Thursday, March 31, 2011 - Indiana Gazetteepaper.indianagazette.com/docs/sections/110331.nie.tab.pdf · 2 — Indiana Gazette NIE Supplement, Thursday, March 31, 2011 The Gazette

Thursday, March 31, 2011

2 — Indiana Gazette NIE Supplement, Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Gazette

congratulatesall the NIE contest winners

TOM PEEL/GazetteHASTIE KINTER recently made an NIE presentation to fifth-grade students at Homer-Center Elementary School.

NIE program celebrates young writersThe Indiana Gazette is celebrating its 26th year of publi-

cation of this Newspaper in Education Student Supple-ment, which highlights the talents of local students fromkindergarten through Grade 12 in a variety of contests.

All of the work included within has been generated bystudents in our readership area. The kindergartners andfirst- and second-graders are asked to complete the lastframe of a comic strip that has been developed by one ofour Gazette artists.

At the third-grade level, students are asked to write ashort essay paragraph on a topic that changes yearly.

Fourth- through sixth-graders design ads that are spon-sored by local businesses and at the high school level, stu-dents have the opportunity to showcase their writing abili-

ties through an opinion writing contest and a feature writ-ing contest.

The newest challenges for the students are a photographycontest and a contest to design the cover of this special sup-plement.

The goal of The Indiana Gazette’s NIE program is to rein-force a positive and lifetime reading habit in students byengaging them in an authentic text — the newspaper.

Students’ involvement in the contests mentioned abovedoes engage them in a life skill that will benefit them intoadulthood.

It also provides them with an opportunity to have theirwork published, something not many school-aged studentscan pride themselves on.

What’s inside■ Design-an-ad winners Page 3

■ A full list of participating teachers Pages 3-5

■ A complete list of the winners Page 4

■ Student feature stories and opinion columnsPages 5-31

■ Winners of the feature, news and sports photo contests Page 40-43

■ A full list of all participating students Pages 32-39, 46-48

■ Third-grade students’ “To The Person I MostAdmire” winners Pages 44, 48-51

■ The winners of the design-a-comic contest Pages 52-54

ChristianMintzer, a sophomore atHomer-CenterHigh School,created the winning artworkfeatured on the cover of the2011 NIENewspaper in Education StudentContest supplement.

Indiana Gazette NIE Supplement, Thursday, March 31, 2011— 3

Thank you! Design-an-ad winnersArea students in grades 4, 5 and 6 designed advertisements for approximately 85 local businesses. The

advertisements were then taken to the business owners, who chose the ones that appear in today’s special section.Members of the art department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania then selected these winners from each grade.

MADISONHUGHES

EisenhowerElementary

Grade 4

1stTALIA

MASTALSKIEast Pike

Elementary Grade 4

2ndSAMANTHA

GALLONorthernCambria Grade 4

3rd

SAL TATE

St. Bernard’sSchoolGrade 5

1stMARIAH WILSON

ShannockValley

Grade 5

2nd

BRIANNA TOPICK

ShannockValley

Grade 5

3rd

KAITLYNJARVISUnited

ElementaryGrade 6

1stQUINN SMITH

East PikeElementary

Grade 6

2nd

AUBREE NEWHOUSE

Homer-CenterElementary

Grade 6

3rdOn the cover

The following teachers took part in thisyear’s Newspaper in Education contests fea-tured in this supplement:

APOLLO-RIDGE ELEMENTARYSharon Friday, Jan French, Renee Claw-

son, Mike Saxion, Carrie Alwine, JeneaneKehew

APOLLO-RIDGE SENIOR HIGH Deborah Wright

BEN FRANKLIN ELEMENTARYLori Laverick, Rosemary Palya, Donna

Sabbia, Nancy Obush, Jacalyn Matz, MargieCrandall, Nancy Geary, Keri Marshall, LauraCunningham

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYSusan Dunlap, Mary Hileman, Janet

Lukacs, Hope Staats, Laurie Kelly, Diane An-tonacci, Alissa Joyce, Eileen Phelan, JaneFoust, Michele Sisitki, Amy Stofa, RobinHenry, Elaine Anderson, Sandra K. Ross,Jennifer Shirley, Jackie Jones, Monica Bell,Brenda Rovison, Maryrose Castellani, KathyFrola

BLAIRSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOLW. Frederick Popp, Stacy Faulk

BLAIRSVILLE HIGH SCHOOLAmanda McAnulty

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYMary Vick Boole, Carol Hayes, Diane Bur-

bank, Melody Zitterbart

DAYTON ELEMENTARY Courtney Gould, Katrina Kimmell

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARY Heidi Higbee, Sandy Smelko, Natalie

McKee, Mark Morrow, Jim Geidel, Jena Bleg-gi, Barbara Bell, Zachary Whited, HolleeJones, Patrick McKee, Deb Patterson, PegSoukup

Continued on Page 4


Jessica Cash, Grade 5, Eisenhower Elementary Aiden Murdick, Grade 4, Ben Franklin Elementary

Thankyou!

A list of this year’s winnersThe following is a list of winners of this

year’s Newspaper in Education contests fea-tured in this supplement:

COMICSKINDERGARTEN: Nadia Goodyear, first,

Eisenhower Elementary; Adam Ball, second,Purchase Line South Elementary; HaileyDrennen-Yachisko, third, Horace Mann Ele-mentary

GRADE 1: Noah Peles, first, Purchase LineSouth Elementary; Eric Waltman, second,Blairsville Elementary; Kayla Seymour,third, Seeds of Faith Christian Academy

GRADE 2: Genevieve Spade, first, Homer-Center Elementary; Caroline Bianco, sec-ond, Eisenhower Elementary; AmberPalmer, third, Blairsville Elementary

‘TO THE PERSON I MOST ADMIRE’GRADE 3: Faith Hartle, first, home school;

Jaden Blatt, second, Homer-Center Elemen-tary; Ethan Boone, third, Blairsville Elemen-tary

DESIGN AN AD CONTESTGRADE 4: Madison Hughes, first, Eisen-

hower Elementary; Talia Mastalski, second,East Pike Elementary; Samantha Gallo,third, Northern Cambria

GRADE 5: Sal Tate, first, St. Bernard Ele-mentary; Mariah Wilson, second, ShannockValley; Brianna Topick, third, Shannock Val-ley

GRADE 6: Kaitlyn Jarvis, first, United;Quinn Smith, second, East Pike Elementary;Aubree Newhouse, third, Homer-Center El-ementary School

OPINION COLUMNGRADE 7: Maya Southard, first, Indiana

Junior High School; Hunter J. Scherf, sec-ond, Homeschooled; Nicole Wallace, third,Indiana Wesleyan School

GRADE 8: Lorraine Yerger, first, IndianaJunior High School; Mariah Fluke, second,Blairsville Middle School; Callie Shannon,third, Blairsville Middle School

GRADE 9: Kiran Sharma, first, IndianaJunior High School; Dale Pearce, second,Calvary Baptist Academy; Brendan Bertig,third, Indiana Junior High School

GRADE 10: Matt Bugli, first, NorthernCambria High School; Kylie Wolfe, second,United High School; Paige Heiple, third, Cal-vary Baptist Academy

GRADE 11: Elliot Carl, first, Calvary BaptistAcademy; Garrett Richardson, second, Indi-ana Wesleyan School

GRADE 12: Deanna Buck, first, NorthernCambria High School; Sue Ann Smith, sec-ond, Punxsutawney Area High School; AllieShields, third, Punxsutawney Area HighSchool

FEATURE STORYGRADE 7: Amber Lukcik, first, Blairsville

Middle School; Kaylee Fong, second,Blairsville Middle School; Megan Gehosky,third, United High School

GRADE 8: Denali Davis, first, Indiana Jun-ior High School; Alex Ofman, second, Unit-ed High School; Laurel O’Barto, third,Blairsville Middle School

GRADE 9: Jeanne Marie Stalteri, first, Indi-ana Junior High School; Nyla Numan, sec-ond, Indiana Junior High School; HannahShirley, third, Calvary Baptist Academy

GRADE 10: Abigail Shirley, first, CalvaryBaptist Academy; Lauren Wolfe, second,Calvary Baptist Academy; Carey Garrett,

third, Northern Cambria High School GRADE 11: Lexie Orlwoski, first, Apollo-

Ridge High School; Regina Sherry, second,Northern Cambria High School

GRADE 12: Olivia Maderer, first, CalvaryBaptist Academy; Lauren Ashurst, second,Northern Cambria High School; StephanieOverberger, third, Northern Cambria HighSchool

COVER DESIGNFIRST: Christian Mintzer, Grade 10,

Homer-Center Junior Senior High School

NEWS PHOTOFIRST: Nicholas DiGiorgio, Grade 10, Indi-

ana Area Senior High SchoolSECOND: Caitlin Palmer, Grade 11, Indi-

ana Area Senior High School THIRD: Mandy Gallo, Grade 12, Indiana

Area Senior High School

FEATURE PHOTOFIRST: Natalie Brownlee, Grade 10, Indi-

ana Area Senior High School SECOND: Kristen Pisarcik, Grade 10, Indi-

ana Area Senior High SchoolTHIRD: Megan Parker, Grade 12, Indiana

Area Senior High School

SPORTS PHOTOFIRST: Maggie Carty, Grade 11, Indiana

Area Senior High SchoolSECOND: Cynthia Watta, Grade 11, Indi-

ana Area Senior High School THIRD: Nicholas DiGiorgio, Grade 10, In-

diana Area Senior High School

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYDawn Smith, Ed Kocinski, Susan Koval-

cik, Linda Lansberry, Grace Bennett, BradTrout, Susan Stitt, Carol Tanweer, MandyYanoschick, Sarah Bond, Tammie Brunet-ta, Kendy Shubra, Alicia Clark, MelissaBender, Teresa Rinehart, Jeff Reed, JillKuszubowski

ELDERTON ELEMENTARYDelores Craig, Trisha Dilick, Vickie Wat-

ters

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYJoe Kotelnicki, David King, Mary Ann

Ciranni, Cheryl Turk, Ruth Yatzkanic,Suzanne Mateer, Chris Kochman, SherryDellaposta, Carol Mlakar, Christine Kow-chuck, Katie Stossel, Elizabeth Woods, JoshKapcoe, Erin Hildebrand, Kathy Dask-ivich, Betty Ann Pavlick

HOMER-CENTER HIGH SCHOOLKevin Wolford

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARYDiana Bennett, Shannon Tokar, Julie

Duffee, Katie Bungo, Linda Medvetz, JustinBrode, Heather Brunetta, Karen Morganti

INDIANA AREA JUNIOR HIGHRobyn Bailey-Orchard

INDIANA HOME SCHOOLKristy Scherf, Julie Fairchild, Janet

McCoy, Rebecca Turner, Danielle Road-man, Melissa McCracken, Allison Miller,Cindy Wilson, Jennifer Shoenfelt, Denise

Continued from Page 3

Continued on Page 5

Hey, kids! We have something just for you every Monday – The Mini Page

UntitledSingle mothers. We’ve all heard of them,

and we’ve all seen them. They’re out there.Some of them want help but just can’t ac-cept it.

Others refuse to accept it, no matter howmuch they need it. These women are strongand hardworking and independent. Anddeep down inside … there’s hurt and guilt,locked away in her heart.

Down where no one can see it. She won’tshow it around her kids. She can’t. She mustbe strong for her children. She can’t teachthem to be weak. To me, they are the mostinspirational people I have seen.

Single mothers work long, excruciatinghours to get the money they need to feedand clothe her children, and to get the toysand things they like.

She takes them to and from practices andother activities. She does all the shoppingand all the cleaning. Then at the end of thatday, she sits down to a stack of bills.

They are so determined to do what’s bestfor her kids, she doesn’t even worry aboutherself or what she wants. The first priority isthe kids.

She buys and pays for everything using themoney from her, and only her, salary. Shepays the bills. No one else. And yet … she’sholding on. Even when all she wants to do is

let go. She knows she can’t. Not for the sakeof her kids. She does not want to teach themwhen the going gets rough. She wants themto be strong … even when they can’t hold onany longer.

But I guess the worst part of all … is theguilt and the shame. The guilt that she has toput her kids through all of this for her onestupid mistake. This is what she’ll feel for therest of her life. And the hurt. Oh, the hurt.

How he left her? She was alone. No one tostand by her through all of this.


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A special thank-you Writing contest for the best

feature storyStudents in grades 7 through 12 were asked to write feature

stories using the theme “The Person I Most Admire.” The stories were judged by the IUP Journalism Department.

Here are the winners.

AMBER LUKCIKBlairsvlle

Middle SchoolGrade 7

1st

Continued on Page 6

Botsford, Rochelle King, Janet Shilling,Jamie Killeen, Kim Hartle

INDIANA AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLErik Puskar

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLMelinda Hosey, Amy Kunselman, Heidi

Hoffman

W.A. McCREERY MIDDLE SCHOOLKimberly Todd, Ed McCunn, Reneé

Tiesi, Susan Dotts, Max Falisec, ChristineMcGee, Ashleigh Henning, Lee Hudzicki,Deb Malicky, Nancy Ratay, Sherri Kutsch,Kathleen Broskin, Patti Grant, SusanCooper

NORTHERN CAMBRIA ELEMENTARY-MIDDLE SCHOOL

Tracey Ruddock, Sandra Serafin,Michele Paronish, Richard Work, LeaBorn, Marianne Mehall, Anne MarieShaffer, Anne Marie Weber, Nancy Za-torsky

NORTHERN CAMBRIA HIGH SCHOOLDeb Frontino

PARKVIEW ELEMENTARYMarian Klotz

PENNS MANOR AREA ELEMENTARYJoyce Fetterman, Beth Palilla, Jean

Bence, Marty Condino, Holy Benavidez,Cynthia H. Long, Kimberly Rhea, DonnaDriskel, Debra S. Hoover, Kathy Hawk,Amy Mountain

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARY

Kerri Mountain, Candace Smith,Tiffany Miloser, Dian Matko, RebeccaManzek, Linda Wilson, Beth Farabaugh

PURCHASE LINE SOUTH ELEMENTARY

Krista Peles, Robin Laney, Sue Lieb,Diane Fenton, Tina Anderson, DebraRickard, Christy Falisec, AndreaPerkovich, Colleen Myers

PUNXSUTAWNEY AREA HIGH SCHOOLMichelle Hutton

RAYNE ELEMENTARYLisa Nelson, Diane Greene, Kevin

Porter, Leslie Meyer, Megan Bush,Christina Stone, Rebecca Blews, DelilahCoy, Luke Sitosky

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYMelissa Hall, Jeff Smathers, Doug Tit-

mus, Tim Frassenei, Heather Bole, DavidGerstel, Molly Carr, Kristy Rado, HeatherReo, Carly Hruska, Kelsey Dietrich, Dar-rin Baker, Chantelle Colinet, RamonaTaylor, Steve Shannon, Jennifer Dick,Brandy DelleDonne, Becky Stiffler

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

Timothy Johnson, Stacey Marquez,Sandra L. McCracken, Sharon Vivian,Jason Marshall, Nicole Griffith

SHANNOCK VALLEY ELEMENTARY Christina Lasslo, Dennis Kirkpatrick,

Belinda Rosencrance, Michelle DiMaio.

ST. BERNARD’S SCHOOL Vera Leonard, Denise Swope, Tracy Dix-

son, Shannon Race, Melissa Ryan, JanetArone, Maria Hastings, Jackie Paronish.

UNITED HIGH SCHOOLJohn Dunn, Chris Wagner, Chris Mata-

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Untitled“I have a dream.” Have you ever heard this quote before? I

have, and it means a lot to me, almost asmuch as it means to Martin Luther King Jr.

He was very brave, determined and intelli-gent. He knew and understood what othersdidn’t.

He inspires me to try my best and nevergive up. Also to treat others with respect andthe way I want to be treated.

Martin Luther King Jr. was very deter-mined. He wanted all mankind to be treatedequally, despite color or race.

He wasn’t giving up, no matter what lifethrew at him. He knew what he wanted andhe did everything possible to reach his goal.He was very determined and had to be toachieve his goal.

It had to take a lot of guts to stand up forwhat he believed in.

Most white people disagreed with him be-cause they liked it the way it was already and

weren’t being affected by the poor treatmentpeople were receiving. Martin stayed stand-ing even though other people such as RosaParks were getting arrested.

He had guts, that is for sure, and that in-spires me to try my best at everything andstand up for what I believe in, even if thatmeans I have to stand alone.

Martin Luther King Jr. is the definition of in-telligence. He knew how to get what he want-ed, and he did just that.

He also knew what was right, but mostwhite people believed they were right. Martinalso knew exactly what needed to be done tomake things fair, and for all mankind to betreated equally. He was very smart and clever,and this makes me want to try my very best ateverything, and use a lot of common sensewith tough decisions.

“I have a dream.” Does it mean a lot more to you now? Martin

Luther King Jr. A great quote for a great man. Some say he was a man with pointless be-

liefs, but I along with many other people be-

lieve he was truly a brave and intelligent manwith a lot of determination.

I am inspired to do my best at everythingand never give up, also to treat others with re-spect because of this one truly amazing man.

Writing contest for the best feature story

UntitledImagine growing up around a wonderful,

caring, sweet family who inspires you a lot.Family members can be very inspirational.They will always help you make the rightchoices day in and day out. They are alwaysthere for you no matter what happens.

The one person who inspires me the most ismy mom, Kristi Gehosky. She is the best momI could ever ask for. She is always there for mewhen I need help and there when I need totalk if something is bothering me. My mom isalways making me happy when I am sad andmaking me laugh when I am mad. I love herso much.

My mom inspires me by encouraging me toget involved with sports, such as softball,cheerleading, tumbling, soccer and more. She

told me that when she was younger sheplayed softball.

She explained how you can learn teamworkand have fun, which got me interested inplaying. I signed up for softball and have beenplaying for about three years now. I reallyenjoy it.

Also, she encouraged me to try out forcheerleading, because I am very flexible andbecause she knew it was what I really wanted.Being a cheerleader has taught me to workwith others and gave me more confidence inmyself.

I couldn’t have learned this without mymom’s encouragement and support.

My mom has always told me how importantit was to try what you are good at and do thebest you can.

KAYLEE FONGBlairsville


2nd

MEGANGEHOSKY

United High School

Grade 7

3rd

UNTITLED, Amber Lukcik,

Blairsville Middle School, Grade 7, first place

How she has to struggle. Always liv-ing on the verge of debt.

She sits down every night to a pileof bills. A lot of these bills are tear-stained, from all the nights she’sstayed up the wee hours, crying andpraying for a miracle.

Thinking back … she never pic-tured that in just a few years she’d bea single mother … struggling to keepup with life.

But even when she feels that allhope is lost, there’s something thatkeeps her going.

Those beautiful faces. Seeing herchild playing and smiling and laugh-ing can make her almost totally for-get that she’s single and struggling tosurvive.

These women are so inspirational.I know they have definitely inspiredme to be as strong as they have beenwhen times are tough.

All single mothers who strive togive their child the world should berecognized.

For they are survivors, and evenwhen things are tough, they arefighting to survive.

They have inspired me to bestrong, even in the darkest hours.

Because when you have strength,you have hope.


Continued on Page 7


Kaylie Bender, Grade 5, Saltsburg Elementary

I have always done just that and have been cheering for about five years now.I am very glad that my mom is who she is and that she is there to help guide me in my

choices. My mom never gives up on working hard. She is always working hard and in-spires me to do the same in school as well. My mom is a nurse and is now working onher Ph.D., her doctor of philosophy. She inspires me to be a nurse when I grow up be-cause it sounds interesting and it gives me an idea of what I may want to be when Igrow up.

My mom has done a very good job of taking care of my two sisters, Hollie, Kasey andme, while my dad was in the military and going overseas. She made a big calendar forus to mark off the days until Daddy would come home.

When my mom would come home we would always go to the airport to pick him up.Before we would start heading to the airport to pick my dad up, we would make him abig “Welcome Home, Daddy” banner and hang it up in the kitchen so he would see itright when he walked in the door. It was a lot of fun. Then, after we picked him up andtook him home, he walked inside and saw the big banner. He was so excited and sur-prised!

While my dad was gone, my mom would always let my sisters and I take cookies andmilk upstairs to her bedroom and we would always play games, watch movies, eatcookies and drink milk! We would call it our special slumber party. It was so much fun!My mom would always find fun things for us to do to pass the time while Dad was gone.

My mom inspires me to have a lot of friends and meet new people, because she is avery friendly and outgoing person. My mom has taught me to treat everyone the way Iwant to be treated. My mom would always say to me “you can never have too manyfriends.” That saying has always brightened my day and made my day a whole lot bet-ter.

Kristi Gehosky has inspired me in a lot of ways throughout my life and she always en-courages me to be the best I can be. She always makes me happy. I could not ask foranymore from my mom, because she is the one and only best mom I will ever have!

UNTITLED, Megan Gehosky, United High School, Grade 7, third placeContinued from Page 6

My Sister, My InspirationThey say it is the little things that count.

Just as in a movie, we never know how char-acters or scenes can come together to shapeour life. One of the characters in my movie ismy older sister, Sierra. Through thick andthin, beginning to end, she has always beenthere to encourage and pick me up. I look upto her and I am thankful that she has provid-ed me with an admirable example to follow.More than anyone else, Sierra has inspiredme to strive to reach my potential.

