Erdman

and junior Austin Carrera

went to states in Harris-

burg for Archery.

Both of them

shoot with their team at

Gold-N-Grain, but shoot

and compete individual-

ly. At the state competi-

tion, each of them shot

within their merit among

others in the same merit

from throughout the

state.

They shot a total of 60 ar-

rows within two rounds of ten, with

a possibility of 600 points. Erdman

received a 515 and Carrera a 597.

After the main rounds, the

top four from each merit and gen-

der move on to the shoot-out,

where first, second and third place

are determined.

Erdman moved on to the

shoot-out, as she earned 4th place in the main round. She shot approxi-mately a 53 out of 60 during the

shoot-out, earning herself 2nd place overall in her merit, in the state. Carrerra earned 4th place overall for

his merit across the state.

From the archives

By: Olivia Mott

What do you know about

Mr. Scarvel? He’s a softball coach,

a guidance counselor, and a former

history teacher all at Reynolds Jr.-

Sr. High School. His interesting

humor has left a mark on each stu-

dent at Reynolds, or for those who

are in the younger grades, will

leave a mark.

But digging into the deep,

dark history of the history teacher

was overwhelming… In truth, the

only dark thing about his past was

his hair, and that’s what I first no-

ticed when I saw Mr. Scarvel’s pic-

ture in an old school newspaper.

Mr. Tim Scarvel, new stu-

dent teacher from Westminster Col-

lege, got his big break in his Reyn-

olds career by following a former

seventh grade social studies teach-

er, Mr. Dan Schneider.

He grew up in Farrell

School District as the youngest of

two older brothers and an older sis-

ter, eventually going to college at

Westminster which he chose specif-

ically for being small and one-on-

one with teachers. He chose being a

history teacher as he had “a real

passion” for it and loved working

with children. Previous to Reyn-

olds, he taught at Farrell and Key-

stone. Compared to his hometown

school, Reynolds was considered

larger to him.

Some facts and favorites of

his in the year and date of April 3rd,

1996, were that he liked “the Den-

ver Nuggets, the Steelers, the Pi-

rates, the color green, Seinfield,

pasta, and the movie Goodfellas.”

Whether they are still true, you’ll

have to ask him.

7

Raider Invader

Taking the time to care: A look at Reynolds athletes from one father’s perspective

By: Mr. Raatz

“Is Garhett playing? Did you

see Garhett today?” These were the

questions I came home to on a regular

basis when I began subbing at Reyn-

olds from my eager two year old son,

and they would be an indicator of what

I have come to love about the Reyn-

olds School District. It was nothing

really in the grand scheme of things.

In fact, I am sure that if you asked

Garhett today, he probably would not

recall the event. However, it has stuck

in my mind ever since.

After a tough loss to Farrell in

the 2014-15 basketball season, as play-

ers were collecting their stuff and

heading to the locker room, I asked my

son if he wanted to go see some of the

players. His eyes lit up with excite-

ment. We made our way across the

court and gave high fives to boys from

both teams, since I was subbing at both

schools at the time, and knew most of

the players. When we got to Garhett,

“number 0” as my son had been calling

him most of the game, he took a knee

offering a high five and taking the time

to ask him about the game. It was sim-

ple, and yet it was abnormal. A

demonstration of true caring, and the

establishment of a bond between my

son and Garhett that would continue

for the rest of that year and frame how

my son viewed basketball. Other

Reynolds athletes have had lasting im-

pacts on my sons over the three school

years I’ve been a part of this district;

taking time to greet them, offering

high fives or fist bumps, and engaging

them. Athletes like Cole Rickert, Jake

Hart, Taylor and Elke D’Urso, Kelly

Park and others.

The most recent of these mo-

ments had another framing effect of

how my boys would view a sport. I

brought them out to watch the NW

Region Finals for wrestling at Sharon

High School. It was the first time they

had ever been to a wrestling match,

and it was quite overwhelming for

them. Action seemed to be going on

everywhere. As I fielded questions

about points, what different singlets

belonged to which programs, and who

we were cheering for, they seemed to

soak up the fun and intensity of the

event. But the greatest takeaway for

the boys was a brief conversation with

Seniors Gage Bayless and Chaise

Hauck. Both boys came over to shake

hands with my sons. They asked my

oldest questions about what sports he

was playing and what he liked to do.

They demonstrated compassion and

caring, engaging with their fans, and

illustrating the power of simple words.

From then on, every question was

framed as, “How did Gage do? Is he

the one who liked that I play soccer?

What about Chaise, he’s the taller one

who gave me a high five, Dad…” And

so another bond is formed.

Whether the athletes are con-scious of their effect or not, we have some of the most humble, scholastic, caring and engaging athletes that I have ever had the experience to meet. They obviously have great skill: Gar-hett broke a record for points scored; Cole is an animal on the football field and the wrestling mat; Jake is a pro in the classroom and in his athletics; the D’Urso’s have a huge impact on the court; Kelly is a phenome on the soft-ball field; and Gage and Chaise are two of the state’s finest wrestlers. But more than the accolades, the athleti-cism, and the sportsmanship each of these fine individuals have the intangi-ble gift of caring. That intangible seems to permeate the environment here at Reynolds, and it’s one of the reasons I am proud to be a part of the Raider Nation.