Sierra has always been a good student;however, she has really had to work for hersuccess. There were many nights that shecried for hours as she struggled through herhomework. There is one night in particularwhere Sierra was working on math. She hadbeen concentrating on the same lesson fromthe time she got home from school untilafter dinner. She was so frustrated becauseshe couldn’t understand the material. To fi-nally comprehend what she was learning ittook another hour of occasional screamsand cries of exasperation. Though beforethat long night was over, Sierra did under-stand the section of math the teacher hadcovered in class that day. She never gave upand is now taking high-level courses at highschool and also classes at IUP through dualenrollment. Because of her strong founda-tion, she is independent and she does not

struggle. Her perseverance and commit-ment to truly understand the material haspaid off. This has inspired me to recognizehow each thing I learn adds to my currentknowledge and future abilities.

Sierra has also shown me how to be a com-passionate person and a genuine friend. Shehas constantly been there for me to talk to. IfI come home upset, Sierra is always the firstperson to notice. She will always ask mewhat is wrong, and waits to listen to my an-swer. Specifically, there is one day that Sierrawas an amazing friend to me.

DENALI DAVISIndiana AreaJunior High

Grade 8

1st


Continued on Page 8



Mr. Stanley Sylvester SmithYou see an African-American male around

his sixties. He is netting my pool while lis-tening to smooth jazz on his portable radio.

This jolly man is my grandpa, StanleyHenry. This man inspires me to live life likehim because he started out in life at the bot-tom and came up to be a successful person.

Sixty-five-year-old Stanley Sylvester Henrywas originally from Baltimore, Md. Hischildhood wasn’t full of much excitementexcept for when all of the kids in his neigh-borhood would play cops and robbersacross the city park.

One of his pastimes included reading.Reading for my grandfather was what in-spired him to explore when he was young.

Reading of beautiful countries would fillhis mind with excitement. Almost every day

my grandpa would visit the public library.Movies were cheap back then and the the-ater was about a block away for him.

My granddad would never miss a newmovie and the fun part was when he wouldtell me about them.

His favorite movie he would tell me aboutwould be “Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest.”

It was not until his senior year where hedecided to join the Air Force and visit theseplaces he had read about from his child-hood. His knack for adventure also foundhim love. When he went to Germany he metmy lovely grandma, Ursula, when he wasworking on fighter jets.

From Austria to Taiwan, he has seen it all.Historical landmarks like Machu Picchu andthe Vatican are old news to this man.

Stan learned to love many things as hetraveled, including food. He always tells me

to try new food whenever I can. For him food introduces a different level in

a place’s culture. He can never eat a mealwithout craving something else at the sametime.

Mr. Henry isn’t just my grandpa, he is mymentor. He has a good perspective to life. Hedoesn’t see the negative side; he sees thegood side. He teaches me many things. Forhim things that are meant to be done shouldbe done, or if you’re going to do somethingyou should always do it the best you can.Jobs don’t come easy to grandpa. He insistson fixing things himself instead of hiring arepairman.

He mostly is my mentor because he is verysmart. I would like to be as smart as he issome day. I admire my grandpa, StanleyHenry. He is a good example of how youshould live life.

InspirationThere are many people who have inspired me.

But overall I would say the people who have in-spired me most would be my parents.

They have shown me so many essential thingsin life and taught me how to be a good personand so much more. My parents have inspiredme in the same ways but also different things.

My mom inspired me by being a strong lovingperson. I’ve seen her be a carefree person butalso stick up for what’s right.

She has gotten me through tough times andsacrificed her own emotions to help me getthrough mine. That showed me that she is sostrong and willing to help me get through atough time and not cope with it herself.

She also gave me my competitive spirit andstubborn attitude, but at the same time she hasshown me how to control it and use it for myown good.

My mom is someone I look at differently frommost moms, and has truly inspired me to be-come a better person. Even though my mom in-spires me, my dad is also right there, too. Hegrew up and had a rough childhood.

But like for some people, it didn’t stop himfrom being a great father. It showed me thateven the hardest things in life are possible toovercome and make better. He also inspired me

by being a person to never give up. In any cir-cumstance he always liked to know he won ordid his personal best.

It instilled in me a pursuing attitude andshowed me something that became my dream.

As I grow older and find out new things andseek out a whole new life, I’m sure my parentswill keep inspiring me to become the person Iwant to be. I know they’ll help me during thehard times and celebrate during the good, butthey will always be my No. 1 inspiration.

ALEX OFMANUnited High

SchoolGrade 8

2nd

LAURELO’BARTOBlairsville


3rd

At school I had a fight with a friend withwhom I had been inseparable. Needless tosay, it was not a good day, and when I camehome it felt as though the day would go onforever.

Immediately Sierra rushed to get her coatand said that we were going on a walk. Sheasked what had happened.

When I finally got out the story, Sierra re-assured me that everything would work out.She gave me advice on what I could do, andthen she began talking about other things.We went out to dinner together and shemade me laugh on a day that I thoughtwould be terrible. Sierra has helped throughsome of my toughest days by being some-

one that I can talk to and trust. As I have got-ten older I realize that I have also been therefor her. This inspires me to foster communi-cation in all my relationships.

Another way Sierra has inspired me is byalways being herself. Sierra has a uniqueway of expressing herself. When she was injunior high, Sierra liked to dress in a style allher own. One outfit that she wore was a for-est green jumper with purple or red tights.Although she doesn’t dress like that now, shestill expresses herself.

Every moment that she can spare she ispracticing her guitar. When she hears a songthat she loves she learns it. It makes her sohappy! Just the other day she fooling aroundon her guitar and made everyone listen to

the recording she had made. Sierra was soproud! I see how excited she gets by doingactivities she enjoys and it inspires me tofind things that I love to do.

When Sierra was young she was very shyand afraid to try new things. She never lefther parents’ side. Now she is willing to domany different things.

When she was 13, Sierra went on a week-long whitewater rafting trip on the SalmonRiver in Idaho. She had never been whitewa-ter rafting before. Before getting on theplane to Idaho she was terrified, but she waswilling to conquer her fear. She ended uploving the trip.

Another activity that Sierra tried was com-peting in a mega-transect. This is a long

hike, usually longer than 15 miles, up anddown steep hills. Because Sierra tried thesenew activities, she has found two things sheloves to do. This has inspired me to try manynew things!

My sister Sierra has always inspired me todo my best in many ways, both in schooland as a person.

Most of the time she didn’t realize thatwhat she did or said was making a big differ-ence in my life. It was just the little thingsthat she said that made the difference.

Sierra is a very important character in themovie that is my life. Each of us is a charac-ter that may play a role in a person’s life. Wenever know what scene will make a differ-ence.

Continued from Page 7MY SISTER, MY INSPIRATION, Denali Davis, Indiana Area Junior High School, Grade 8, first place

UntitledThe few people in life who never give

up, have courage, strength, patienceand who are honest inspire me. Awoman who possesses these traits andso much more is my inspiration. Thiswoman encourages me to strive for thebest and to be the greatest person I canbe. This inspiration and encouragementcomes from my mother.

My mother has always been a brightlight in my life. As a single mother shehas never failed to go the extra mile tomake my life as good as it can be. Shequit her job when I was a child so shecould spend the most time with my sis-ters and me and to give us the bestlifestyle she could provide.

When my sisters and I were young, mymother taught us to be respectable andresponsible ladies. She would also neversettle for anything less than that, evennow.

She always helped out in our schools,was a member of the PTA and wouldnever pass up an opportunity to enrichmy life or my sisters’ lives in any waythat she could. Currently I am involvedin junior high drama productions, soft-

ball and music. My mother has alwayssupported and encouraged me withthese activities. She is my number onefan and never missed a game, produc-tion or concert in which I was perform-ing.

My mother has furthermore alwaysencouraged me to do what I wanted todo and frequently reminded me thatwhen it stops being fun, we stop.

JEANNE MARIESTALTERI

Indiana AreaJunior High

Grade 9

1st

Continued on Page 10


Madison Hughes, Grade 4, Eisenhower Elementary

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UntitledCopious influential figures have affected

my life, some by their venerable open mindsto accept all differences in character, someby their immeasurable courage to defendtheir rights against the crowd, and some bythe immense compassion in their heartsand willingness to lend a hand at any time.

However, it is my father who has shapedmy very being, led me to believe I canachieve the impossible, and helped me pavethe road to a future I can embrace.

Through the years, he has sketched me adistant silhouette of whom I can be, who Ican spire to, yet he still left space for me topaint my own dreams and ambitions be-tween the lines.

He has let me fail, to teach me how tospring back up, to show that mistakes don’tmark defeat. The significance of resilience isindelibly marked on my heart, and I willcarry these lessons with me for the rest ofmy life. I have fallen myself one too manytimes and may be more acquainted with thetitle of second place than I would wish, buthe has shown me that persistence is the keyto true success.

For many years up until fifth grade, I pic-tured myself as a future architect. I loved theidea of combining the strict logic of mathe-matics and geometry with the creativity andfreedom of art, the idea that houses I de-signed could be constructed.

Though my father most likely wasn’t tookeen on the idea himself and warned me ofthe potential pitfalls in career availabilitydown the road, he accepted my attraction toart and even helped me complete a Young

Architect’s set of plastic walls and paperfloors.

Then, with a sudden change of heart aftera career research project, I was persistent ona career in the field of aerospace engineer-ing, and once again my father did the besthe could to encourage my passion and let itdevelop, permitting me to spend threeweeks away from home in Massachusetts totake a flight science summer class at a JohnsHopkins CTY campsite.

Since then, I’ve wavered between a varietyof fields, ranging from medical professionsto journalistic callings, and he’s supportedme every step of the way, even though I sup-pose he knew from the start I would changemy mind many times throughout theyounger years of my life.

As I mature, my father has tried his best tokeep as many doors unlocked as possible sowhen I am sure and old enough to decide inwhich direction I wish to set out, nothingwill hinder me from following the path of mydreams.

Ever since I was as young as 3 or 4, he hassat down with me and emphasized thebeauty of the English language, reading mepassages from classics in literature; some, Icould only appreciate, others I could catch aglimpse of the deeper meaning, but all gaveme an enlightened sense of the world.

Some of my fondest memories are whenhe read a passage to me from Plato’s worksin which Socrates argued the true meaningof virtue and the time he shared his love forseveral of the poems in Nietzsche’s “The GayScience.”

He never fails to quote T.S. Eliot, DylanThomas, George Bernard Shaw, or any of his

favorite authors and poets when creating ananalogy with the situation at hand and onein literature or history.

Even now, hardly a week passes by beforehe eagerly shares and summarizes a new ar-ticle or book he’s recently read with me andmy mother.

On another side, starting at the same age,he has taught me the fascinating perfectionof the world of science and mathematics.

As a physics professor, his responses to allmy curious, seemingly mindless questionsas a child, were always of a demonstrativenature and never would disappoint tobroaden into an entire lecture on the topic,spilling into nearby areas of interest as well.

One summer when I was around 6 yearsold, he held a convex lens at an angle to re-flect the sun’s rays onto our wooden porchto show the focus of light. I will never forgetmy amazement as I watched the reflectionscorch a scar next to our doorstep that stillremains to this day.

Numerous times, I’ve asked him offhand-edly about a random thought I had aboutthe way a machine works or why nature is acertain way that initiated a reply of “That’s agood question!” before he started to set upan experiment with common householdsupplies.

My father would run around gatheringmaterials with the excitement of a scientistdiscovering a newfound fact, though he hadexecuted the same procedure in and out oflabs frequent times before.

Whether it was tapping lined-up wineglasses filled to different heights with waterto teach me the concept fo frequency, mi-crowaving a magazine to show how waves

work, or slipping a covered vase into a basinof water to demonstrate equal pressure overone plane, my father has subtly and in hisown way contributed greatly to my nowthriving love of science.

My father has always been there for me inways no one else has from the very begin-ning. He has not only affected my life, butfully changed it for the better.

Forever an inspiration, my constant guid-ing star, I hold him to the highest degree ofrespect and admiration for allowing me tosoar freely and explore the ability of my ownstrength, never inflicting his own desires onmine.

He has shown me life’s greatest virtues, byexample and by teaching. I hope to neverforget all that he has revealed to me. I amlucky and honored to be able to call him myfather.

NYLA NUMANIndiana AreaJunior High

Grade 9

2nd

My mother comes from a long line ofteachers and currently teaches kindergartenat Ben Franklin Elementary School. Mymom loves teaching and truly cares abouther students and their education. She hastaught a number of children over the yearsincluding disabled and blind children. Mymother would never settle for somethingless than great in her performance and herteaching plans.

Because of her hard work and apprecia-tion for teaching, she won the Legacy awardin 2006 when she was teaching at St.Bernard Elementary School. The LegacyAward recognizes outstanding kindergartenthrough eighth-grade Catholic educators.My mother goes beyond just educating herstudents, she puts effort into making surethat their activities are fun, creative, and thattheir education starts off well. She treats andexpects her students to behave just like shewould her own children.

On top of all this, my mother is faced witha challenge that most will never even thinkabout their whole lives. My mother has es-sential tremors in her hands. This is a condi-

tion that causes her hands to shake rapidlyalong with her legs.

However, this is different from Parkinson’sdisease. She first started showing signs whenI was in about second grade, but they weresmall. Now the tremors are much worse andare stronger. Many may think that this maynot be that large of a problem, but thismakes simple tasks much harder for mymother. Tasks such as holding up a bookwhile reading to students became difficult,and like many things her handwriting wasaffected.

About two years ago she went to JohnsHopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, toget a, as the doctors called it, a procedure.That summer my mom had brain surgery. Inthis procedure the doctors would implant abattery pack in her body that would sendout a shock to her tremors to make themsmaller and ideally eliminate them. It was anew surgery but would help my mother. Inthis surgery my mother did not have anes-thesia because throughout the surgery mymother had to talk to the doctors and tellthem how her body was reacting to theshocks the battery was sending. My mother

had to go through this not once but twice,one for the left side of her brain, one for theright.

The surgery went well and the batterypack worked, but with this procedure cameside effects. This battery pack does not stopthe tremors completely; my mother still hasto deal with the frustration of unsteadyhands. Also, since this battery pack connectswith the her brain, my mother’s speech andwalking is impaired. Her life and my family’slives have changed because of this. Thismakes my mother’s life more difficult andputs an extra weight on her shoulders, aweight she will never deserve.

Despite all these challenges my mothershows outstanding strength and courage.She is faced with hardship and still strivesfor the very best. Instead of giving up on herlife, my mother faces her challenges everyday and each day lives the best life that shecan, even if it may be hard.

My mother sacrifices so much for her fam-ily and works so hard to make my life andmy sisters’ lives better. My mother continuesto be the chauffeur of her daughters, and thecheering, involved, loving parent. She also

continues to teach kindergarten, which is astruggle on its own. She is and forever will bethe mother who never lets her loved onesdown, and the role model of her daughters.

My mother is the sole power of my life, andeven though she and I am faced with the re-ality every day of the fact that she is beingbrought down by a force put on her for noreason, she fights back and overcomes thechallenge every day.

Doctors may call her body weak, but I seeher as the strongest person on earth. It painsme to see her suffer but it gives me hope tosee her prevail. I could only hope that if Iwere put in her position, I would be half asstrong as she is. My mother inspires me tobe the best I can be, to do what I want in life,to be a good person, and to go for mydreams. In my lifetime I will not ever live upto my mother’s accomplishments, but I amproud to know someone with so many.

The inspiration I feel does not come fromsorrow or pity over a woman with disease, orhealth problems. The inspiration comesfrom a woman, a mother, and a role modelthat is faced with an enormous hardship,and overcomes it every single day.

UNTITLED, Jeanne Marie Stalteri, Indiana Area Junior High School, Grade 9, first placeContinued from Page 8


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Writing contest for the best feature storyUntitled

Many men and women in American histo-ry have been a great inspiration to manypeople today. I have had the opportunity tolearn about Julia Ward Howe, and she hasbecome an inspiration to me.

Julia Ward Howe was born in 1819 in NewYork City. Both of her parents died when shewas very young, so she was raised by heruncle.

At age 21, she married Samuel GridleyHowe, a director at Perkins Institute for theBlind. They lived with the blind children oncampus in a small house.

Julia must have felt lonely and isolatedwhen her parents died; again isolation be-came a part of her life.

Julia attended church and wrote poetry.She studied philosophy, learned several lan-guages and was devoted to the educationand care of the children.

I often think about Julia being unselfishand not wanting the blind children to feellonely and isolated as she had felt growingup.

Julia was also concerned about social is-sues that reached beyond the blind school.Julia became involved in the U.S. SanitaryCommission, an important institution of so-cial service.

More men had died in the Civil War fromdisease caused by poor sanitary conditionsthan in battle.

The Sanitary Commission was the chiefinstitution of reform. Julia Howe was invitedto Washington by President Lincoln.

I admire her bravery and commitment tohelp those men and women who were serv-ing our nation. Just like Julia, I want to be a

true patriot of the United States.While visiting a Union Army camp in Vir-

ginia, she heard the men singing a songacross the Potomac, which has been sung byboth North and South, titled “John Brown’sBody.”

A clergyman in the camp, who knew ofJulia’s published poems, urged her to write anew song for the war effort. Julia acceptedthe challenge and the result was a poem.

The poem, published first in February1862 in the Atlantic Monthly, was called“Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

The poem was quickly put to the tune thathad been used for “John Brown’s Body,” andbecame the best-known Civil War song ofthe North.

Julia Ward Howe overcame loneliness andisolation and gave of herself to others. Herlove of learning, social service, patriotismand bravery are an inspiration to me.

ABIGAILSHIRLEY

Calvary BaptistAcademy Grade 10

1stUntitled

American history contains many greatfemales; the one who inspires me themost is Harriet Beecher Stowe.

She is the famed author of “Uncle Tom’sCabin” and also many great hymns.

Few hymns can match the poetic beautyof “Still, Still With Thee.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born inLitchfield, Conn.

Her father was Dr. Lyman Beecher, a dis-tinguished minister.

Having six brothers, Harriet must havelearned at a young age to stand up for herbeliefs even though she was the only girl.

I try to remember to stand up for what isright even though I might be the only one.

In 1832, her family moved to Cincinnati,Ohio, where she met and married profes-sor Calvin E. Stowe.

Harriet and Calvin held strong viewsagainst slavery, and soon their Cincinnatihome became one of the stations for theUnderground Railroad. It inspires me tothink that she acted on her belief that slav-ery was unjust.

Harriet was willing to risk her home andfamily to help others get freedom.

Life was not easy for the Stowes, andHarriet experienced heartache in her ownfamily. In 1849, with her husband, brokenin health, in Eastern sanatorium, her in-fant son died during the cholera epidem-ic.

Eight years later her oldest son, Henry,drowned. Then in the Civil War, her thirdson, Fred, was wounded at Gettysburg,permanently damaging his brain.

In addition, there were always financialproblems.

Professor Stowe moved his family toMaine to accept a position at BowdoinCollege.

With five children, a teacher’s pay was

not enough. Harriet did not give up but did what she

could to help her family survive. In order to help meet expenses Harriet

wrote articles for the National Era maga-zine.

I often remember her contending spiritand try to do what I can in adversity.

In February of 1851, while attending aCommunion service, a death scene thatshe later wrote in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”crossed her mind.

When she returned home she immedi-ately began writing “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,”which appeared in serial form in NationalEra. Almost overnight, Harriet BeecherStowe became famous.

Harriet believed that any injustice tomankind including slavery was wrong.

She did not radically revolt, but she didwhat she could.

Harriet inspired the lives of many peo-ple.

She has inspired me to endure the hardtimes, never give up, do what I can, helpothers, and trust in God.

HANNAHSHIRLEY

Calvary BaptistAcademyGrade 9

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Writing contest for the best feature storyAmish Forgiveness Inspiration comes in many

forms, sometimes through vic-tory and sometimes throughtragedy, and can come from aperson or a group. In my case, itcame in a tragedy and how agroup of people came throughthat tragedy.

In the Amish community inBart Township, everythingseemed normal on the morningof Oct. 2, 2006, until CharlesRoberts stormed into the WestNickel Mines School.

He ordered all the girls againstthe chalkboard while the boyscarried in things from Roberts’truck. While this was happening the teacher and her mother, who was visiting,escaped and ran to get help.

Roberts let a pregnant woman and three parents with infants free. Robertswas extremely mad, breaking desks and smashing things. He said he had to killthe girls because his own daughter had died when she was only 20 minutes old.

Two girls, Mariah and Barbie Fisher, requested that they be shot so that theothers would be set free.

He denied their request, instead killing five girls and wounding five others be-fore shooting and killing himself.

The Amish had every right to be mad and hold a grudge, but ingrained deepinside the Amish culture is forgiveness.

The day of the shooting a grandfather of one of the victims said, “We must notthink evil of this man.”

Hours after the shooting, one of the Amish neighbors went to the Robertshouse extending forgiveness to the shooter’s wife and family.

Thirty Amish went to Charles Roberts’ funeral to extend their condolencesand their forgiveness.

They also invited the Roberts family to one the funeral of one of the girls.They also set up a fund for the Roberts family. Some skeptics said the Amishforgave too quickly, but the Amish said they would forgive and hold no grudges,so they could concentrate on healing rather than brooding hatred.

The Amish asked for the media to respect their privacy, but they wanted theworld to know that they forgave the shooter and the family.

This story inspired me to forgive no matter what a person may have done tome.

People may lie, spread rumors, or even hurt us emotionally, or physically, butlet us learn a lesson that the Amish taught so well: forgiveness.

LAUREN WOLFE


2ndGoing That Extra Mile

In your lifetime, you will meet many peoplewho change your opinion and make you look atthings in a different way. Good or bad, everyoneyou encounter changes you. Some people treatyou bad and some people pick you up off theground after you’ve been kicked down. Every-one has that one person they can turn to nomatter what happens. There is always one per-son who keeps you moving from one day to thenext. For me, that person is my older sister,Melissa.

Melissa and I are nine years apart and I havealways looked up to her. She has sacrificed timefor herself and time with her friends to spendtime with me or to do things for me. That alwaysmeant a lot to me, even though I didn’t say it toooften.

She was a protective older sister, and eventhough it got annoying, I’m glad she did it.Melissa would give me advice that I still usetoday. When I was little, she would take me withher and her friends because she knew I didn’thave anything to do and would be sitting athome bored. She went out of her way to dothings for me whether she wanted to or not andstill does. Melissa helped me learn how to ride abike, and she was always there for me when Ineeded her.

Our mom has multiple sclerosis, and Melissahas stepped up to do things that our mom can’t.

Melissa cut grass, cooked supper and helpedwith my homework while she was still in highschool because she knew our mom would betoo tired to do it when she got home from work.

My sister got a job before she graduatedschool so she wouldn’t have to ask our mom formoney. She also used her money to help ourmom and me out when our mom could nolonger work.

Melissa worries about me more than mostolder sisters would. She makes sure I go to doc-tor appointments, school activities and takesme to a friend’s house when she doesn’t have to.

I remember how she also helped our neighbor

because he was too old to do things himself. Sheused to fix things for him like sew on a button orscrew in a light bulb.

Melissa would get his mail because it was hardfor him to walk up to the post office and get ithimself. She encouraged me to go over and visitwith him because he lived alone and didn’t haveanyone to talk to all day.

Melissa would do little things that wouldmake him happy, like taking our dog over to seehim or taking him some cookies she baked. Shewas always very worried about him. I soonlearned to care for him also and help him whileshe was at work.

From watching my sister help people and bea loving, caring person and helping people thatneed it, she has inspired me to help people andhas taught me to be responsible and work hard.She has shown me that life isn’t just about tak-ing care of yourself.

Life is about going that extra mile to helpsomeone, which makes the world a better place.I don’t think I could have chosen a better sisterfor myself than Melissa.

I hope that one day I can be as patient andcaring as she is.

CAREY GARRETTNorthernCambriaGrade 10

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UntitledImagine this: You’re 10 years old and in-

stead of playing tag with your friends, play-ing basketball or kickball or bouncing onyour bed like a normal 10-year-old, you arestuck in a wheelchair because your mus-cles are deteriorating.

Even worse, you’re only expected to liveuntil around your late teens or early 30s.Definitely not something you would wantto have to deal with, is it?

Well, the fact is that this scary scenario isreality for many families throughout theworld. What’s the cause of this you mayask.

The answer is muscular dystrophy.Muscular dystrophy has been something

I’ve been forced to learn to live with eventhough I myself don’t have the disease.

Almost every holiday I wonder, “Would itbe different if Pap could walk normally” or“What would we be doing if he didn’t havemuscular dystrophy?”

My Pap, even though he isn’t always con-scious or mentally present because of nu-

REGINA SHERRYNorthernCambriaGrade 11

2ndUntitled

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”This is a famous quote from someone whohas impacted my life and who has inspiredme to continue on when everything seemeddifficult to do so. This quote by Lance Arm-strong is one by which he lives his life, andone by which I have tried to live my life.

Armstrong is an American professionalroad racing cyclist who has won the Tour deFrance seven times. Armstrong is also a sur-vivor of testicular cancer. He was diagnosedwith stage three testicular cancer at the ageof 25. The cancer then spread to his lungs,abdomen and brain. To save his life wouldmean to have immediate surgery and to un-dergo chemotherapy. After the surgery, Arm-strong was informed that he had less than a40 percent chance of survival. Although hewas given this bad news, he used his deter-mination and courage to overcome hisproblems and to continue on with his ca-reer. Armstrong continued to train andeventually won the Tour de France each yearfrom 1999-2005. There are few people whocould have done what he did, and I admirethese characteristics. Consequently, be-cause of his determination, courage andwork ethic, he has been an inspiration to meand has affected my life in a very positiveway.

Therefore, Lance Armstrong serves as aninspirational figure to me for several rea-sons. One reason Armstrong’s determina-tion has inspired me is because of a particu-larly difficult time in my life when I thought Icould not continue. This difficult time oc-curred during a time when I was running inthe summer to stay in shape for the upcom-ing volleyball season. During this time Iwould run more than three miles a day withthe goal to run the mile in the shortest timethat I could. When running one day, Itripped in a hole and twisted my ankle. Itwasn’t a severe injury; yet, it was just enough

of a sprain to cause me excruciating pain. Ihad to sit down along the roadside due tothe pain. I sat there rubbing my ankle andsobbing, thinking about crushed dreamsand ruined goals.

As the pain began to subside, I thoughtabout how I was feeling so sorry for myselfover a sprained ankle. What about otherswho have had to endure so much more thanme? What about Mr. Lance Armstrong? Itwas with that thought that I knew I wouldnot succumb to this injury. If I wanted to runthe mile in the least amount of time I could,I would have to continue to train hard. Icouldn’t let this pain cause me to quit. Arm-strong never gave up when cycling, and Iwasn’t about to give up either. It is becauseof Armstrong’s determination that I was ableto continue to run and to meet my goals forthe volleyball season.

Another reason Lance Armstrong is suchan inspiration to me is because of hiscourage. Although Lance was diagnosedwith testicular cancer, he still continued torace. Even though his life wasn’t going in thedirection he may have planned for himself,he was able to use his exceptional courage to

bring himself back on track. It is this courageI thought about when I felt that my life wasout of control.

Several years ago my family was goingthrough a rough time because of an illness.Like Armstrong, my mom too was diag-nosed with cancer. This was a very roughtime for everyone in my family. At times I feltlike everything was falling apart and nothingwas going right. I didn’t know how I wouldbe able to stay strong during this time.Whenever I felt like I couldn’t go on, I wouldthink back to Armstrong’s courage. I thoughtabout how strong he was during that time,and I tried to show the same courage heshowed because I knew following himwould help me through this troubled time.

While working hard to do the best hecould in cycling, Armstrong made this hisprofession. Cycling may be just an activityfor some, but for Armstrong, cycling issomething he loves so much that it is alsohis profession. This has inspired me becausewhat I love, I now want to make my profes-sion. I love to play basketball and volleyball,so my goal is to become a professional bas-ketball player or beach volleyball player.These are my favorite sports so I would loveto get paid to do what I love. To make thispossible, it would not be easy. It would take alot of hard work and training to accomplishthese goals. I would have to be very hard-working and have a good work ethic. If I fol-lowed in Armstrong’s footsteps, I would beable to accomplish my goals just like he did.This is another connection that we have be-cause of the goals we both want to reach. Heis inspiring because he makes people wantto be like him.

In conclusion, Lance Armstrong is the per-son who has inspired me and has affectedmy life the most. His never-ending determi-nation, courage and work ethic are thethings about him that inspire me. Because ofthe type of person he is, I try to follow in hisfootsteps and be like him.

LEXIEORLOWSKI

Apollo-RidgeHigh School

Grade 11

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Timothy Ball, Grade 4, Purchase Line North Elementary

Morgan Straw, Grade 4, Rayne Elementary

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merous medications that he takes to keepdown the pain, has always been one of mybiggest inspirations.

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic conditionthat is mostly found in boys but there arecases of girls having it.

Muscular dystrophy can affect people ofall ages and there are many different formsof it.

Some of them are deadly while otherscause little disability and people with themcan expect to live a normal life span.

Symptoms of muscular dystrophy mayvary with the different types of musculardystrophy.

It can affect adults but the more severeforms tend to occur in early childhood.Some symptoms include drooling, delayeddevelopment of muscle motor skills, fre-

quent falls, loss in muscle size and problemswalking.

It has been found that the disease mayalter certain tests performed in order toform a diagnosis.

Unfortunately there are no known curesfor various forms of muscular dystrophy.

There are, however, treatments to helpease or delay some of the effects of it.

Somebody with this disease can go tophysical therapy and/or be as active as pos-sible to help maintain muscle strength andfunction.

Children are sometimes prescribed corti-costeroids in order to keep them walking aslong as possible.

People that suffer from muscular dystro-phy inspire me greatly; they show persever-ance through the shadows of this debilitat-ing disease.


UNTITLED, Regina Sherry, Northern Cambria High School, Grade 11, second place

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Cecelia Kravarik, Grade 4,Purchase Line South Elementary

Brody Jackson, G

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Writing contest for the best feature storyMy Inspiration: Rachel Joy Scott

“I have this theory that if one person can go out of theirway to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction ofthe same” are the prophetic words of an ordinary teenagegirl who would become part of something far greater thanshe ever could have imagined.

In life, she broke through the boundaries of groups andcliques, extending kindness to all types of people: reachingout to the lonely, helping the angry, and inspiring those clos-est to her to become stronger individuals.

In death, the personal thoughts of her published journalshave touched thousands around the world, from everydaypeople to celebrities to former presidents, encouragingthem to “look beyond the face” and love those around themno matter what they are like. Her name was Rachel Scott, avictim of the Columbine Massacre, and she is one of mybiggest inspirations. Although many people claim thatRachel Scott rose to fame only because of the way she died,those who have met and read about this young womanknow that it was how she lived that defined her and helpedspread her message across the world. Rachel Joy Scott wasborn Aug. 5, 1981, to Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo.

Her parents, divorced when Rachel was 8, shared jointcustody of her and her four other siblings; Rachel wouldspend her time in Denver, where her dad lived, and Little-ton, Columbine’s home, where the rest of her family was.

Her parents, in the many books they wrote about her laterafter her death, expressed joyful surprise at the fact thatRachel did not lash out at them for the divorce, but eventu-ally encouraged and helped each of them as they began see-ing other people. Another characteristic of Rachel that wasadmirable was her forgiving spirit.

A trait of Rachel’s, which I find amazing for her to have ina school where ridicule of religion and its followers was

common, washer grace insharing herfaith. Unlikethe sadly mis-used stereo-type of Chris-tians today,Rachel did nothate peoplefor not beingChristians orjudge them fortheir faults. In-stead, shereached out topeople by thegentle way shelived; peoplewould see her happiness and difference in the way she ap-proached her faith. Rachel did not “beat people with aBible,” as the famous phrase goes; she believed that livingout her faith, doing instead of just taking about it, spoke alouder message.

One of the greatest qualities that Rachel possessed, a qual-ity that she put into action every day, was her love and ac-ceptance of all kinds of people, especially the ones mostwould go out of their way to avoid. In a biography done byher parents, a story was told about a young man in Rachel’sschool who had a number of physical disabilities and wasoften the target of cruel jokes. Rachel saw that he was lonelyand sought out his friendship. Not long before the attack,Rachel asked Jim (a name used in the biography for confi-dentiality’s sake) if he had ever been on a date. When he saidno, Rachel happily replied, “Well, then I am asking you for a

date.” Jim’s mother later recalled how it was one of the hap-piest days of his life; someone had reached out to him, notfor pity’s sake, but because she truly cared for him. Sadly,they would never be able to go on that date due to Rachel’searly death. But Rachel did not speak to just those she wasclosest to, she also reached out to those who hated her.Rachel had been in the same class as Dylan Klebold, one ofthe Columbine shooters, since kindergarten. She sawthrough the years as he and his friend Eric Harris becameobsessed with violence and killing. One day she even askedthem about their fascination and encouraged them to stop.But in all the years that they criticized and mocked her forwho and what she was, Rachel never lashed back at them. Ibelieve this is one of her greatest accomplishments. It is easyto reach out to those we like but far harder to help those whohate us. But Rachel had that strength, and she used it everyday.

On April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold came to their school,killed 13 people, injured dozens more, and then committedsuicide. Rachel was one of the first victims; she was sittingoutside eating lunch with a friend when the shooters came.The journals found in the backpack she was carrying thatday express the soul of a young woman who saw beauty andhope in everything around her and who had a dream of achain reaction of kindness that would touch the lives ofeveryone, especially the bullied and angry like Harris andKlebold. Rachel Scott serves as one of my greatest inspira-tions, not only because I can relate to her as a teenager inhigh school, but because she presented and lived an ideathat could change the world: love others as you love yourself.The concept is biblical, but the application is endless, andthat is how Rachel dreamed it to be. Rachel has inspired meto reach out to those around me who are different, eventhose I may not like, and to live out my faith in everything Ido.

OLIVIA MADERER


1st


Abigail Rega, Grade 4,Blairsville Elementary

Chloe Johnson, G

rade 6,S

hannock Valley E

lementary

Aaron K

riley, Grade 5,

W. A

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Kaitlyn Jarvis, Grade 6, United Elementary

1st


Steele Cassidy, Grade 4, East Pike Elementary


Happy Pappy’s Day There is that one person I can’t live a day

without. The one person that I can’t wait tovisit. The one person that supports methrough everything and anything that lifethrows my way. The one person that I cancall when something is going wrong, andhe would come for me no matter if I amright or wrong. That person is my grandfa-ther, William Overberger, affectionatelycalled Pappy.

No matter what goes on, my pap is al-ways right there with me.

STEPHANIEOVERBERGER

NorthernCambriaGrade 12

3rdInspirational Person

“A mother is the truest friend we have,when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us;when adversity takes the place of prosperity;when friends who rejoice with us in our sun-shine, desert us when troubles thickenaround us, still will she cling to us, and en-deavor by her kind precepts and counsels todissipate the clouds of darkness, and causepeace to return to our hearts” — WashingtonIrving. Immediately after reading this quote,the first thought that entered my mind was“this fits my mom to a T.”

My mother, Melissa Ann Ashurst, is themost inspirational human being I have evermet. I know it sounds cliché to say my moth-er is the most inspiring person in my life, butI would be lying if I were to name anyoneelse besides her. The adversities she over-came to get where she is today inspires meto be the best I can be. I love my mother anddo not know what I would do without her.

Melissa Ann Ashurst was the youngestchild in her family. She not only graduatedfrom high school first in her family, but ex-celled while doing it.

My mom worked her hardest throughoutschool, became a member of the band andthe basketball, and softball teams, as well asmany other different groups at school.

She continued on to college at IndianaUniversity of Pennsylvania to become a reg-istered nurse. Even though she became very

ill her freshman year of college, that did notstop her from fulfilling her dream of becom-ing a registered nurse. She was also awardedthe Nurse of Hope award during her collegeyears. After college my mother went on towork at Indiana Regional Medical Center,where she met my father. My mother wasworking for only a year before sustaining aninjury on the job.

After the injury, doctors told my mom thatshe would never work again, have a driver’slicense, or lead a normal life again.

She proved all of them wrong by havingtwo children after the accident and return-ing to work as a registered nurse again.

It was not easy for her whatsoever, but she

worked her hardest and reached her goals.My mother overcame so much more thanmost people will overcome in their entirelives. She’s had several surgeries, been onnumerous medications with a various rangeof side effects, but never gave up.

The most important thing I will never for-get from all of this is that no matter what shewas going through, all that mattered to herwas her children’s happiness. The things mymom has sacrificed for us are endless, andshe has always been there for us no matterwhat was going on with her own health. Mymother was not able to work until I was 7, sowe did everything together. She became mybest friend in the entire world. I have alwaysbeen able to trust her with everything andanything. No matter what the circumstance,I know I can always go to my mother.

My mom is my go-to person and alwayswill be. She’s been there with me throughevery up and down in my life, and for that Iam eternally grateful. I love my mom morethan anything in the world. She’s my rock,and has always kept me down to earth.

Soon, I am heading off to college, and thehardest part will be leaving her. I know I’llonly be going 30 minutes away, but I’m stillgoing to miss her like crazy. This will be thehardest thing I will ever do, but she will bewith me every step of the way like she is witheverything else. My mother has inspired mein more ways than one and continues toevery day.

LAURENASHURSTNorthernCambriaGrade 12

2nd



Laura W

elch, Grade 4, E

isenhower E

lementary

Tyler Lightcap, Grade 4, W. A. McCreery Elementary

Writing contest for the best

opinion columnChange?

On. Feb. 11, 2011, the Egyptian president,Hosni Mubarak, resigned due to wide-spread protests.

Many of Egypt’s citizens label him as cor-rupt, paranoid, or even senile. Protesterscelebrated joyously in Tahrir Square, amajor public square in downtown Cairo,when his resignation was announced.However, with all this aside, does this reallymean anything for the future of Egypt?

The Egyptian people’s contempt forMubarak is not without reason.

Every six years, a presidential electionwas held, though somehow he managed tomaintain his same position for 29 years.The elections are supposedly rigged in hisfavor.

Even when he finally chose to leave of-fice, his son, Gamal Mubarak, was pre-pared to succeed him, keeping the govern-ment under the family’s control.

Others oppose him because he extendedthe Emergency Law when he first becamepresident to replace assassinated AnwarSadat.

In this “state of emergency” the govern-

ment can imprison anyone for any amountof time, for almost no reason at all, andwithout a trial.

Egypt’s government run by Mubarak alsoallowed for little democracy. Being a mem-ber of the Muslim Brotherhood, a politicalopposition organization, could cause oneto be arrested.

MAYASOUTHARD


Grade 7

1st


Every Father’s Day, while my elementaryclasses were making cards and presents fortheir fathers, I was busy having my teacherhelp my change all of the Father’s on mycards to Pappy’s so my cards would read,“Happy Pappy’s Day!” My pap is the onlyman in my life I can ever trust. I could neverask for or wish for anything or anyone betterthan my grandfather.

When I was around 5 years old, my motherand I actually lived with my grandparentsfor a while. I was invariably stuck to my pap’sside, whether it was doing something that Iwanted to do, like paint a picture or playwith Barbie dolls, or something he wantedto do, like work on a car’s engine or mow thegrass. It didn’t matter what we were doing, Iwas just happy to be spending time withhim. About 90 percent of my childhood pic-tures were taken with my grandfather at myside.

My grandfather is my mother’s dad; he is67 years old, still going strong. Around twoyears ago, my grandfather found out he hada very bad case of diabetes. He was wheel-chair ridden for almost a year and lost a lotof weight. It was such a hard time for every-one in my family because my pap was suchan outdoorsy and fun-loving person. Seeing

him sitting in the house, not doing anything,affected everyone. Today, he is as healthy asever and back to his old self. He still uses acane occasionally, but not as much as heused to before. And that’s something every-one can be happy about.

I have been on my school’s swim team forthree years now, and to this day, my pap hasnever missed one of my home meets. He’llcome out in any kind of weather just to seeme swim. It means a lot to me because heand my grandmother have no idea what’sgoing on, but they still come to show sup-port through every lap I swim. Every meethe looks at me and says, “Don’t worry. Justdo your best. You’ll be fine. You always do agreat job. You have nothing to worry about.”That’s when I know that I will be fine, and Ihave confidence to do the best I can. It does-n’t matter if I come in first or even last place,he still tells me how great of a job I did andhow proud of me he is.

In my eyes, my pap is the best man in theworld. I can truly rely on him. He’s my bestfriend. He’s outgoing, commendable, andkind-hearted. No one else can make mehappy the way he can. This June, I’ll be mak-ing my “Happy Pappy’s Day” card to givehim. I’m pappy’s little girl, and I know, nomatter how old I get, I will always be.

HAPPY PAPPY’S DAY, Stephanie Overberger, Northern Cambria High School, Grade 12, third place




Rachel H

aynes, Grade 6, B

lairsville MiddleTaylor Mock, Grade 5, Rayne Elementary

Writing contest for the best opinion columnUntitled

A dangerous drug, or his best friend? Shouldhe get high, or be considered low? Should hesmoke the dope or bow to the Pope? These arequestions many teenagers face every day, andnot only college kids.

In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse(NIDA) reports on their website that “15.7 per-cent of eighth-graders have tried marijuana atleast once, and among 10th-graders, 14.2 per-cent were “current” users (that is, have usedwithin the past month). Among 12th-graders,42.3 percent have tried marijuana at least once,and about 18 percent were current users.”These staggering numbers are just middle andhigh-schoolers.

Illegal drugs are spreading throughout Amer-ica, killing thousands, supplied through theMexican drug lords, the American money, chil-dren are getting addicted, but even for the gov-ernment, it’s almost impossible to stop.

There are many losses every year. Money,lives, freedom are only a few of the things thatdrugs can take away. In fact in the last year(2010), there have been 5,100 deaths of Mexi-cans, Americans and authorities. God’s WorldNews reports that “more than 50 police chiefshave been hired this year, more than 25 of themgot gunned down, around 10 resigned andsome are still going.” And this was all in MexicoCity.

It’s frightening that more people (7,337) havedied in Mexico’s drug war than the number ofAmerican servicemen (4,250) who have beenkilled in the Iraq War. It’s surprising how peoplesay the simplicity on how teens get drugs is dis-turbing. Ninety percent of all children in a highschool said that they could get drugs if theywanted to, and 30 percent said they had re-ceived drugs from a classmate. Police officersoften say that “you will be offered drugs at leastonce in your life,” so many more people have toprepare to say one simple word: No.

The American government is having some

stress with this, too. President Obama does nothave many choices.