8

Raider Invader

Dressing up for Brooks and Longietti By: Frankie Giardina

The Reynolds wrestlers were

invited to the State Capital Building in

Harrisburg in order to be recognized in

both the House and the Senate. They

took the trip on Tuesday, April 18th at

six in the morning, arriving at the Cap-

ital around one. The team was then

sent into the Capital and given a tour

as well as going into the House of

Representatives and the Senate while

in recognitions were in session.

The Raiders were taken to the

House of Representatives, where they

were recognized when Mr. Mark

Longietti invited the state medalists to

the floor of the House where they

were recognized before the House.

During the meeting of the House,

there was a man representing another

country. He talked of a tent that was

blown over, and began singing in an-

other language. Hunter Michaels said

his favorite part of the trip was “Being

in the House of Representatives and

seeing the foreign experiences; it was

a thrill to meet Senator Brooks.”

At the Senate, Michelle

Brooks recognized the Reynolds Raid-

ers. This experience was similar, as

each senator rose and described the

group or person in which they were

representing. There were very beauti-

ful chandeliers throughout the Capital,

Hunter Thompson said, “Pizza. I liked

the pizza, and I liked the big chande-

liers.”

Overall, the experience was

very educational and a once in a life

experience. Ryan Harnett said that his

favorite part of the trip was overall,

experiencing the capital. Cole Bayless

also described the experience as

“surreal.” The wrestlers thanked eve-

ryone involved in making the trip pos-

sible, and will continue to represent

Reynolds High School with class.

My trip to D.C. By: Emory Shrock

These past few months we

have seen a very politically charged

atmosphere here in the United States.

Between “Travel Bans,” budget bal-

ancing, and the possible nuclear winter

coming to a town near you, it is a lot

to think about. So recently I took a trip

to the city where all these decisions

are made, Mosco-… oops I mean,

Washington D.C.

Despite what you may hear on

CBS, CNN, NBC, etc. D.C. isn’t an

arena of liberals and conservatives in a

prison yard brawl to the death in the

streets, unfortunately. In fact, minus

the occasional cult spreading some-

thing absolutely insane, D.C. almost

lacks any form of political opinion.

Everyone is just there to enjoy being

in a marvelously built city. It was a

fantastic vacation and my only regret

is that it wasn’t longer. It is said that

you can spend three weeks in D.C. and

not see everything, so I hope that I can

help by highlighting some really cool

things you can do. Before I start, how-

ever, here are some tips on how to get

around the city.

The number one tip is be pre-

pared for a lot of walking. Driving in

the city is next to impossible and you

nearly need to sell your first born child

to pay for parking. In my opinion the

best, and cheapest way to get around is

the Metro. For about $8 you have al-

most two days of travel in and out of

the city, which leads to my next tip.

Stay in a hotel outside the city. It is

cheaper, quieter, and chances are real-

ly close to a Metro station. My final

tip is, don’t eat at the Museums. You

will save so much money by just get-

ting food off of the various street

venders who line the streets. Don’t

believe me, go into a museum and buy

water for $5; it’s your money.

(Continued on page 9).

9

Raider Invader

Senior spotlight: Zakari Burke Written by Sam McClimans

Question 1: When were you born?

Answer: “June 29th 1999”

Question 2: What are your nicknames?

Answer: “Zak, ZB, Z”

Question 3: Who is your best friend?

Answer: “Justin Gaber”

Question 4: What are some unique things about yourself?

Answer:” I like to run and I like to read”

Question 5: What do you do in your free time?

Answer: “Play video games, read, play with my stepbrothers”

Question 6: What activities/clubs/sports are you involved with?

Answer: “Cross country, track, and library club”

Question 7: What are your plans for after High School?

Answer:” I plan on going to college to learn how to make video games”

Question 8: What are a few of your favorite High School memories?

Answer: “The bee incident during cross country during my freshman year”

Question 9: What are you going to miss most about RHS?

Answer: “Seeing all of my friends everyday”

Question 10: Would you like to give a thanks or a ‘shout out’ to anyone?

Answer: “Justin Gaber, for being my best friend and dealing with me for all these years”

So now that you know how to

get around and where to stay here are

some really cool places to see. The

first is the National Mall. It is located

right between the Capital and the

Washington Monument. It is lined with

museums like, Air and Space, and Nat-

ural History. There are also many

street performers, and is just a really

cool place to hang out on a sunny day.

After the museums you can walk and

see all the monuments. On this approx-

imately three mile walk you can see

the Washington Monument, World

War 2, Vietnam, Lincoln, and Korean

Memorials; and the MLK, FDR, and

Jefferson Memorials as well. When

your done just go back to the Mall and

get on the Metro conveniently located

in the center of it.

If you can you should also get

a tour of the capital building. Price is

dependent on how many people you

have with you, but this is a really neat

place to go. You can learn the history

of our great nation all while admiring

the art work in the halls, and in the

breath taking rotunda. You can also get

passes to go see the House of Repre-

sentatives, and the Senate. Just keep in

mind, no pictures of these rooms.

Don’t worry if you forget, there will be

“friendly” and totally not annoyed

heavily armed guards to remind you.

I could go on forever, but I

don’t want to keep writing. Other cool

places include Arlington, the News-

eum, and The National Cathedral. It

really just depends on what interests

you. I think everyone should visit our

Nation’s Capital at some point in their

lives, and I hope you enjoy it as much

as I did. I hope this article helped plan

your vacation, and thanks for reading

My trip to D.C. continued