The government could keep drugs illegal andexpect more slaughter and violence, or couldlegalize drugs so the demand would go downor have drugs for sale from the government it-self. What would seem drastic actually seemsappealing to some. If the government issuesthe drugs out, less people would get “high,” be-cause they would not issue as much out. Thedownside to this policy is that people could goand buy drugs from the government and thendie of them.

America, sadly, is Mexico’s main money sup-plier. If the Americans stopped buying drugs, itwould all be over. DK Global, a teen news mag-azine, actually reports that if every Americanstopped doing drugs for one year, that the U.S.would have enough money to pay off all of itsdebt! That is how much money that is spent ondrugs every year.

In the future, President Obama will most like-ly legalize drugs, or continue to fight. Americawill not lose to drugs. Hopefully people will seehow dangerous drugs are and cease to usethem.

HUNTER J.SCHERFHome

schooledGrade 7

2ndIn fact, Mubarak seemed to resist any

sort of change in government, evenwhen pressured by the United States,which gave billions of dollars in militaryand other aid to Egypt.

Being rid of Mubarak seems to be animprovement for Egypt’s people, but hasit truly changed anything in the generalscheme of things?

Protests have become frequent in theMiddle East recently.

Many of these, including those inEgypt, were sparked by the demonstra-tions in Tunisia, which caused the coun-try’s president to resign after a 23-yearreign. Protests in the nearby country ofJordan pressured King Abdullah II. Healso said he would “ensure decent livingfor all Jordanians.” Other Arab leaderslowered food and fuel prices.

Though much good can come out ofthese protests, people can be injured in

the process. Though Mubarak said he desired a

“peaceful transfer of power,” there havebeen many brutal fights between his fol-lowers and the protesters. Plus, thoughEgypt is currently under the control ofits military, a new president is expectedto be elected soon.

This new president won’t necessarilyimprove conditions for Egypt. Even ifthey do, it may not last for long.

Some say that he was quite the hands-on leader during the early years of hispresidency, but continued to drift awayfrom this after several years.

The situation in Egypt is seemingly outof our hands.

As Egyptian voters choose their presi-dent with a (hopefully) democratic vot-ing system, we can only pray that the fu-ture president will help solve, or at thevery least, improve upon the many is-sues currently plaguing Egypt.


CHANGE?, Maya Southard, Indiana Area Junior High,

Grade 7, first place


Taylor Lingenfelter, Grade 4, W. A. McCreery Elementary

Mary Ellen Lohr, Grade 4, Penns Manor Elementary

Jason Ricupero, Grade 6, Eisenhower Elementary

Logan Hill, Grade 5, Homer-Center Elementary

Writing contest for the best opinion column

Wildlife Unhurt by Oil Drilling

Does oil drilling really hurt wildlife? Did ithurt the animals in the Kenai NationalWildlife Refuge which is in Alaska? Do wehave any facts that show us that wildlife canbe harmed by drilling? The answer is no. Infact, there are statistics that support the op-posite view.

There are more animals in the Kenai Na-tional Wildlife Refuge than in ANWR. Theanimals there have not been hurt by thedrilling. We can conclude from this that it issafe.

Prudhoe Bay is only 55 miles west ofANWR. Since the drilling in ANWR, there hasnot been a single species that has had a pop-ulation change.

A caribou herd that migrates throughPrudhoe Bay has increased from 3,000 to ap-proximately 23,000 since the drilling startedthere in 1977.

Some people are worried about the polarbears, but biologists say that polar bearsrarely den in ANWR. They prefer the arcticice. The polar bear population is healthy andnot at risk.

The drilling would be done in the wintermonths.

They would use ice for airstrips, roads and

drilling platforms. The caribou would not even be there

when they are drilling. There are no listed endangered species in

the area.I think we could take 2,000 acres out of 19

million to drill for oil and still be able to takecare of the wildlife.

The evidence shows us that there is nowildlife being harmed by oil drilling in Alas-ka.

I say, “Let us drill!”

NICOLE WALLACEIndiana

WesleyanSchoolGrade 7

3rd


Carly Hall, Grade 6, Saltsburg Elementary

Jane Herring, G

rade 5, W. A

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reery Elem

entary

Writing contest for the best opinion columnAmericans fail atbeing role models

A 6-year-old has no concept ofearning and spending money. Ap-parently, neither do most adultAmericans.

This had led to the UnitedStates’ huge national debt — over14 trillion dollars. Buy why do wehave it, and how do we fix it?

The three easiest governmentprograms to point a finger at forbudget deficits are the military,Social Security, and Medicare, re-spectively — 52.6 percent of ourfederal budget is projected to goto these three programs in 2011.

Without changes, it won’t get better in the future, ei-ther. The huge future deficits that are projected to comeare because soon-to-retire American citizens are due toreceive more in Medicare benefits than they ever haveor ever will pay in Medicare taxes.

How do we fix it? Essentially, there are two ways. The first way is to increase taxes on American citizens.

Medicare and Social Security benefit deficits can be bal-anced out with the increased revenue. Of course, whowants to pay even higher taxes? Polls have shown this isgenerally very unpopular.

The second way is to cut government spending. By re-ducing the money spent on government programs —Medicare, Social Security, military, foreign aid, educa-tion, et cetera — after a while we stop receiving thingswe have only paid a fraction of and the governmentstops spending money it doesn’t have. Polls have shownthis is generally the more popular plan.

But that’s where we stop making sense. The New York Times/CBS News did a poll asking

Americans if they would rather fix the deficit by cuttinggovernment spending or by increasing taxes. Pre-dictably, the majority said they would rather fix it by re-ducing government spending. In fact, it wasn’t evenclose — 62 percent voted for reducing spending, andonly 29 percent voted for increased taxes.

But later on the same poll, Americans were asked howthey wanted to fix Medicare’s huge deficit problems —

by reducing the benefits wewould receive, aka governmentspending, or by increasing taxes?Here the numbers practicallyswitched places. Only 24 percentwere willing to get fewer benefitsand now 63 percent of the peoplewere prepared to pay highertaxes.

“We want to cut spending. Wejust don’t want to cut the benefitsthat the spending pays for,”writes David Leonhardt, a jour-nalist for The New York Times.

He says it perfectly. Americanshave this false idea that the gov-ernment is wasting a ton ofmoney on some unknown thing,and by stopping that the whole

projected budget deficit will just go away. A comforting idea, but it is not true. Basically, Americans want the problem to fix itself

without them having to do anything and nothing everaffecting them.

So reducing Medicare or Social Security is out of thequestion. There is also strong political resistance to anysignificant reduction in military spending, so what isleft to cut?

Anything that doesn’t affect them, of course. Which leaves one program that most citizens agree

can be cut — foreign aid. In a CNN/Opinion Researchpoll, 81 percent voted to cut foreign aid spending. Thiswill definitely help the problem! Or not.

In a poll done by WorldPublicOpinion.org, the aver-age amount of money Americans thought the govern-ment spent on foreign aid was 25 percent of the federalbudget. In reality, less than 2 percent is spent of foreignaid. Even if we did cut it, it wouldn’t make much differ-ence at all.

The bottom line is that Americans are not willing topay high enough taxes to fund the services they want.But they’re not about to give up any services they want,either. If I’m not allowed to walk into a store and de-mand they give me everything I want, but I don’t pay forit, then why are the adults of America?

Oh, wait, I know why. They’re just leaving the bill formy generation to pay later.

Our School’s SignRecently our school district purchased a new electric sign. I feel that this was a waste of our school’s money. There are many

reasons that the sign wasn’t needed, and it had nothing to do withthe learning of our students.

This would include how the old sign may not have been as nice,but it worked and offered the same purpose.

Also, our students cannot enhance their learning abilities fromthe new sign.

The money spent on this could’ve been put toward somethingmore beneficial to our school and its students.

Therefore, it is universally unimportant and an unnecessary ex-penditure.

There are a couple reasons why the sign wasn’t a smart decision.For starters, it’s too far away from the highway to even read it. Ituses electricity to display, which is a waste because of the position.I think the sign we had before also had the exact issues, but it didn’tcost nearly as much for something the same.

I have a few proposals on what we could’ve done for our schoolinstead of this.

For instance, the money to buy this sign could’ve been spent onsomething more cost-effective.

This school could install central air in the buildings to make itmore comfortable for students to work. There could’ve been some-thing that would help our school’s curriculum; or help earn a profitfor a more interesting school experience.

Being a taxpayer, I would like to see our money go to good use.

MARIAH FLUKE

BlairsvilleMiddle School

Grade 8

2ndLORRAINEYERGER


Grade 8

1st

America’s success being cutIf you’ve already read the title, you may do

one of two things; you may agree, or you maythink “What? That’s not true!” In reality, it is.“America the Great” is not the greatest in edu-cation.

Before you completely disagree with thisidea, hear this out — America is a great coun-try. We have high standards of living.

We prepare our students of today to lead thecountry tomorrow.

On average, America spends about $11,152per student — a hefty sum compared to third-world countries.

You would think, after finding out that thismuch money will be spent on your child, thatyour child would go on to become the next BillGates or Steve Jobs. There is very little chancethat that could happen.

Education-wise, out of 34 OECD countries(Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment), America ranks 14th for readingskills, 17th for science skills and 25th for math-ematics skills.

While a ranking of 14 or 17 may be average,and acceptable for most, a ranking of 25th isbelow average, and should be worked on im-mediately.

This is where inner-city schools come intoplay.

Growing up in Indiana, Pa., and attendingthe public schools here, I can conclude that I

have been receiving an excellent education,coupled with many extracurricular activitiesand well-taught teachers.

If this were the same for all public schools inthe country, I wouldn’t have to complain aboutour education levels.

But it is not. Inner-city schools, in the heart of major

cities, are not performing as well as we are. One reason for this would be funding issues.

Because of the low graduation rates, low stan-dardized test scores, etc., the government isnot issuing proper funding to these schools.


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Writing contest for the best opinion columnControversial StatementsAs you may be aware, there has been

some controversy over the statements ofMario Lemieux (co-owner and formerplayer of the Pittsburgh Penguins).

Lemieux had made some commentsbefore the Feb. 13 Penguins game in re-gards to the league.

He mentioned in his statement, “If theevents relating to Friday night reflect thestate of the league, I need to rethinkwhether I want to be a part of it. The NHLhad a chance to send a clear and strongmessage that those kinds of actions areunacceptable and embarrassing to thesport. It failed.”

One game Lemieux was referring tofeatured 346 penalty minutes, 15 fightingmajors and 11 game misconducts.

Lemieux said, “What happened Fridaynight on Long Island wasn’t hockey. Itwas a travesty. … It was painful to watchthe game I love turn into a sideshow likethat.”

I, myself, do have a problem with thissituation.

My problem is with the people judginghis statements.

Obviously, his opinions matter tothem.

And if they matter so much, why not try

to settle the situation, as opposed tomaking a fuss about it. If they don’t agreewith him, then they need to disregardwhat he’s saying.

It’s one person’s opinion. It’s not going to bring the sport of hock-

ey to an end. Words are obviously important in the

situation.It really irritates me that people get so

flustered over others’ opinions, but can’tresolve their issues calmly, and especiallywithout media.

CALLIE SHANNONBlairsville


3rdKIRAN

SHARMAIndiana AreaJunior High

Grade 9

1st



Spe

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ryWriting contest for the best opinion column

What Holiday When?In my family we have always put our

Christmas decorations up the day afterThanksgiving, and we take them down onNew Year’s Day.

This has always seemed to be a good tran-sition between the different holidays.

As I look around from place to place, I seethat a lot of people have their own traditionswhen decorating for Christmas as well asother holidays.

I have seen people celebrating Thanksgiv-ing with their tree already trimmed andready for Christmas.

There just seems to be something wrongwith Santa Claus in the yard with the pump-kins and scarecrows.

Then there are homes that put their treeup and decorate it for Valentine’s Day, St.Patrick’s Day, Easter and so on.

Hello! A Christmas tree with Easter Bun-

nies is ridiculous. It appears that the stores put out Christ-

mas decorations earlier and earlier. Are we, society, trying to do the same? I really feel that stores are jumping the gun

when they start putting Christmas decora-tions out in early fall.

I barely get my new school clothes by thetime Christmas decorations are out.

We really should draw a solid line betweenholidays.

That is enough about when to put up dec-orations.

What about taking the decorations down?Shouldn’t Christmas decorations be downby Valentine’s Day?

Does anyone think it is wrong to haveSanta on the roof in the middle of February?

If we can’t wait to put them up, why is it sohard to take them down?

Each holiday is so different. So now I posethe question, “How can we possibly enjoy

the current holiday season if we are workingtoward the next holiday or not ready to giveup the holiday past?”

D-Town DisasterThis year, a record 111 million people

watched the Super Bowl, two old-time,nitty-gritty teams were scheduled to gohead to head, and the game was at thebrand new Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboysfootball dome.

Both the Green Bay Packers and Pitts-burgh Steelers fans were looking for aninvigorating win on football’s grandeststage.

Sadly though, the highlights of the

BRENDANBERTIG


Grade 9

DALE PEARCECalvary Baptist

AcademyGrade 9

2nd

Because of this, millions of students arenot receiving proper help in school and, onaverage, 1.2 million students are droppingout of school each year. Where are the mostdropping out? Inner-city schools. Coinci-dence? I think not.

If America wants to regain its place as atop country, there is going to be a lot of timeand money spent. It’s like a chain reaction —if you pay the inner-city teachers more, theywould work harder, right? They would betterteach the students. Also, funding can helppurchase supplies for these schools such as

computers or textbooks. This plan may becostly, but for years to come, it will pay for it-self.

If we follow this plan, and pay more atten-tion to the children who need more helpthan others, we can raise America’s levels ofeducation, one potential dropout at a time.


AMERICA’S SUCCESS BEING CUT, Kiran Sharma, Indiana Area Junior High School, Grade 9, first place


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Malcolm Sadler, Grade 4,East Pike Elementary


rather boring Super Bowl were a Justin Bieber and Ozzy Os-bourne commercial, a screwed up national anthem, far toomany people without seats, and a lousy halftime show.

Although 111 million may sound like a lot of people, there areapproximately 306 million people living in the U.S. This meansthat, roughly, only one out of every three people watched themost hyped, anticipated game in the country, which is shock-ing. Many people admit to the fact that they only watch theSuper Bowl for the funny commercials and new movies comingout, and even then don’t watch the whole game.

To many, the outcome was disappointing, too, especially forpeople in western Pa. Big Ben threw two interceptions andmany of the Steelers’ superstars, including Polamalu, plain andsimply didn’t shine. The Packers denied the Steelers their sev-enth Super Bowl title by winning 31-25. Besides, so many thingscan go wrong in a single game. A seven-game series like inhockey and baseball shows a more accurate indication of whothe better team actually is, and if a team has one bad game, theycan make up for it the next game.

The game itself was fairly boring due to lack of big plays andoverall offense. The week of the Super Bowl added to the bore-dom, too, because of overkill, and the horrible weather in Dallasovershadowed much of the excitement. By the time the gamecame on, I didn’t even feel like watching it because it was all thatI had heard about all week. To many, the Super Bowl continuesto disappoint. After all, Duane Thomas once said, “If it’s the ulti-mate game, how come they’re playing it again next year?”


D-TOWN DISASTER, Brendan Bertig, Indiana Area Junior High School,

Grade 9, third place

UntitledPicture it: Indiana, Pa. 2011 — A

woman comes home after a long dayat work to deal with the usual chal-lenges of a working parent.

After making sure dinner is on thetable and the kids haven’t hurt eachother yet, she is finally able to sitdown and find out what is going onbeyond the bounds of her world,which mostly consists of a corner of-fice and a minivan.

The evening news at 6:30 p.m. haslong since passed, so she flipsthrough the channels to find a dis-cussion of the day’s current events.She listens for a few minutes, andafter a while, she doesn’t like what isbeing said by the conservative com-mentators on Fox News about Presi-dent Obama’s administration.

This particular woman is a regis-tered Democrat who voted for then-Sen. Obama in 2008 and doesn’t wantto listen to what she thinks are lies, soshe changes the channel.

The channel is turned to MSNBC, amore liberal leaning network thatchampions the tag line “Moving For-ward,” possibly in a salute to the pro-gressive movement.

She agrees with what is being said

on this network, but does that meanshe is getting the full story, or thetruth?

On the other side of town, a 65-year-old man, retired from the steelmills of western Pennsylvania and aformer U.S. Marine, wakes up andwants to find out what is happeningin a tumultuous world that this veter-an saw firsthand while runningthrough the jungles of South Vietnamin the late 1960s.

He turns on “The Today Show,”where he finds a spirited discussionbetween one of the hosts and a Re-publican politician and a Democraticanalyst.

He finds this exchange unfair be-cause he feels the host is asking soft-ball questions to the Democrat whilethe Republican is unfairly grilled withhypotheticals and information thathe feels is factually incorrect.

He turns the channel to Fox News,where he sits back and enjoys a livelydiscussion between the hosts and aformer Bush administration official.While he agrees with the debatebeing broadcast, the broader ques-tion is whether the informationbeing broadcast is truthful.

An ordinary person might thinkthat these expressions of political

opinion are minute compared toother issues, but the bigger issue isthat these are two examples of peo-ple who are going to be standing inline in a church basement or fire hallwaiting to cast their vote for the per-son best suited in their mind to bethe leader of the free world.

In a world such as this, expressionof political support for some and dis-dain for others is what leads peoplein countries halfway around theworld, in places like Egypt and Libya,

MATT BUGLI


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Saige Bowditch,Grade 4,

St. BernardElementary

Writing contest for the best opinion columnTracking in Schools

Every day of the school year studentsstumble off bright yellow school buses andenter the school building early in the morn-ing.

They are scheduled to attend classes eachday that are required for graduation, alongwith some courses chosen by the students.

The way these students are grouped intotheir classes is a decision that comes from ahigher school authority.

Members of the school administrationdecide what is best for their teachers andstudents by determining whether to groupstudents in educational levels.

This process is called tracking and willgive students the opportunity to do theirbest and achieve in high school and later onin life.

Tracking is simply separating studentsinto academic achievement levels. Uponobserving a student’s grades and academicachievements, he/she is placed into aboveaverage, average and below average abilityclasses.

There can be as many classes per level asneeded to accommodate the number ofstudents. Tracking, being a much discussedissue now, has schools debating whether tooperate under this system or mix studentsof different educational levels. Separatingstudents by academic achievement is verybeneficial for those students looking toexcel and those who need more help alongthe way.

Grouping students can benefit them innumerous ways. High ability students areable to fly through courses at their ownpace without being held back.

On the other hand, average and below av-erage students can progress at a slower paceso that they can comfortably grasp the in-formation necessary. This allows teachersto zone in on the specific needs of their stu-dents.

Teachers can still cover the same curricu-lum, but go into depth with more challeng-ing concepts for those who can handlethem or offer extra support and help forthose who need it.

School is about success and developingyourself for later on in life. Students who doexceptionally well need to be challenged toreach their full potential. With tracking, stu-dents are taught at an appropriate level spe-cific to them. This avoids boredom for thoseexcelling and avoids confusion for thosewho need more help on a topic. Each stu-dent needs the opportunity to do well andsucceed.

For advanced students, that can only hap-pen if they are being challenged. And forbelow average students, proper instructionand attention is necessary to give themequal opportunity for success.

Studies have shown that when studentsare pushed academically and have the timeand support, they seem to have a higher in-terest in school and their grades remain asgood if not better than before tracking.

People may say that students can becomestuck in their tracks, so to speak.

Once a student is placed in a certain level,it is believed that it is hard to move to a dif-ferent level if he/she does well enough oreven move down levels if performing poorlyin the more challenging courses.

This problem can be prevented if schoolstaff pays close attention to each student’sacademic record.

The student’s progress in a particularclass will help the teacher decide what isbest.

If teachers notice great performance, orpoor performance, it is important to ad-dress the student about the issue and possi-bly move them to a more suitable level.

Others may bring up the point that unfairexpectations are put on students.

Advanced students are expected to dowell, and below average students are ex-

pected to do poorly and not advance. Ultimately, it is up to the teacher to pre-

vent this. The teacher needs to set the ex-ample and help below average studentsachieve highly.

The advanced students shouldn’t have aproblem achieving their potential, but theystill must have proper support.

The support must also stem from homefor all students. Without support from allangles, it is very hard to succeed.

For tracking to be a success in any school,it is necessary to pay close attention to stu-dents and faculty.

Teachers must adjust the pace of their les-sons to the students’ needs. This will ensurethat students have an understanding of thematerial.

It is also essential for teachers to act asrole models to push the students and havehigh expectations for all.

The administration must also realize thatit is perfectly fine to have small classes. Di-viding students into ability levels will shrinkthe class size depending on the school pop-ulation.

KYLIE WOLFE

United HighSchool

Grade 10

2ndto revolt against dictators and hostileregimes.

For several months every few years, wemight get tired of hearing the words “I’m soand so, and I approve this message” on TVand the radio every minute, but on a worldstage, millions in other countries would loveto have this example of democracy acrosstheir country. The one thing that drives thispolitical discussion is the media. Examplesof liberal bias in the “mainstream media”and a conservative bias on Fox News haveexisted for years.

Also, on the conservative side of the aisle,talk radio has been a presence for years,being championed by people like Sean Han-nity and Rush Limbaugh. Having airwaveswhere anyone can show support or oppose apolitician or political group is one of theprivileges of living in a free nation. As com-mentators on both the liberal and conserva-tive sides of the political spectrum, theyhave a responsibility to offer information ina clear and factual way and their opinion ina way that will not prompt violent or hatefulaction.

As listeners and viewers, we all have a re-sponsibility to listen to BOTH sides of thestory to accurately form an opinion that willeventually lead someone to support a candi-date. The information being broadcast intoour homes is what drives us to make in-formed decisions about policy and the di-rection of the country, and the media has abig stake in that. Living in a free nationcomes with responsibility, and we all have aresponsibility to make informed decisionsbased on information where anything canbe broadcast.

The future of a nation is at stake.

UNTITLED, Matt Bugli, Northern Cambria High School,

Grade 10, first placeContinued from Page 25



Katharina Lippert, Grade 4, Seeds of Faith

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Sydney Kimmel, Grade 4,W. A. McCreery ElementaryWriting contest for the

best opinion columnObesity

One of the biggest health problems inAmerica right now is obesity. Drugs, smok-ing or alcohol are what most people mightthink of. After being overlooked for years,obesity is finally being given the recognitionit deserves.

Obesity is a word used to describe havingtoo much weight on one body than ishealthy for that body. About 90 millionAmericans are obese, which is 34 percent ofthe country.

One out of three children is now consid-ered overweight or obese.

To many people around the country, obe-sity is considered an ever-present and grow-ing problem.

There are many reasons why obesity isconsidered unhealthy.

One major reason is, depending on howmuch exercise the person does, obesity willslow your heart down.

It also affects your kidneys in the sameway.

Obesity causes an increased heart attackrisk, and along with the growing risk of heartdisease, there is also the threat of Type 2 dia-betes.

Obesity is also a major cause of degenera-tive joint disease.

Degenerative joint disease, or what is bet-ter known as arthritis, is the wearing downof cartilage between joints.

Carrying too much weight means that therisk for knee arthritis is increased three toseven times for obese people.

Obesity also affects arthritis in or near thehip, ankle, foot and shoulder joints.

Obesity may cause breathing problemssuch as sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea causes the sleeping person tostop breathing for a very short while.

A drop in weight often corrects this prob-lem.

Obesity increases the risk of more cancers.Obese men have a higher risk of developingcolon and prostate cancers.

Obese women have a high risk of develop-ing gallbladder and breast cancers.

Obesity affects our entire nation. Not only does it take a toll on our bodies,

skyrocketing medical costs takes a toll onour economy.

It is time for America to start addressingthis issue on a personal level and then reachout to a neighbor who might need help.

Working together is the best way to solvethe problem of obesity.

PAIGE HEIPLE


3rd

2nd

A step toward a more secure border

The 1,969-mile U.S.-Mexico border is in-creasingly becoming a trade route forweapons and drugs as the drug cartels growin power. Illegal immigration of Hispanicsin search of jobs is the least of our concernscompared to cartels that kidnap and killwhile bringing drugs into the United States.Even terrorists have found this an easyroute into the country. Modern technologyhas been looked to as a solution for theseserious problems. This year, Homeland Se-curity has taken a step in the right directionby providing UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Ve-hicles, to be used in the securing of oursouthern border.

For the past few years, the technology thatwas being implemented was not UAVs butinstead a “virtual fence.” This “fence” is anarray of sensors, on towers and on theground, designed to locate people crossingthe border and track them with a camerauntil border patrol officers can interceptthem.

However, this system soon proved to bemuch more expensive than first thoughtand far less effective than predicted. As thevirtual fence was installed, the cost soonrose over $1 billion. Furthermore, the sen-sors were set off by anything that moved,

identifying many false alarms created bywild animals, and negating its use in harshweather. The cameras also proved too slowin tracking targets, which resulted in the es-cape of more than a few illegal crossers. Thevirtual fence project was finally stoppedafter only 53 miles were completed with afinal cost of $2.4 billion.

A new solution to this problem is the useof UAVs, which have been used very suc-cessfully in the war in Afghanistan. Surveil-lance variants of Predator and Reaper UAVshave been tested on the border and havebeen successful. Able to read writing on a

piece of paper from four miles in the air,these UAVs have contributed to the seizureof more than 20,000 pounds of marijuanaand the capture of more than 5,000 illegalimmigrants. Because they are unmannedthey can stay in the air longer than conven-tional aircraft, making it easier to keep air-craft in the air continuously.

Some might say that even though theyhave shown themselves useful, the highcost of these UAVs (around $15 million forthe most advanced model) makes them aninefficient and noneconomical solution tothe problem of illegal immigration and drugtrafficking. Yet, compared to the miles of ex-pensive and faulty “virtual fence” that havebeen built and the hundreds of miles morethat would still need to be built, the use ofUAVs is a definite step in the right direction.UAVs can see farther than each tower of thevirtual fence could, so even though UAVsare expensive, fewer are needed; this makesthe use of UAVs considerably cheaper thanthe virtual fence. The $2.4 billion spent onjust 53 miles of fence could have bought 30UAVs and just one UAV can monitor an areawell over 53 miles.

In fact, the main advantage to the use ofUAVs over the virtual fence is the moneysaved. Virtual fence or UAV surveillancetechnology only does half the job. BorderPatrol officers must still move in and appre-


Hannah Turner, Grade 6, Home School

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ELLIOT CARL


1stA smaller student to teacher ratio, in class-

es where students need more attention, willallow the teachers to address each student’sneeds more effectively. Finally, it is impor-tant that students are encouraged. This canonly happen with positive input and disre-garding labels. Even though a student isbelow average, he/she shouldn’t feel lessthan perfect. Taking a responsible approachto tracking is what will make it rewarding toschool and students everywhere.

With this highly discussed and sensitivetopic, school administrators face a toughdecision. Schools can group students, orthey can leave them mixed together. Therewill always be pros and cons, but in the endit is up to the school administration to deter-mine what would be best for their studentsand staff. More importantly, they must de-cide how their decision will affect the stu-dents academically in their future endeav-ors. Tracking can be very helpful and pushstudents in the right direction. Community,parents, and the staff in schools must take astand on the issue. They must also motivateand inspire students to achieve their great-est potential.


TRACKING IN SCHOOLS, Kylie Wolfe,

United High School, Grade 10, second place


The Incredible, Edible EggDid you know that the incredible, edible

egg can actually improve your health inspite of what some people believe? You see,this subject is being debated all the time.There are two main debates about eggs. Oneis the idea that eggs are high in cholesterol;the second is the fear of salmonella poison-ing. My opinion is that eggs are not only 6grams of power-packed nutrients, but alsothe best food that your money can buy.

Eggs are considered to be part of a bal-anced breakfast. With 14 essential nutrientsand only about 70 calories, eating an egg islike taking a multivitamin pill. The truthabout the cholesterol controversy is that anegg actually has a miniscule effect on a per-son’s cholesterol levels. The bad cholesterolin your body is fueled on the amount of sat-urated fats you consume. An egg has only1.5 grams of fat.

The salmonella argument is true. Howev-er, only one in every 10,000 eggs can havesalmonella. Properly storing and cookingeggs can reduce the chance of salmonella inan egg. Eggs should be stored in a cold, dry

place. They should be cooked thoroughly.Isn’t it “egg”-citing to know the truth about

eggs? As you can see, they are more than just6 grams of the most nourishing nutrients inthe world. In the end, it’s you who makes thechoice. Be sure you are making the rightchoice for your body.


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Madison Taylor, Grade 6, United Elementary


GARRETTRICHARDSON

Indiana WesleyanSchool

Grade 11

2nd

hend the illegal crossers thatUAVs locate.

With the budget freed upfrom the burden of the vir-tual fence, Homeland Secu-rity not only has funds tobuy more UAVs but will alsobe able to hire more than1,500 more much-needed

patrolmen.There is no dispute. Not only immigrants use

the large southern border toenter the United States, butalso drug cartels and recent-ly al-Qaida members dis-guised as Hispanics.

These security risks makeUAVs a definite necessity in

the security of our bordersand our entire nation.

With Homeland Securityplacing more money on theutilization of these UAVs,which in turn save money,which can hire more patrol-men, we can expect a muchmore secure border and,thus, a much safer nation.

A STEP TOWARD A MORE SECURE BORDER, Elliot Carl, Calvary Baptist Academy, Grade 11, first place



Nikki Varner, Grade 6, United Elementary

Writing contest for the best opinion columnSticks and Stones May

Break My Bones, But WordsCan Really Kill Me

I, Deanna Buck, proclaim witness to thedevastating act of bullying. Standing in thelunch line on the second day of school,gawking at the new additions to the cafete-ria and the new students I’ve never seen be-fore, my attention was suddenly shaken byhostile voices around me.

“Wow, what happened to your hair?” “Shutup, you stupid skank!” I felt obliged to dosomething, so I calmly said, “Your hair looksvery nice, and I really like that shirt,” settlingthe situation and addressing all negativestatements. Some might think of this as “thehigh school experience” or call it “kids beingkids,” but these harsh statements are actual-ly referred to as verbal bullying and can leadto depression and even suicide.

Those being bullied are two to nine timesmore likely to contemplate suicide thanthose who are not, according to Yale Univer-sity studies. In addition, results from a studydone in Britain show bullying contributes toat least half of the suicides in teens. With sta-tistics such as those, we should all get a bet-ter understanding of what bullying is, whatthe results can be and, ultimately, how toend it.

Bullying has grown and adapted throughthe ages. We not only have to worry aboutphysical and verbal bullying, but also cyberbullying.

Physical bullying is through contact suchas pushing, hitting and kicking. When abully says mean and hurtful things, it is con-sidered verbal bullying. The war on bullyingis changing. Bullies have found newweaponry to attack and weaken their oppo-nents.

They hide behind their invisibility shieldsand send ammunition without seeing theeffects on the opponents. The computerdesk is their shield and inspires the bully tobe relentless and more harsh. Theirweapons are Facebook, chat rooms and cell-phones. The ammunition is the keyboard.With every log on or message sent, the trig-ger is pulled.

How do we know when someone is beingbullied? They could have injuries from phys-ical bullying, but verbal and cyber bullyingis more difficult to observe because the ef-fects are beneath the skin.

A negative change in attitude or behaviorcould be caused by bullying. One affected bybullying could seclude themselves, becomeinvolved with drugs or physically harmthemselves.

Sometimes, we all are pushed to our lim-its, so we yell and throw a tantrum, but

when bullying goes too far, there can betragic results. In fact, “bullicide,” whichmeans suicide caused by bullying, is becom-ing more prevalent.

Signs that bullying has gone too far: de-pression, giving away favorite possessions,saying goodbye to people, commenting onlife without them, engaging in reckless activ-ities and substance abuse.

There are a few things we can do to helpthose who are severely affected by bullying.First, we need to take all take of suicide seri-ously and get them immediate medical help.

We might feel it is not our business to“nark” on someone, but as soon as someoneopens up about suicidal thoughts, it is ourbusiness and duty to help them. It’s also im-portant to keep medications and weaponsaway from them.

Suicide is responsible for about 4,400deaths per year, according to Centers forDisease Control, making it the third-largestcause of death in young people. If bullyingwere to end, we would see fewer suicidesamong our younger people.

To end this tragic war, which has alreadycost us too many casualties, kids and teensneed to be encouraged to make new friendsthat exhibit positive attitudes and behaviors.Parents have a crucial role to play; they needto be an active part in their children’s lives.They need to encourage their kids to be

open with them. Staying in check with social networking

sites their child is a part of is important tocensor the messages that their peers aresending to them.

Parents must be aware and alert. It is theirresponsibility to seek help for their child be-fore it’s too late.

The war is raging, and our young peopleneed back-up. We can either stand besidethem and assist, or cross our fingers andwish them the bet. Staying dormant willmake us a new type of bully.

DEANNA BUCK


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Codey Bowman, Grade 6, United Elementary

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Writing contest for the best opinion columnLife is a Game …

Life is a game — all that matters ishow you play it. How you play by therules is simply your choice. Who youchoose to be on your “team” is alsoyour choice.

But sometimes, you don’t alwayshave a choice. The game of life hasnever been easy — nor will it ever be— but we all have the power withinus to play the game right for us andthose on our “team.”

Though the obstacles you mustface are not in your control, how youhurdle them is your choice. You canfly off the handle and flip out aboutthem, cry in your room about them,laugh about them, write about them— whatever you do to clear each obstacle.

I personally will not judge either way you handle things (because to be completelyhonest, I’ve fallen victim to both of these).

But that’s the beauty of life — you make a mistake and you learn from it. Experi-ence is life’s hardest teacher because it forces you to take the test first, and then itteaches you the lesson. There are many different strategies to play this game, andmany different roads on this game board to take. Each of us will play the game a dif-ferent way, but we each need to enjoy the game and those we play with while wecan.

The game of life in high school will be over all too soon for my fellow seniors andme, and the time will come that it will be over for all of you, my valued readers.

Until then, though, I challenge you to think about how you play this game of life.Evaluate critically each move you make, the way you treat your teammates,” and theway you treat your “opponents.” There are many ways to win this game of life. Isyour game a game worth winning? If not, I challenge you to make it one, and makethe game enjoyable for you and everyone else in this game.

SUE ANNSMITH

PunxsutawneyArea

Grade 12

2ndTeen Bullying

Bullying is a widespread problem in the Unit-ed States today, including in our very own highschool. Studies show that in 16 percent of U.S.schools, kids say other students have bulliedthem. This act of repeated aggressive behaviorin order to intentionally hurting another personhas got to stop. An individual behaving in a cer-tain way to gain power over another personcharacterizes bullying. If you would spend oneday in our school, I guarantee you would findthis as you walked the halls here at Punx-sutawney.

There are all types of bullying out there, in-cluding verbal, physical, racial, sexual, cyber.Even threatening people can be considered bul-lying. I know what you’re all asking, and I evenask it, too: What drives someone to bully? Whydo they do it? Well, bullies have a strong need forpower. People who bully will often find a senseof satisfaction in causing suffering and injury toother students.

Bullying can cause numerous amounts of sideeffects toward the one getting the harassment.This may include depression, low self-esteem,poor grades and even suicidal thoughts. Re-member, if you are being bullied, you must tellsomeone! Always tell an adult, have a group offriends and, if it feels safe, try to stand up to thebully. But if you don’t want to stand up to thebully yourself, you can always tell someone andthey will help you think of something to helpyou out with the current situation that you arein. I am a firm believer in the cause against teen

bullying. You can even log onto www.pacerkid-sagainstbullying.org and find out ways to helppeople in need, or if you are the one in need, it’sa great place for people to listen. It’s a great web-site, and you will find comfort knowing there areothers out there who are in the same situationas you. They may even have tips for you on howto avoid it.

We all need to come together and say enoughis enough. Stand up for one another, and alwaysdo the right thing. Just imagine if the roles werereversed. Would you want someone bullyingyou constantly every single day of your highschool career? I think not. So before you do it,think about how it would make that person feel,because I strongly feel that will change yourmind before you do anything drastic.

ALLIE SHIELDS

PunxsutawneyArea

Grade 12

3rd


Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearKindergarten

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Sandra RossKay-Lee Cole, Brian Dunmire, Eden

Ganoe, Katelyn Harris, Nolan Howard, IvoryKinney, Ethan Kishlock, Rachel Knott, EmilyHarkleroad, Aiden LaMantia, ChristopherMcKendrick, Sylvia Popella, Jordan Price,Marcus Raby, Brian Ryan, Shyan Shortridge,Zachary Strine.

Teacher: Amy StofaDavid Baker, Andrew Barris, Derrick Bryn-

er, Danika Davison, Austin Deyarmin, Car-son Elliott, Brooklynn Furman, Evan Kralik,MacKenna Locke, Victoria McCully, ElijahMeagher, Jazmyn Milburn, Gage Pierce, Abi-gail Pynos, Nevaeh Stiffey, Olivia Stiles,Devon Waite.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Melody ZitterbartNoah Meckley, Dylan Wise.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Sarah BondYasmeen Alqdoumi, Ahmad Alzahrani, Ian

Anderson, Kyra Atherton, Majeed Ben-Salamh, Madison Conde, ZacharyCreighton, Nadia Goodyear, Abbie Huey, Lil-lian James, Olivia Keith, Edward Lloyd,Matthew Lloyd, Addie Raykes, Jacob VanLu-ven, Jason Wallace, Kyle Zheng.

Teacher: Tammie BrunettaCameron Bender, Alexa Cikowski, Kia

Cruz-Hoover, Ava Dilts, Lilly English, Shan-non Filipovich, Taylor Fisanich, Jolena Ham-rock, Nicholas Love, Julianne Nickas, BaileyOakes, Matthew Ray, Tyler Ream, Callan Ro-mance, Meghan Rummel, Sebastien Sedan,Regan Trusal, Taevion Vearnon.

Teacher: Kendy ShubraRowan Lemmon, Austin Auyeung, Charlie

Banks, Jacob Kardell, Americus Firestone,Addison Sexton, Alyssa Carloni, Justin Gib-bons, Lilly Mettee, Andrew Anderson,Ahmed Ainuddin, Seven Barber, OliviaLechner.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Danielle RoadmanEmma Roadman

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Heather BrunettaAbby Adamson, Adam Cowburn, Matthew

Daskivich, Camden Dean, Sophia Garzarelli,Connor Geesey, Maura Knepper, DylanMcLaurine, Kaden Mitchell, Noah Petersen,Makena Redhead-Kriston, Sophie Runge,Gus Scalzo, Tyler Skalican, Kara Somerville,Gavin Stiffey, Brooklyn Williams.

Teacher: Karen MorgantiMadeline (Maddy) Anderson, Hailey

Drennen, Blaine Elkin, Isiaha Garcia, EmmaGrim, Alex Johnson, Rourke Jones, SofiaKipp, Belinda Lin, Michael Lubold, Victoria(Tori) Manzek, Dakota Mortimer, Tara Peif-fer, Aaron Roadarmel, Madison Ruddek,Julia Runge, Klara Smith, Bob (Robert) Sut-ton.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Rebecca ManzekRodney Ball, Nathan Bohmfalk, John Ed-

wards, Iziack Geer, Cherish Kauffman, ChloeKeener, Nicholas Keener, Tammy Larson,Anna Long, Makinna Pearce, Mia Pearce,Destiny Puit, Rachel Snyder.

PURCHASE LINE SOUTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Sue LiebAndrew Beer, Donavin Campbell, Zaeda

Cline, Chad Ferguson, Courtney Jarvie,Madison Jenkins, Madison Long, OliviaMnich, Justin Patterson, Benjamin Pearce,Kenny Raspe, Makayla Rummel, AustinStephenson, Julia Stewart, George Swanik,Chloe Whitney, Ashly Wirick, MichaelZurenko.

Teacher: Diane FentonTimothy Barrett, Zachary Carter, Edward

Clouser, Peyton Falisec, Kaitlyn Gaston, Au-tumn Gray, Kara Harbrige, Lauren Hilty,Tessa Hudson, Cole Keith, Joseph Lamer,Jenna Mumau, Alex Murdick, Eric Overman,Madilyn Ruddock, Devin Tomlinson, BaileyWeaver, Charlee Woods.

Teacher: Andrea PerkovichAdam Ball, Samara Blose, Alexis Falkowski,

Jenica Fleming, Abigail Goncher, Jett Goss,Silas Harris, Makenzie Houck, Derek Kom-losky, Jadyn Leamer, Chance Mohney, JamesOverman, Lacey Patterson, Isaiah Rice,Alexander Rushnok, Merissa Spellman,Zachary Wickens.

RAYNE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Delilah CoyRachel Fox, Brenna Hodak, Bryanna Shef-

far, Travis Midock, Alexis Roush, ReaganGallaher, Branden Gaston, Alex Cessna, Mi-layna Leasure, Jacie Bender, Gage Heilbrun,Owen Conner, Chloe Davies, Caleb Rivers,Hailey Reinard, Denton Park, ChristianLockard, Michael Murphy, Nathan Bothell.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Kelsey DietrichCasey Allshouse, James Barrett, Layne

Baum, Olivia Beatty, Brianna Campagna,Leah Carr, Dalton Clawson, Leigha DiLascio,Alexander Frain, Addison Heeter, EmmaHeeter, Bradley Miller, Justin Murphy, SaraPetro, Tyler Pierce, Korey Schmidt,Cheyenne Weimer, Samuel Gareis.

Teacher: Darrin BakerDevin McCullough, Kodi Bair, Maggie

Bates, Carmhyne Brown, Matthew Clark,Aliyah Eckenrode, Tiffany Evans, BradleyHenigan, Rylie Miller, Michael Muir, SydnieNestor, Michaela Rugh, Nathan Simpson,Blake Vincent.

Teacher: Brandy DelleDonneAshlyn Anderson, Kevin Bruner, Heinz

Cindric, Colton Davis, Rylee Doak, SavannaFink, William (Billy) Gibbons, Anna Hudson,Aidan Lassick, Madison Miller, Lukas Mont-gomery, Abigail Pazak, Kyle Roessler, BryceSchmidt, Sara Shaner, Zach Stash, John Tal-iani Jr., Kayla Vought.

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Jason Marshall

Braydon Albright, Izaak Bloch, ChristianBrown, Faith Ellis, Kaite Hood, Sadie Juart,Victoria Lippert, Andrew McGee, AmaraMoore, Kobi Parks, Gabriel Sleigh, SabrinaSmith, Henry Wolfe.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Jackie ParonishLia McAnulty, Olivia Burkhart, Nicolas

Pacconi, Emma Weishner, BenjaminReynolds, Emily Bennett, Isaac Marshall,Alexander Tebbs, Eve Fiala, Hayden Piper.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Kathleen BroskinDanielle Adams, Ethan Ashbaugh, Abby

Fabri, Austin Frye, Roan Frye, Josh Graff, Sa-vannah Hoover, Laighla Hopkins, ShayleahJuart, Owen Mattis, Abigail Miller, KayleeMonoskey, Dakoda Patterson, BentleySchultz, Jonathan Shuey, Luke Slade,Michael Strouse, Olivia Vehovic, Ella Wells.

Teacher: Patti GrantMax Ackerson, Kaleb Behune, Dakota

Bracken, Liam Cornetto, Matthew Cum-mins, Dominic Deyarman, Calvin Donahoo,Isaiah Fleming, Sierra Hart Fabbri, StephanHolman, Sheyanne Hozak, Justin Liv-ingston, Shelby Murphy, Jordan Parsell, LitaReeger, Giana Ruddock, Camryn Sacco,Maggie Shadle, Matthew Van Leer, HaylieVincent, Camrin McKendrick, Dillon Green.

Teacher: Susan CooperMatthew Niehenke, Kenadee Elkin,

Hunter Bish, Alexander Cummins, CodyHoover, Haley Kellar, Braden Reichenbach,Allison Yeomans, Dalton Stenman, BriannaSpencer, Michael Bailey, Caitlyn Gaskill,Brady Leasure, Camden Stewart, MadelynOrr, Parker Black, Reagan Ryen, MaggieHood, Dawson Bracken.

Grade 1

APOLLO-RIDGE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Sharon FridayDaniel Bender, Kalob Bentz, Brandon

Booker, Kaden Bopp, Garrett Calderone,Alexis Havens, Jammal Higgins, Devin John-son, Maya Kemmerer, Ruth Koffman, Meris-sa Nowikowski, Felicity Rocco, AmberSchwaed, Stevon Sheaffer, Kristian Skovrup,Benjamin Smoyer.

Teacher: Jan FrenchBrianna Ahsmann, Emily Bonja, Savannah

Brown, Giovanni Cicala, CaytlynneCronauer, Gavin Filippini, Emma Frain,Jacob Hepler, Connor Mamros, JacobMeighan, Tyler Miller, Cole Rearick, AubreyRuddock, Jacob Sharon, Matthew Weib-linger.

Teacher: Mrs. ClawsonMatthew Clark, Lucas Donahue, Evan

Frye, Jason Huffman, Casey Jones, GraceKing, Garrett Lake, Jordan Miller, KateMyers, Emma Nunamaker, Bradey Schrock,Marquee Stano, Darren Steele, Drake Swal-ga, Jason Weng.

Teacher: Mike SaxionMadison Blystone, Spentzer Brunner, Nick

Clawson, Emma George, Giovanni Kupas,Devin Leone, Elizabeth Master, KeyvahnMcCray, Colin McDermott, Andy Miller,

Maccoy Morrow, Dakota Nulph, CadenShoup, Samantha Smart, Karissa Will.

Teacher: Carrie AlwineZachary Clawson, Skye Flynn, Wryder

Frickanisce, Frank Guttilla, Joshua Hoan-shelt, Nathan Kavulic, Summer MacPher-son, Lucius Maines, Gavin McCall, ColtonNiel, Matthew Rametta, Jessica Rupert,Samuel Ryan, Jade Seger, Karisa Smalling,Lucas Starcher.

Teacher: Jeneane KehewLogan Baynar, Matthew Burkholder,

Nicholas Cecchini, Sarah Clark, Leo Filler,Emma Knox, Madison Lydon, ChampagneMcKendrick, Jesse Peterson, Colby Pozzuto,Evan Remaley, Andrew Rudduck, EmmaSinnamond, Brandon Suman, Jerzy Toma-jko, Aaron Worst.

BEN FRANKLIN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Nancy GearyZainah Al Maita, Nyle Bajwa, Ethan Beigh-

ley, Antonio Bizarro, Evan Clawson, KamrynFulmer, Gabriel Leydic, Verner McKendrick,Madeline Menta, Melanie Navaratna, Bren-na Nutter, Brock Petras, Kristianna Shearer,Brent Winkler, Matthew Shupe, Caitlin Wil-son, Kiara Wilson.

Teacher: Keri MarshallMadison Boyer, Alexandra Chelgren, Mies

Chiang, Nick Drahnak, Nate Ebeling, BlakeHodak, Sarah Hozak, Jacob McCracken,Zyanne Miller, Lee Monroy, Leighanna Pat-terson, Logan Rode, Cipriana Salazar, XavierSemone, Hunter Smathers, Serenity Tagala,Makenzie Wells, Zoe Yagle.

Teacher: Jackie JonesAndrew Baker, Mikaela Bittner, Brayden

Chabot, Bella DePree, Adrian Escalona,Dylan Gaggini, Isiah Lawson, Amber Long,Victorino Maratita, Kiersten Marquis, Car-son McCully, Hannah Miller, Ashley Palmer,Sedona Reilly, Cade Simmons, Hank Skir-boll, Briana Taylor, Connor Vatter, JacksonVukman.

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Brenda RovisonKasey Baird, Ryan Bonadio, Falisha Bopp,

Ella Burkhart, Spencer Burnsworth, CalebEmfield, Rayne Fink, Sarah Fisher, HannahFoust, Ty Hertzog, Daniel McGinity, DeliaMeagher, Logan Platt, Paige Podolski,Nathan Potter, Braden Staats, Bryce Miller,Julia Stutzman, Brandon Kelly.

Teacher: Maryrose CastellaniNicole Allison, Cortney Bracken, Michael

Busani, Jolene Cribbs, Evan Harris, HannahHess, Aliyah Kendall, Kariss Knuckles, KodyPaul Long, Timmy Palmer, Riley Provias,Conner Rebo, Kira Shirley, Saniya Sledge,Madison Stutzman, Max Wilson, Isaac Wit-mer.

Teacher: Kathy FrolaFrankie Benko, Brianna Blazek, Sarah De-

twiler, Brin Gardner, Tyler Henderson, KylieIscrupe, Jules Kirouac, Mara Kirsch, JaydonMcCurdy, Payton Mlakar, Logan Norton,Karlie Patterson, Isabel Pynos, CameronReaugh, Emma Shirley, Kaitlyn Simpson,Starla Tarkkanen, Eric Waltman,



Brianna Topick, Grade 5, Shannock Valley Elementary

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ryNearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this year

Trenney Yanoff. Teacher: Jackie JonesAndrew Baker, Mikaela Bittner, Brayden

Chabot, Bella DePree, Adrian Escalona,Dylan Gaggini, Isiah Lawson, Amber Long,Victorino Maratita, Kiersten Marquis, Car-son McCully, Hannah Miller, Ashley Palmer,Sedona Reilly, Cade Simmons, Hank Skir-boll, Briana Taylor, Connor Vatter, JacksonVukman.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Mary Vick BooleMiranda Pounds, Evan Stewart.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Mandy YanoschickLina Al-Shraah, Sarah Bolyard, Owen Clif-

ford, Mikayla Cramer, Cameron Fanning,Payton Firestone, Aisha Ganda Nabi,Spencer Hatfield, Reagan Homer, RyleeHomer, Luke Leon, Emma Levan, HasanaSami, Sara Welch, Hayden Zilner.

Teacher: Melissa BenderYumna Al-Shraah, Sara Argueta-Valle,

Hanan Azizi, Emma Bernini, Aidan Cessna,Bryce Davis, Jormann Embry, Sally Kingan,Owen Lawson, Victoria Lloyd, Isaac Myers,Louis Pesci, Ashley Shaw, Lincoln Trusal, Mi-randa Zuzek.

Teacher: Teresa RinehartGabriella Clark, Asher Cobaugh, Nathian

Creighton, Nadia Fairman, Sean Fenk, KiraGarrison, Noah Hutton, Daniel McAnulty,Trista Newman, Tyler Pecany, Natalie Scha-effer, Katrinette Sexton, Autumn Smith, Tay-lor Zook.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Julie FairchildSoren FairchildTeacher: Janet McCoyAbram McCoyTeacher: Rebecca TurnerDaniel Turner

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Christine Kowchuck

Ian Bennett, Alex Broskin, Michaela Cata-lano, Kayla Everly, Ryan Fabin, Owen Foltz,Cole Harper, Sydney Kishlock, BrooklynnNeal, Dante Peak, Audreonna Murphy-Puttman, Collin Quick, Anthony Rowland,Xander States, Nick Taylor, Michael Yount,Caleb Zack.

Teacher: Betty Ann PavlickMarcus Bowser, Morgan Brendlinger,

Maggie Buggey, Ryleigh Dwulet, SophiaEastman, Kayden Edwards, Steven Fisher,Alysa George, Kyersten Gett, Noah Henry,Cody Housholder, James Jaworski, MatthewMlakar, Eli Normand, Jared Orsargos, IanPizer, Lindsey Succheralli, Dawn Palmer.

Teacher: Katie StosselAmelia Brewer, Stella Siwula, Quintin

Neal, James Howard, Matthew Steffey, JustinWalbeck, Toby Bishop, Devin Flint, JasonRice, Isaac Turk, Sage Bernard, MarleeKochman, Ayannah Elliott, ElizabethShirley, Isabela Bence, Starr Day, PeytonMohney.

Teacher: Elizabeth WoodsMya Fatula, Jackie Lear, Alexis Martin,

Chad McQuiston, Legend Rankin, Zoe Renz,Wayne Shirley III, Matthew Silk, Xander Sil-vis, Rebecka Smith, Ethan Spade, MariahStrong, Dalton Myer, Christian Penrose, Jes-sica Vaughn, Riley Zeiler.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Heidi HoffmanIan Douglas, Benjamin Duncan, Lauren

Peachey.

NORTHERN CAMBRIA ELEMENTARYTeacher: Lea BornLogan Parrish, Isaac Bradley, Ethan Miller,

Austin Birchall, John Yahner, Isabelle Smith,Caleb Born, Alexis Stapleton, Trace Chordas,Melissa Englody, Ally Trybus, Isaac Sod-mont, Gavin Rezk, Lexis Long, AngelinaDuriez, Chloe Holtz, Sara Brletrick, KatelynBrady, Ashton Rounsley, Bailee Salvia, JacobParonish.

Teacher: Marianne MehallShayla Bowser, David Davis, Dustin

Farabaugh, Jodie Fontanese, Abigail Holtz,Bailey Horvath, Seth Kelly, Kensey Kuzar,Ethan Ludwig, Sebastian Lute, Joshua McK-endrick, Emily Montanaro, Daniel Phillips,Gabriella Rankin, Emma Sherry, ChristianSinclair, Damien Smego, Ethan Stiles, EmilyTreese, Jensen Wiewiora, Jordyn Williams.

Teacher: Anna Marie ShafferKaylee Abrams, Matthew Abrams, Bren-

nen Arotin, Breana Chuhran, Levi Corson,Ariauna Durbin, Jade Farabaugh, Blaze Gau-gler, Emily Jacobs, Stephen Kass, Christo-pher Miller, Serenity Pala, Mariah Patterson,Michael Peadick, Brock Roland, Alex Snyder,Hanah Stafford, Bryanna Swanson, DustinTrinkley, Isaac Wagner, Makaila Work.

Teacher: Anne Marie WeberHailey Anderson, Brooke Boring, Cole De-

oskey, Ella Dobransky, Loren Donatelli,Logan Keith, Jessica Krug, Isak Kudlawiec,Kiaya Lentz, Rachel Lieb, Devon Lockard,Sean Morgan, Gwen Nave, Evan Semels-berger, Brynn Sheredy, Logan Stauffer, An-thony Vella, Camron Wargo, Aylana Wojno.

Teacher: Nancy ZatorskyBrayden Bobby, Nathan Bolvin, Nicole

Curry, Dylan Delozier, Luke Deyarmin,Dayus Fruechtel, Montana Keith, EthanKrawcion, Evan Lanzendorfer, ShaneLockard, Kaydence Pizur, Kaylee Pizur,Alyissa Shaffer, Jacob Scanlan, Mallory Stein,Hannah Stoltz, Bailee Weyandt, JacqulinnWilliams, Coral Woods.

PENNS MANOR ELEMENTARYTeacher: Amy MountainKadin Boring, Nolan Detwiler, Ben Dumm,

Megan Dumm, Joseph Johnston, HannahLieb, Aaron Lowman, Kylie Mears, Lily Orr,Keara Patterson, Luke Rainey, Andrew Rhea,Julie Shank, Kendra Thomas, Aidan Thorn-ton, Brent Tuorinsky.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Linda WilsonMegan Timko, Gage Strawcutter, Michael

Esposti, Rose Ball, Amber Barto, AbigayleKitchen, Makenna Rummel, Andrew Lem-

mer, William Hoch, Zander Bennett, KyleSpencer, Ethan Peterson.

PURCHASE LINE SOUTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Tina AndersonGabriella Burgett, Max Falisec, Brayden

Faught, Sean Furman, Dixon Harkins, CarterKnepp, Ryan Little, Brock Lloyd, ChristopherMcCoy, Jade Misko, Serinity Pearce, TylerPiper, Vincenzo Scott, Zoey Scott, FaithSmith, Michael Stibrik, Kyan Taylor, HaleighThacker, Carlena Ward, Ashton Weaver,Traver Wise.

Teacher: Christy FalisecHaley Anderson, Timothy Arlott, Tommy

Bartlebaugh, Paige Dilts, Mason Gearhart,Abigail Goss, Hannah Homerski, Cory Hud-son, Lucas Huey, Joseph Johnson, Alex Ley-dic, Logan McCracken, Issac McCullough,Kailee Mumau, Madison Orf, Noah Peles,Chessa Shaffer, James Shaffer, Nolan Stew-art, Katie Stiffler, Brandon Wilshire.

Teacher: Colleen MyersAvery Falisec, Jack Matz, Jayce Brooks,

James Huey, Sedona Mohney, Hailey Kach-marchi, Bethany Smith, Alexis Wilshire,Zach Stiffler, Brady Syster, Kahlan Lavender,Madison Scalese, Ashley Stebbins, RobertAskew, Diezel Jobe, Korbin Wilson, EthanBracken, Morgan Passmore, Chad Adams,Haley Little.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Carly HruskaTimothy Allshouse, Noah Bole, Josh

Brown, Taylor Carr, Raychel Cass, AnnaColeman, Jacob Flickinger, Derek Graf,Haylee Henry, Matthew Izzo, Austyn Koval-cik, Amber Matson, Kyle Misner, AbbigailMotes, Morgan Nelson, Shaylee Nestor, IanPavelchick, Madison Prenni, Riley Schmidt,Anthony Sharp.

Teacher: Chantelle ColinetAnthony Ashbaugh, Angelo Bartolini,

Kodie Bathurst, Sophia Biem, DillonBuchinsky, Hailey Clark, Corbin Cullen-Shearer, Robert Koczan, Jesse McGuire,



3rd


Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearJason McKnight, Hannah Muir, MadisonPetro, McKenna Shellhammer, CourtneySmith, Chad Spaugy, Kerra Stover, AidanWilliams, Morgan Williams, Christopher Ly-dick.

Teacher: Becky StifflerRocco Bartolini, John Brink, Molly Claw-

son, Kleo Curry, Lillian Harris, Jessie Konkle,Thomas Maruca, Hunter Pratt, Eric Shaulis,Kelsey Zebley.

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Sharon VivianAndy Bertolino, Hannah Barr, Kenzey Col-

gan, Emma Gold, Josiah Johnson, Kara Mar-shall, Lydia Murphy, Izabella Musser, Kae-den Parks, Kayla Seymour, Noah Shepler,Alex Williams.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Maria HastingsJacob Antonelli, Jonah Arone, Vince Belice,

Zachary Brody, Benjamin Dean, AinsleyFreyvogel, Hayley George, Melina Hilliard,Kennedi Kunkle, Dylan Majernik, DevonMurphy, Ryan Stossel, Zachary Tortorella,Monica Turnbull, Athena Yang.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Nancy RatayKaeleigh Aikens, Nevada Armstrong, Sara

Burkhardt, Shawna Cook, Nathan DeHaven,Hailey Fulmer, Jackson Gaskill, ToriGearhart, Sarah Leicht, Clarissa Marshall,Rebekah Miloser, Joshua Rishell, Jayde Rum-mell, Jared Scott, Grant Shields, Gavin Stew-art, Jayden Tozer, Robert Wetzel, CodyWilliard, Timothy Cummins.

Grade 2BEN FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY

Teacher: Nancy ObushDavid Avey, Brody Kunselman, Hayden Ly-

barger, Corbin Murdick, Brad Petras, GavinPrebish, Ryan Trostle, Dalas Waltmire, ZakWood, Cameron Albert, Maddie Delbrugge,Shaylee Eiselman, Teagan Merriman, HaileySchrecengost, Alexis Single, Emily Curtis.

Teacher: Jacalyn MatzSamantha Shumaker, Xavier Intveld, Tan-

ner Smith, Tucker Davis, Chloe Kocinski,Amerah Heyward, Cole Dillon, GiannaCosentino, Curtis Ruddock, MadisonPalmer, Jordan Lauer, Ben Coleman, EllaZhou, Austin Homer, April McKendrick.

Teacher: Margie CrandallHasan Ali, Lucas Connell, Jesse Greve,

Ethan Marcozzi, Elijah Mauk, Justin Reese,Kevin Tra, Zach Asburay, Jasmine Burtick,Leah Campbell, Haylee Chappell, KileyLibengood, Kaitlyn Marshall, Sandy Milby,Harley Wolfgang.

Teacher: Laura CunninghamAlivia Parke, Courtney Hozak, Danny

Williams, Jacob Dzikowski, Jason Bowser,Kyle Thome, Klylen Sawtelle, Lillian Davie,Olivia Kuzneski, Patrick Greene, TrinityTagala, Jonnessa Hughes, Sara Zimmerman,Zackery Huey.

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Robin Henry

Madison Almes, James Barger, WilliamBarnhart, Will Canty, Madison Chambers,Ryan Endress, Jacob Faser, Donna Fridley,Hannah Griffen, Marissa Hoover, Austin Ko-valcik, Alexis Pace, Garrett Podolski, IanSmyth, Izabella Sprague, Tommy Wagner,Alison Walbeck, Harper Wehrer, AutumnZedick.

Teacher: Elaine AndersonHaley Baird, Myrissa Beskid-Perez,

Richard Block, Joseph Boehm, AnthonyBouchard, Alex Dickson, Dalton Fairchild,Brayde Furman, Madeline Ganoe, Jaden Is-crupe, Dravyn John, Raven Jones, Cage Kin-ney, Jayson Lickenfelt, Ashton Perfetti,Madison Repine, Daniel Schrack, KeriganStaats, Devon Witmer, Alexis Yanits.

Teacher: Jennifer ShirleyLauren Alamo, Zachary Artley, Noah Ash-

baugh, Robert Bowser, Kristiann Easterday,Haley Farabaugh, Luke Garvin, DonevanGraham, Abby Hays, Alex Kirkland, DanielKukula, Elizabeth LaMantia, JeremiahMarsh, Amber McConnell, Ravi Mikeska,Lexi Risinger, Corbin Ryan, Gavin Snyder,Janelle Weaver.

Teacher: Monica BellMorgan Ashbaugh, Skyler Borbonus,

Alaina Constantino, Brett Fails, HarrisonGilligan, Jacob Haynes, Brandi Hebenthal,Kyle Ickes, Lincoln Kovach, Savannah Lisc-sak, Jacob Mocek, Amber Palmer, SierraPopella, Isabella Previte, Sydney Reed, MollySisitki, Cody Taylor, Cole Townsend, C JayeWood.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Mary Vick BooleSierra Durand, Gabe Krivonick.

DAYTON ELEMENTARYTeacher: Katrina KimmellPearl Ballock, Lynea Boyer, Landon Bur-

rell, Kile Cornman, Hailey Evans, Macey Fox,Isaac Hough, Jerry Hughes, Wyatt Lager, JadeLasko, Brady Miller, Harley Rocco, GavinSolley, Colin Stubbs, Lindsay Wilson.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Deb PattersonTanner Agnello, Gavin Bernard, Zach

Eisenhower, Trai Farally, Dexter Froud,Matthew Gardner, Timmy Hauge, MeganHenning, Chloe Hunter, Jason McGaughey,Kylie McIntire, Gracie Porter, Hannah Reilly,Allison Rutledge, Shae Smith, CameronWalls, Jolene Wensel, Rikkella Yachisko.

Teacher: Peg SoukupAdam Abram, Ethan Agnello, Janet Barber,

Megan Brocious, Acey Cassidy, Isaac Gib-bons, Joshua Glaser, Kassidy Helman, CierraHolby, Dustin Miller, Matthew Nelson,Adam Rapach, Kylee Rifendifer, SamuelSzep, Madelyn Thompson, Taylor Weaver,Lars Wingerter.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Alicia ClarkAlayna Allan, Christopher Dilts, Kiara

Donofrio, Sam Fefolt, Maddux Fisanich,Tyler Gonos, Ashley Hite, Gregory Kenning,Lilly Nath, AJ Nickas, Eva Novak, Anna

Romance, Evan Truman.Teacher: Jeff ReedEmily Anderson, Lauren Carloni, Chase

Carnahan, Caleigh Cessna, Orlando Clark,Xander Cruz, Ariel Fultz, Evan Jackson, MaxKovalchick, Nathan Metzger, Alicia Mitchell,Nathan Petro, Taylor Sheesley, Tommy Vin-cent, Stone Williams, Jason Zheng.

Teacher: Jill KaszubowskiCaroline Bianco, Ryan Brocious, Nate

Clarkin, Adriana Guth-Borowski, FaithHamrock, Alex Jadzak, Josh Kardell, VincentKrahe, Declan Kubala, Allen Leydic, AnakinLeydic, Sarah Love, Alyssa Lyman, QuinnMartineau, Walker Raykes, Ian Steele.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Kristy ScherfEmily Scherf

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Kathy DaskivichJulieann Alexander, Arianna Ash, Kyleigh

Bell, Tyler Bowser, Haley Clark, Samuel Darr,Clinton Goldberg, Jessie Harper, IsabellaMorgan, Carter Robbins, Teagan Sharp,Hannah Sisak, Shannon Sisko, ThomasSmith, Kendall Stains, Madison Succheralli,Dominic Terranova, Matthew Valenti.

Teacher: Josh KapcoeGenevieve Spade, Ariel Bishop, Nicholas

Manzanilla, Mitchel Stillwagon, Abbey Bek-ina, Evan Ober, Richie Bencic, Haley Powell,Caden Brown, Emma Kwisnek, Isaac Kelly,Myleah Flint, Rebecca George, Patricia Hul-lenbaugh, Conner Alsippi, Jacob Rowles.

Teacher: Erin HildebrandBryson Graham, LaVada Walbeck, Abigayl

McAdams, Caitlin Mumau, Clark Bush,Aliyah Isenberg, Breanna Zenisek, KevinPlowcha, Cylie Shaffer, Casey Hippchen,Ben Antos, Robert Randolph, Tristan Hogan,Emily Taylor, Drew Kochman, AllisonGeorge, Trinity Tessendorf, Micah Hurd,Brett Mlakar.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Heidi HoffmanJosiah Pugh

PENNS MANOR ELEMENTARYTeacher: Debra S. HooverKevin Baum, Katie Bennett, Bailee Britton,

Kaitlyn Duncan, Cierra Dunmire, Blake Es-helman, Brock Eshelman, Jordan Gibbons,Reese Hays, Austin Hill, Kevin Hoehn, Dom-menic Hrubochak, Michael Hunter, HaydenIsenberg, Ijae Karlinsey, Dimitri Lieb, AlexaMeyer, Joshua Myers, Anna Peterman, TylerStiffler, Caleb Vann, Kenneth Wilson.

Teacher: Kathy HawkNathan Baker, Jarrett Beatty, McKenna

Bothell, Lydia Cox, Gavin Crowe, BrandonDunmire, Mason Engel, Tanner Greek, ErickHelman, Connor Keith, Richelle Klingen-smith, Autumn Kojnok, Devin McCunn,Madelyn Misner, Brian Rummel, JamesShaffer, Rylee Shaffer, Tony Shultz, KassidySmith, Gwen Stahl.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Beth Farabaugh

Jade Beatty, Sophia Bloxdorf, Alex Bouch,Dalton Dewitt, Ashton Deyarmin, DonivanEdwards, Christopher Esposti, AshlynnHarkleroad, Dakota Hilliard, Samuel Kauff-man, Garriston Keith, David Larson, ClaytonPatrick, Shayla Rowan, Noah Westover.

PURCHASE LINE SOUTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Debra RickardJoslin Barto, Madison Geer, Kelly Jennings,

Nathan Johnson, Gabriel Lamer, KarenLangham, Tara Leamer, Kailin McWilliams,Brandon Mumau, Hailey Murdick, RachaelMyers, Aliya Nichol, Dyllan Overman,Samuel Powell, Derek Ramos, CassieRoberts, Lydia Ruddock, Tyler Scott, LindseySmall, Aveena Snyder, Chenelle Strong,Joshua Syster, Dana Wilshire.

RAYNE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Rebecca BlewsNoah Bennett, Hunter Berg, Blake Bly-

stone, Tyler Brubaker, Mychaela Doolin,Gavin Effinger, Eric Gaston, Jacob Hubbert,Justin James, Areil Jordan, Blake Lindsey,Sarah Miller, Gaven Palko, Krista Saxfield,Hailey Schmidt, Brady Sheffar, Julia Spence,Aaron Tennent.

Teacher: Luke SitoskyMarcus Badzik, Megan Costello, Dallas

Dailey, Conner Fairman, Hallie Filler, An-drew Helman, Jonathon Jordan, HunterMock, Michael Reinard, Anthony Scott, Lau-ren Shirley, Ben Shoop, Dylan Sipos, RileyWeaver.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Ramona TaylorAnthony Aronson, Gino Bartolini, Charlie

Brunner, Carolynn Bucco, Karly Cindric,James Clawson, Thomas Dionisi, MorganGamble, Jacob Gyenes, Nicolas Koffman,Adam MacDonald, Nathan Piper, TabithaShields, Brooke Shirley, Makenzie Simpson,Alex Singel, Connor Smith, Hope Stano,Dylan Murphy.

Teacher: Steve ShannonAlyssa Adams, Santino Bartolini, Jenna

Beatty, Logan Bonnoni, Hope Bryner, EmilyGolik, Isabella Koffman, Camryn Luther,Kevin McNellie, Hope Ramsden, Lucas Sin-gel, Colton Smith, Chris Watson, StormWilds, Damian Gunter.

Teacher: Jennifer DickCandra Bair, Antonio DiLascio, Cody Fair-

man, Zoe Johnston, Nicole Kovalcik, MarkLynn, Harley Moran, Rachel O’Day, EmilyPeters, Tristan Roessler, Kirstin Smith, JacobSpeedy, Dante Stover, Michael Stover, DavidStuller, Emily Woodring, Braden Yard.

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Nicole GriffithBenjamin Brown, Joshua Diecidue, Ethan

Marshall, Blake Mears, Korpo Parks, GraceSchrack, Gabriel Seevers, Bryn Smith,Rachel Smith.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Janet AroneAbby Dickie, Carlie Carion, Fima Sissoko,




Haley Dunmire, Grade 5, Penns Manor Elementary

Stacee S

picher, Grade 6, Indiana W

esleyan

Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearAlyson Krecota, Branden Kanick, Emily Mar-shall, Kailyn Diaz, Giavonna Spadafora,James Clark, Aidan Cattau, George Bena-mati.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Sherri KutschJenna Bourdess, Justine Brocious, Ash-

lynne Coble, Robin DeHaven, AbbreallaGriffith, Jasmine Hill, Tanner MacBlane, Sa-vannah Mimis, Austin Moore, Skylar North,Preston Orr, Justin Peterson, Robert Rainey,Kristin Richards, Jack Shearer, AbigaleShuey, Danielle VanHorn, Levi Waltermire.

Grade 3

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Susan DunlapMadison Bittner, Julia Canty, Lucas Cham-

bers, Angela Deyarmin, Andrew Cole, Lar-son Dolan, Mackenna Emanuel, Josh Gillin,Garrett Henigin, Brenna Henry, Alyssa Hix-son, Rachel Jackson, Zach Liscsak, NoahMcAdams, Beth Schroth, Sierra Zedick, Syd-ney Zias.

Teacher: Mary HilemanTim Campbell, Abby DePree, Kaleb Gam-

ble, Marcus Goodlin, Jacob Leary, Emily Mc-Callen, Dawn McGaughey, Morgan Patter-son, Emily Payson, Paighton Pierce,Cheyanne Quidetto, Charis Roth, RobertShirley, Caitlin Walbeck.

Teacher: Janet LukacsEthan Boone, Cloe Bowser, Sonya

Demacek, Bridget Doyle, Wyatt Harbaugh,Jesse Klingensmith, Krystaleena Laney,Franklin Maratita, Kayla Moran, Kyle Platt,Payton Potter, Jakob Riggle, Kira Riggle, LeahShannon, Natasha Urso, Robert Walker,Hellen Wang, Taylor Yantis, Cody Mocek.

Teacher: Hope StaatsJaqué Askew, Nadia Bongianino, Skylar

Burnsworth, Jonathan Bush, Konnar Cahill,Brieana Cassidy, Elijah Clevenger, JesseGourley, Brian Hartzog, Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni, Kimberly Kirsch, Autumn Licken-

felt, Ivy Long, Ali Murphy, Kolton Palmer,Brooke Sleasman, Isabella Smith, AshtonStiles, Garrett Stuller, Alexander Wilson.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Mary Vick BooleAmber Maderer, Shane Meckley.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Heidi HigbeeSarah Denver, Luke Boulard, John Oskey,

Shelby Kerstetter, Mikey Trent, MatthewMoran, Hannah Scardina, Travis Gershman,Madalyn Gauntner, Owen Lydick, LilyBoulard, Jacob Fulmer, Jameson Kutz, ShaneNicewonger, Katie Wachob, Tanya Mukasa.

Teacher: Sandy SmelkoCameron Anderson, Lauren Berezansky,

Alexis Bonatch, Rachel Bowersox, Aja Cas-sidy, Laken Dilts, Natalie Grattan, Danny LeeJohn Makara, Mike Mazey, Reese McFarlane,Kendall Menifee, Elias Sutfin, Lola Van Leer,Cian Williamson-Rea, Emily Sebring.

Teacher: Natalie McKeeHayley Henning, Sarah Detweiller, Dillon

Berezansky, Samuel Phillips, AlyssaMcLaine, Wyatt Lychalk, Cormac Pagnucci,Terry Shields, Molly Butler, Payton Smath-ers, Zachary Palko, Ayannah Robertson,Lauren Fletcher, Bryn Beck, Brooke Boyer,Grace McGee, Allyson Ghiardi, Abby Walker,Zephaniah Cooksey, Joshua Neese.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Dawn SmithRyan Ream, Courtnay Leydic, Alex Beatty,

Morgan Beard, Cheyene Vansyckle, MadisonEubanks, Natalia Malandro, Hannah Steele,Enoch Clark, Hanna Contrucci, Haley Orr,Kate Houser, Arianna Goodyear, KevinZheng, Eric Atherton, John Gunter, KennethLyman, Connor McQuaide, Elizabeth Evan-ick, Hunter Burris.

Teacher: Ed KocinskiJulian Yerger, Simon Bianco, Hannah Wag-

ner, Natilie Hill, Katelyn Stump, AdrianMorales, Allie Coker, Caleb Hockenberry,

Jordyn Truman, Ryan Putt, Santana Fire-stone, Hazim Al-Shraah, Jasper Ntimbukila,Henry Powers, Cleusio Branco, Jacob Stein-er, Megan Ruffner, India Krug, Isabella Shar-baugh.

ELDERTON ELEMENTARYTeacher: Delores CraigCheyanne Gray, Adam Englert, Kameron

Ramer, Chantelle Gray, Ethan Matson.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Melissa McCrackenSelah McCrackenTeacher: Kim HartleFaith HartleTeacher: Jamie KilleenZachary KilleenTeacher: Rebecca TurnerJack Turner

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Joe KotelnickiSavanna Ahlborn, Katie Burgess, Alexis

Clark, Trever Day, Molly Dixson, Jaden Evan-ick, Morgan Faris, Tyler Gearhart, KristaHarper, Kayla Kishlock, Matthew Lewis,Riley McGraw, Cory Miller, Gannon O’-Hearn, Nathan Potts, Hannah Sevin, AveriShirley, Makenna Simms, Makayla Taylor,Damian White, Megan Wolfe, NicholasWoods, Emily Zerfoss, Jacob Bennett.

Teacher: David KingHeaven Bailey, Jaden Blatt, Gavin Brown,

Christian Burton, Aliyah Clowser, MelissaCoffman, Brandon Cramer, Amira Elliott,Jonathan Gearhart, Seth Jordan, DakotaKoleszar, Mikayla Martin, Jasmin Everly,Wyatt McElheny, Desiree McQuiston,Kathryn Nippes, Alex Pribesh, Jacob Stiffey,Todd Trainor, Ian Vilcek, Logan Williams,Brittanna Young.

Teacher: Mary Ann CiranniZachary Aaron, Ian Adamson, Makenzie

Arone, Kayla Bell, Allyssa Black, Carter Cava-lier, Aaliyah Bowman, Robert Clevenger,Madison Fairman, Joshua Freed, Jacob

Kishlock, James Loughner, Grace Neal, CadePatterson, Riley Rura, Robert Scott, HaydenSisak, Alexus States, Lillian Taylor, KaylaTroup, Hailey Walker, Ronald Peak,Johnathan Sprague.

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Diana BennettKasey Anderson, Heather Cable, Abigail

Chamnik, Benjamin Davies, Jack Finegan,Jacob Fritz, Dominic Gaillot, Kendra Grube,Hannah Housholder, Amelia Kuzneski, JorieMeil, Paige Mitsko, Owen Morris, Tahlia Per-due, Sara Rahkonen, Layla Smith, HunterTakach, Martin Tyme, Rogrickk Rechini.

Teacher: Shannon TokarMadison Caroff, Margaret Conjelko, Jus-

tice Cowen, Daniel English, Parker Fanella,Foster Heasley, Noah Karcher, Emma Ko-vacs, Taylor Long, Hannah Lupinetti, EthanMuir, Alex Norland, Abigail Opdyke, ElizaRay, Kiara Smith, Ashley Yanni.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Melinda HoseyCarrie Spicher, Joe Duncan.

PARKVIEW ELEMENTARYTeacher: Marian KlotzKaleb Braunns, Logan Bush, Sydney Dun-

lap, Jackson Fezell, Charles Fuller, StephenGasper, Brady Horne, Derek Ishman, BradenJacobson, Madison Lorelli, Christina Men-netti, Blade Pierce, Samuel Rodgers, JoshuaSmith, Dustin Tedrow.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Kerri MountainBryanna Anderson, Jacob Barnett, Isaak

Bennett, Dana Campbell, Alex Cramer,Shaylynn Deyarmin, Kaya Hayward, OliviaHoch, Erik Kinnan, Gabe Kitchen, KarleighKromer, Angel Larson, Kayla Larson, DoyleMusselman, Kevin Parkhurst, John Puit,Michael Rummel, Kyle Smith, Debra Spaid,Seth Toth, Charles Voskoyan, Storm Whitney,



Andre Wray.

RAYNE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Lisa NelsonBrooke Bothell, Grant Braun, James Brew-

er, Seth Carneal, Michael Costello, RhysDavies, Colin Fox, Bridget Gardner, JessicaGirolami, Isabella Kirk, Madison Krugh,Alexis Lutz, Carl McCullough, Alex Nanni,Mason Pearce, Hunter Peterson, BrookePowell, Kassandra Roush, Aidan Taylor,William Piper.

Teacher: Diane GreeneShawn Cessna, Hadin Detwiler, Colby

France, Camille Gibbons, Adam Hile, SaraLetham, Mya Mano, Hailey McCunn, JeremyMontgomery, Erika Niel, JosephSemetkoskey, Carrington Steele.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Melissa HallMaylee Bates, Zachary Brady, John Calan-

drella, Colton-Cullen Shearer, ChristopherGerslel, Joshua Gibbons, Rebecca Handke,Amy Hodil, Nicole Jorgenson, Alex Lassick,Makenzi Meckley, Dylian Palmer, EmilyPazak, Lauren Rager, Colin Roessler, TylerRoman, Michael Shirley, Zachary Simpson,Nathan Slapinski, Ashleig Stewart.

Teacher: Jeff SmathersCamryn Adair, Courtney Battistelli, Reese

Bole, Jason Buchinsky, David Gabrielson,Daniel Golik, Garrett Johnston, RichardMeadows, Gavin Miller, ChristopherPavelchick Jr., Mitchel Rager, Haylee Ray-push, Jerry Reed, Breanna Reesman, KatrinaShearer, Tai Sphon, Austin Testa, IsabellaWatkins, Martina Webb.

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Timothy JohnsonEvelyn Bennett, Tony Bertolino, Kendall

Branan, Jessica Buchanan, Emily Ellis, BradyKodman, Molly Kodman, Megan Marquez,Chase Walker, Stone Williams, Erik Wolfe,Edward Woodle.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Vera LeonardCatherine Bevevino, Danny Brody, Anto-

nio Caporossi, Lily Carone, Zoe Eisenman-Hershman, Dennis George, Gia Grettler,Amanda Iandiorio, Alec Majernik, J.J.Massie, Donovan Murphy, Cecilia Sher-wood, Cecilia Sobolewski, Anna Weishner,Kaleb Wensel.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Kimberly Todd/Ed McCunnAbigail Adams, Torri Ashbaugh, Cortney

Brocious, Emily Busija, Clayton Coble, KalebFarmery, Riley Hays, Adam Johnson,Gaibreail Juart, Alaina Kutsch, Peyton Light-cap, Gabriel McClellan, Lauren Miller,Donovan Mimis, Madison Mumau, HaileyO’Hara, Chloe Scott, Madison Shaffer, SethSteele, Joshua Tozer, Jonah Vaglia, KeeganWhitfield, Bethany Zapach, Anna Pearl Dia-mond, Gabe Rishell, Jon Smith, LukeSmeltzer, Deseray Fisher, Ty Clowser,Michele Baker.

Teacher: Reneé TiesiMackenna Cornelius, Alxx Cornetto,

Micayle DeHaven, Stormy Dunmire, LoganElkin, Alexis Fisher, Kari Fisher, Gauge Gess,Taylor Harper, Ted Learn, Alaina Leasure,Hunter Lydic, Chrissy Lyttle, Ian McDaniel,Cleo McMahan, Dalton Nichol, Tyler Sacco,Cherise Schultz, Hannah Short, MelanieSinan, Amelia Smeltzer, Alisa Stitt, GaretWells, Izabella White, Hunter Armstrong,Aurora Buterbaugh, Brandon Gaston, JamieHarbosky, Brad McClafferty, Anthony Toner,Garrett Weaver, Tia Cramer, Lyza Miller.

Grade 4

BEN FRANKLIN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Donna SabbiaMikail Bajwa, Chase Cunningham, Court-

ney Jo Edwards, Matt Robinson, CaitlinThomas, Maddie Muller, Jacko Kim, JacobValenti, Sequoiah Rhoades, Andre Wasem,Haleigh Zimmerman, Breanna Olechovski,Morgan Troup, Mason McCauley, Rylee

Dunmire, Logan Shupe.Teacher: Lori LaverickHammad Affan, Maura Nutter, Kyle Fato-

ra, Luke Thomas, Erica Wheeler, AngelaMonroy, Morgan Jarvie, Chase Clawson,Sarah Harper, Molly Nowell, CameronLegros, Kira Cunningham, Eddy Williams,Andy Woan, Alexa Piraino, Aiden Murdick.

Teacher: Rosemary PalyaClaire Gamble, Brandon Gunsallus, Grant

Harkleroad, Skylar Hughes, Jenny Kim,Adam Linder, Grace Margita, Joseph Mc-Cracken, Joey Plivelic, Liliana Semone,David Simmerman, Breanna Smathers,Tyler Stile, Shaelyn Waltermire, Nick Wood,Zachary McDivitt.

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Michele SisitkiHanna Alamo, Morgan Anderson,

Jonathan Annon, Quinten Borbonus, NoahBrush, Devin Burkhart, Cory Campbell,Logan Cook, Matthew Deemer, HannahHays, Kourtney Horchar, Amy Kukula, Jewe-lene Mardis, Jaye-Maurie Matthews, JosiMcConnell, Kevin McEwen, Maggi Sarver,Abigail Stone, Kameron Lockhart, CaitlynPorter.

Teacher: Scott StuchalNash Bennett, Julian Chisolm, David

McAfoos, Mattie McAfoos, Blake Tonkin,Ashlee Parks, Brandon Waltman, MadisynValuchuck, Sidney McCully, AnnastasiaShirley, Lucas Platt, Colby Staats, Adrian Sta-ples, Makayla Whitfield, Brandon Payson.

Teacher: Alissa JoyceCJ Conrad, Benjamin Detwiler, Luke Duf-

fey, Courtney Fabian, Christian Graham,Laurel Henry, Gregory Himes, Kylie Jasper,Joseph Kalp, Madison Kennedy-Citeroni, Is-abella LaMantia, Ethan Libengood, Chris-tian Moretti, Allison Oswald, ArieannaPainter, Andrew Paouncic, AJ Platt, ShannonPodolski, Abigail Rega, Jiexin Dong.

Teacher: Laurie KellyJillian Barger, Sierrah Bryant, Nicole Fink,

Summer Fritz, TJ Gilbert, Charity Halldin,Geoffrey Helm, Seth Herdman, MichaelKirsch, Joshua Koches, Xander Kopco,Geona Kuzemczak, Clarissa Luker, RickyMalarkey, Isaiah Nelson, Lexie Platt, QuinnRoth, Noah Stiffler, Kegan Stiles, SethSulkosky.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Diane BurbankSam Colgan, Logan Hoburg, Lily Krivon-

ick, Skylar Park.

DAYTON ELEMENTARYTeacher: Courtney GouldMadison Kephart, Megan Blose, Katie

Davis, Shalynn Reesman, Sierra Patterson,Alexis Jones.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Hollee JonesSomi Alanazi, Lance Albright, Abdul Alje-

hani, Amy Arotin, Brandon Boyer, Mea Cash,Katie Conrad, Hanna Drawl, Gage Hess,Mercedes Hippchen, Andrew Kimmel,Theresa Lamantia, Alissa Mason, Talia

Mastalski, Lexi Michele, Laura Simms,Raeleigh Smith, Luke Wachob, CreedWingerter.

Teacher: Barbara BellMatt Berzonsky, Madison Barker, Jasmine

Blank, Laken Bonatch, Yasmine Bonatch,Joey Budjus, Steele Cassidy, Tavan Davis, C.J.Eisenberger, Brooke Ianarelli, Becca Irwin,Billy Irwin, Sydney Jones, Maddy Kiral, Jos-alynn Mittermeier, Abby Moody, AinsleyNeiderhiser, Emerson Render, JeremyThomas, Emily Wright.

Teacher: Zachary WhitedPaige Almes, Allisyn Arotin, Aaron

Burkhart, Alley Bush, Philip Colen, VitoriaDaSilva, Jason Fleming, Kendall Jacobson,Cassie Kerstetter, Quatrina Long-Tate, Is-abelle McCabe, Mia McGee, Grant Minnick,Andrew Nelson, Angela Phillips, Alex Rosas,Matthew Rutledge, Malcolm Sadler, JosephSpohn, Patricia Szep, Hannah Zacherl.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Susan StittAlyssa Bender, Chance Busby, Meagan

Hatfield, Madison Hughes, BarbaraKlimkowski, Alex Kovalchick, Marie Marcol-ine, Ty Matos, Dylan McAnulty, AmandaMettee, Kate Metzger, Nathaniel Pebley, JuliePittman, Gunner Sharp, David Stewart,Hannah Taylor, Elijah Warren, Emma Zuzek.

Teacher: Carol TanweerKelsey Anderson, Isaac Arguetta-Valle,

Lauren Bailey, Kristin Gonzales, ChrisHoover, Josh Mbogo, Anthony Packer, TaranPrice, Skyler Renwick, Jack Welch, LauraWelch, Sydney Wells.

ELDERTON ELEMENTARYTeacher: Vickie WattersEthan Adamson, Ethan Brewer, Travis Bul-

lion, Tanner Colton, Tanner Daquilante,Ashton Febinger, Hannah Fortunato, AshleeGraham, Daniel Greenawalt, Alanna Habel,Cassady Hankinson, Alan Hill, Kylee Kunkle,Jacob Sharp, Ashten Slusar, Alexis Stenman,Lexus Stewart-Lloyd.

Teacher: Trisha DilickGarrett Bowser, Michael Bowser, Larissa

Brown, Breanna Coleman, Dustin Crane,Katelyn Crownover, Kaely Klonowski, BriceMiller, Adam Moran, Keaton Noel, LucasNorman, Carlie Palmo, Sabastain Waldor,Hannah Williams, Dalton Young.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Kristy ScherfParker ScherfTeacher: Danielle RodmanNoah RodmanTeacher: Jamie KilleenRyan KilleenTeacher: Cindy WilsonErika WilsonTeacher: Rebecca TurnerSidney Turner

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Julie DuffeeMaddy Redhead-Kriston, Erik McCunn,


Blake Tonkin, Grade 5, Blairsville Elementary

Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearContinued from Page 35



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Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearGrace Mullen, Deanne Branan, Nick Skali-can, Maddie Todd, Blake DeArmitt, JoshuaSmith, Tibet Bleakney, Zack Gallagher, Con-nor Dickert, Laurance Nakrosis, Sam Meil,Payton White, Christian Shugart, Kyra Persh-ing, Shayne Connor, John Anderson, An-drew Carr, Connor Ballas, Emma Roth,Madison Berezansky.

Teacher: Linda MedvetzZachary Somerville, Evan Ray, Griffin

Elkin, Liam McDaniel, Haley Baumer, DavidMcElravy, Rachel Okey, Donovan Robinson,Nathan Kerohensky.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Heidi HoffmanMegan Markel, Malachi Pugh, Jordan

Sloniger.

NORTHERN CAMBRIA ELEMENTARYTeacher: Sandra SerafinMadison Arotin, Bethany Barnosky, Nicole

Bearer, Brian Birchall, Paige Dumm, Saman-tha Gallo, Brennan Gobrecht, RaeleyHollingsworth, Patrick Keith, James Lalle-mand, Taylor Lecorchick, Devon Luka-Ed-miston, Mackenzie Mays, Tanner Pershing,Lucas Seymore, Cameron Stivanelli, LillyWinning, Caleb Jones.

Teacher: Michele ParonishHannah Abel, Katilyn Anderson, Isaac

Born, Alexis Christoff, Lydia Davis, CodyFerensic, Caitlin Keith, Reggie Kirsch, Kait-lyn Kudlawiec, Zachary Malicky, BreAnnaMiller, Logan Onkst, Richard Riddell, TaylorSherry, Nicholas Shovestull, Faith Stanick,Taylor Stumpf, Richie Wiewiora, DylanWoodhead.

Teacher: Richard WorkTiffany Bates, Michael Brady, Hannah

Burk, Tyler Dumm, Blake Gray, Taylor Has-sen, Nathaniel Johnston, Jaiden Kanouff,Kaitlyn Lefebure, Brant Long, Samantha Mc-Cachren, Tommy Moore, Danielle Nealen,Karly Pry, Brianna Rainey, John Saxon,Nicholas Sifford, Ben Vasil, Jamie Wolfe,

Kate Yahner.Teacher: Tracey RuddockDan Antos, Megan Bearer, Amanda Bena-

mati, Jordan Benamati, Bryce Carroll, HenryDumm, Leah Farabaugh, Skyler Fogle, ZachHerbert, Mark Marino, Madison Morgan,Joseph Nicotra, Evan Peak, Zach Rummell,Alison Sinclair, Gabrielle Stevens, ErikaWilkie, Logan Yonkoske.

PENNS MANOR ELEMENTARYTeacher: Donna DriskelMadison Bouch, Haley Brooks, Jacob

Buterbaugh, Bracken Cain, Glendora Carlos,Spencer Coy, Katelynn Cramer, LarkeynCrowe, Eric Esgro, Jarrett Gallaher, JamesLightner, Mary Ellen Lohr, Jarod Minzer,Jonathan Sensebaugh, Jessica Kough, Cas-sidhe Shetter, Pauline Spielman, JasmineTurner, Austin Yeager, Alexis Zack.

Teacher: Cynthia H. LongBrandon Baird, Braydon Boring, Morgan

Buterbaugh, Kaytlin Dixon, Madison Heck-man, Alissa Joiner, Brennan Keith, ErickKeith, Gwyn Keith, Daniel Larkin, JenniferLong, Trenton Mason, Gretchen Meagher,Joshua Misko, Cecil Pantall, Tisha Patterson,Dylan Ribbeck, Abby Tomayko, HaleighUber.

Teacher: Kimberly RheaColton Bash, Madison Britton, Isabelle

Clayton, Kyle Detwiler, Autumn Fennell,Brandon Galentine, Joshua Gibbons, AshleyKane, Hunter Kuzar, Charity McCachren,Hannah McCracken, Nathan Miller, AbbyMisko, Andrew Packer, Garrett Patterson, Sa-vanna Smith, Mathew Somogyi, BrittanyStapleton, Cory Stiffler, Jodilyn Stiles, LenaWatson, Chris Waugh.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Dian MatkoTimothy Ball, Hunter Baum, Kohl Beatty,

Breanna Behrendt, Ryan Byers, LaneChilcote, Daryl Davenport, Shayla Fishel,Meckenzi Geer, Dalton McIntyre, Angel Sol-ley, Clayton Swauger, Andrew Timko,

Chad Wray.

PURCHASE LINE SOUTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Robin LaneyKaitlyn Bartlebaugh, Dominique Camp-

bell, Abigail Ewing, Derec Falkowski, DavidFyock, Kurtis Geer, Christian Gromley,Danni Leamer, Jennifer Lomman, AbigailLong, Jaimz Myers, Morgan Overman, Drag-on Powell, Leila Powell, Marley Rearick, Sa-vannah Sandor, Quinn Scalese, Nicole Shaf-fer, Elick Webster, Kaleb Yarger.

Teacher: Krista PelesCrystal Bartlebaugh, Tanner Berringer,

Lauren Boring, James Collins, Taylin Frantz,Levi Karlinsey, Dylon King, Cecelia Kravarik,Jonathan Leasure, Jaime Long, ConnorMcCoy, Eliza Moore, Brandon Pearce, Chari-ty Pearce, Brittany Phillips, Max Ripple,Devin Smith, Ethan Webster, Roxanne Wil-son, Cameron Yoder.

RAYNE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Kevin PorterAaron Brewer, Alexis Brown, Samantha

Cronan, Emily Dailey, Makenzie Doolin,Katlynn Gromley, Levi Isenberg, HannahJames, Gabriella Jones, Lydia Lewis, ConnorMcGrady, Eric McKee, Makayla Musser,Austin Rinehart, Hannah Rising, AndrewSteele, Morgan Straw, Megan Trunzo, GageWilliams.

Teacher: Christina StoneCody Buterbaugh, Tarrina Christy, Brook-

lyn Conrad, Derek Eiselman, Michael Flem-ing, Tessa Freeman, Ian Groom, Gavin Heil-brun, Claire Henderson, Tyler Howells, AbbyJohnston, Devin Lingenfelter, Trent Mock,Emily Murphy, Annissa Orr, Morgan Pac-coni, Bobbi Pease, Grace Snyder, MackenzieWalker, Hayley Wilson.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Kristy RadoEthan Ainsworth, Chris Baker, Blaze

Bertelle, Gunner Bialo, Jack Bruce, DylanCherry, Dylan Cindric, Sierra Clawson, Riley

Edmundson, Ryan Elwood, Rosa Fricke-Roman, Jessica Izzo, Ryan McGuire, NathanMiller, Troy Montgomery, Patrick Noel,Kevin Piper, Katlyn Quade, Sierra Repine,Michael Shoup, Aurora Stover, JordynWilliams.

Teacher: Heather ReoJenna Beitel, Bryar Bieda, Kenneth Biem,

Bethany Buchinsky, Garrett Carr, ThomasCass, Robert Clark, Raven Clawson-Mar-shall, Makenzie Deditch, Destiny DeMase,Dylan Downey, Kayla Fox, Joe Grguric, MattGrimplin, Mersadiez MacDonald, BrianMcGuire, Matt Razpotnik, Marcus Schoener,Allison Shondelmyer, Levi Stutzman,Stephanie Thomas, Megan Treece.

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Stacey MarquezBenjamin Van Wieren, Kaiya Parks, Marah

Simpson, Madison Kodman, Noah Clark,Annabelle Patterson, Emily Findley, Kathari-na Lippert, Madison Albright.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Shannon Race/Melissa Ryan Maggie Arone, Alexi Belice, Ian Bertuzzi,

Anthony Bevevino, Saige Bowditch, HannaDiSalvatore, Ryan Dixson, Owen Dougherty,Jenny Kim, Anthony Larch, Jenna Mon-teleone, Conner Montgomery, Ella Spadafo-ra, Kaitlyn Stossel, Persephone Wensel, Tay-lor Piper.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Ashleigh HenningMaLeah Adamson, Amanda Beatty, Vinnie

Fry, Matt Himes, Tyler Lightcap, Kyle Miller,Brendan Mondi, Jared Mumau, KatePoproch, Haley Rankin, Elizabeth Vaglia,Seth White, Sierra Wilson.

Teacher: Lee HudzickiJacob Adamson, Edwin Anderson, Destiny

Buterbaugh, Emma Cannillo, Jackie Fetsko,Maleigha Gardner, Anna Goldstrohm, BryceGoss, Wilson Hertzler, Jordan Leasure,




Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearTaylor Lingenfelter, Brandon Lucik, ShyraLute, Lizzy Matts, Holly Orr, Zakk Painter,Derek Pearce, Derek Pennington, CandaceRainey, Ethan Stewart, Megan Uptegraph,Hunter Waltermire, Jessica Weaver, Sam Pe-terson.

Teacher: Deb MalickyAriah Alabran, Corey Blystone, Curtis De-

Haven, Dalton Elkin, Jade Fulmer, MacKen-zie Gapshes, Ryan Gemmell, Aaron Kellar,Sydney Kimmel, Charles Learn, BriannaLockhart, Rylie Schoch, Shylynn Smicklo,Kevin Uptegraph, Frank Pennington.

Grade 5

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Jane FoustLillian Boone, Jordan Borbonus, Julia Bra-

ham, Nicole Bush, Michelene Callahan,Austin Clawson, Shane Czerniec, Rena En-terline, Ian Ferguson, Blake Furman, KylieGlance, Branden Gourley, Noel Halldin,Joshua Haynes, Olivia Jones, Brianna Kam-merdiener, Dakota Koches, Damion Krouse,Ray Lawson, Jonathan Lindstrom, Abby Mc-Callen, Mariah Olechovski, Jesse Sawyer,Austin Seigh, Charlie Small, Tamera Spran-kle, Matthew Tran, Isaiah Clevenger.

Teacher: Diane AntonacciOrahnde Askew, William Boehm, Dante

Bongianino, Justin Buterbaugh, GraceCanty, Jesse Chovanec, Alyssa Constantino,Marty Foreman, Tim Gaffey, Austin Gaston,Nick Hrebik, Jacob Lawson, MackenzieLockhart, Sarah Maryai, Jordann Noel, Na-talie Pavlik, Brandon Pease, Brandon Rebo,Drew Rowland, Tim Schroth, Abbi Stipcak,Makayla Thomas, Mary Tran, Matthew Yan-its, Faith Yanoff.

Teacher: Eileen PhelanShawn Carnahan, Carrick Cavender, Haley

Dick, Grant Distefano, Mason Emanuel,Sean Gilligan, Adria Graff, Sophia Herdman,Cassidy Houser, Matthew Jackson, BrianKnupp, Jacob Kunkle, Olivia Long, CatherineMartin, Kyle McConnell, Spencer McKee,Tyler Moran, Kendra Olenchick, AndrewPerfetti, Travis Platt, Mary Posgay, JosephRay, Dakota Sunday, Hannah Whitfield.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Diane BurbankBrett Abrams, Luca Covato, Scott McCoy,

Austin Meckley.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Patrick McKeeMadison Zometsky, Kyle Wunz, Joe Wilson,

Billy Trent, Destaney Taylor, SamanthaSnedden, Sydney Shearer, Taylor Sebring,Keegan Schuller, Michelle Raymond, KatePeles, Shane Moran, Tim Medvedev, ThomasLindsay, Mia Lenzi, Clark Josephson, Bron-son Hermanson, Shaniah Harris, KristenForrester, Amanda Elias, Isaac Decker, WillBritsky, Shreya Bharadwaj, Morgan Bernard,Tyler Bartlebaugh.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Grace BennettBen Bianco, Allison Brocious, Brandon

Brocious, Jessica Cash, Tiffany Green, SarahGunter, Alex Guth-Borowski, Jason Long,Dakota Patterson, Kailynne Pebley, AidanQuarles, Tim Sexton, Ian Strittmatter, MattTaylor, Seth Villemain, Kelsey Wagner, MarkWagner, Amaya Warren, Joey Yankuskie.

Teacher: Brad TroutJeremy Adamson, Ann Beatty, Lauren

Boda, Edward Chandler, Austin Cochran,Dodge Cramer, Alex Donahue, McKaylaDonofrio, Ryan Fultz, Magdalen Glinsky,Hunter Hite, Alex Long, ChristopherMcMillen, Mckenzie Misleany, Isaiah Mor-row, Alexander Ray, Braedon Sheesley, Re-becca Shellenbarger, Rachele Smith, KaiSouthard, Michelle Steetle, Jennifer Zheng.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Melissa McCrackenEden McCracken, Michael McCracken.Teacher: Jennifer ShoenfeltAlayna ShoenfeltTeacher: Denise BotsfordAbe BotsfordTeacher: Rochelle KingBrielle KingTeacher: Janet ShillingJon Shilling

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Chris KochmanCarson Schloder, Gabrielle Barlak, Joshua

Timko, Isaac Miller, Nick Schmidt, ShawnTrausi, Jasmine States, Emily Fatula, HollyGeorge, Kimber Randolph, Samantha Fair-man, Ryan Popovich, Laken Hill, StephenPlowcha, Dominick Edwards, Isaac Cle-venger, Jason Monko, Matthew Smith, ErikIsenberg, Alyssa Geroux, Michael Ginter,Jordan Hullenbaugh.

Teacher: Sherry DellapostaSarah Bard, Timmy Blair, Noah Blatt,

Gavin Cloud, Sam Cunkelman, Mike Daw-son, Haley Dies, Jenna Henry, Devin Hilts,Garrison Kanouff, Gunther Kishlock, JoshLongwell, Dylan McQuiston, Matt Miles,Alexis Newhouse, Emma Nippes, AustinPerry, Richard Peterson, Kaylie Semsick,John Shaw, Eric Shirley, Shelby Ursiak, EmilyWorcester, Scott Yackuboskey.

Teacher: Carol MlakarGabrielle Leysock, Holly Zack, Zachary

Buyer, Kai Hrabovsky, Jason Pittman, CoreyCavalier, Mya Zemlock, Emily Schmidt,Brooke Miller, Jonah Coy, Zachery Hilliard,Ryan Orsargos, Addison Goldberg, DylanColeman, Kaylee Turner, Abbey Ginter,Ethan Woods, Savannah Young, Logan Hill,Zachary Vought, Jesse Lee, Drew Hurd,Brandon Darr.

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARYTeacher: Justin BrodeTariq Alaeddin, Stephanie Anderson, Jen-

nifer Brice, Tea Colgan, Kyle Dickert, Bran-don Dunseath, Richard Fanella, Ella Fergu-son, Noah Finegan, Cheyenne Fink, KevinFroggatt, Noah Gibson, Lauren Hartnett,Anthony Lubold, Garrett Millen, LoganMiltz, Brant Newman, Saturnynia Ooten, Al-lison Ream, Carter Whiffen.

Teacher: Katie Bungo

Lauren Bertig, Jillian Black, MadeleinCamp, Matthew Conjelko, Alexander De-twiler, Faith English, Hannah Fondren,Giaco Gentile, Emily Harris, JacksonHeasley, Billianna Kovacs, Devin Miller,Robert Moore, Maeve Morris, Ariel Munoz,Fiona Murphy, Alyssa Pierce, Robert Road-armel, Katlyn Romanie, Parker Ruddock,Jordan Smith.

PENNS MANOR ELEMENTARYTeacher: Beth PalillaCatherine Fackler, Lauren Domino, Kateri

Johnston, Katie Johnston, Jeremy Hill,Rachel Spielman, Taylor Rhine, MaddieWeaver, Mackenzie Stanick, ChristopherNewlin, Kate Polenik, Kiara Renninger,Adam Dumm, Lucas Cessna, Zac Horwat,Ben Weaver, Zach Johnston, Hunter Cessna,Brody Jackson, Izzy Berkavich, Cassie Keith,Yanessa Shabbick.

Teacher: Jean BenceJade Abrams, Ian Ailes, Danielle Brown,

Zack Busovicki, Brandon Detwiler, KennyDumm, Haley Dunmire, Tanner Elliott,Caylee Eshelman, Savannah Gibbons, Ash-lynn McCullough, Luke Midock, Chris Mon-tague, Wyatt Patterson, Sarah Ritchie, JoAnna Sprankle, Abby Stewart, Addy Valenti,Crystal Willis, Rebecca Yeckley, Cody Lawer.

Teachers: Marty Condino, Holly BenavidezAlex Neese, Alexis Mihoerick, Ethan Fred-

erick, Alecza Remaley, Sue Patterson, Karis-sa Hill, Zachary Lawer, Tayla Fair, SamanthaForeman, Tyler Tinsman, Madison Coy,Gabriel Zack, Eric Pontani, David Bailey, JimSt. Clair, Erica Kendra, Tyler Helman, ColtDavis, Austin Shirley, Sarah Russell, AustinGallaher, Connor McClain.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Tiffany MiloserLeetan Blough, Aubrey Bloxdorf, Zach

Book, Alex Bouch, Kari Bouch, LareinaBouch, Logan Chilcote, Josie Fleming, Jack-son Grad, Tiffany Holes, Isaac Hughes, Brit-tany Keith, Lucinda Lee, Gabriele Mussel-man, Lizzy Parkhurst, Erica Patton, AmberPearce, Devin Pearce, Nick Ream, KaitlynSheldon, Justin Wetzel, Shawnee Yarnall.

RAYNE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Leslie MeyerMatthew Badzik, Brady Brewer, Garret

Coffman, Tianna France, Emily Henry,Dylan Johnston, Nicole Kessler, Aaron LeVi-er-Gray, McKenzie Lucas, Taylor McCunn,Ethan Murphy, Brandon Orr, Devin Powell,Dayanna Sharp, Leah Strong, Megan Wan-nett, Dakota Wise.

Teacher: Megan BushLeslie Blystone, Isabella Bosar, Johan Con-

ner, Garrick Davies, Sydney Edwards, CarleyFedder, Steven Frye, Matt Gaston, TylerGelles, Gavin Gibbons, Matthew Girolami,Madison Hubbert, Ben Johns, Jessica Kostel-la, Paul McClure, Taylor Mock, Will Mont-gomery, Alexis Neese, Samantha Schurr,Zachary Sharrah, Jenna Strittmatter.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: David Gerstel

Hannah King, Tiler Hopkins, NicoleStuller, Nathen Moran, Morgan Anderson,Annaleigh Cindric, Rachel Brown, MercedesStuder, Shane Dunbar, Kyle Gyenes, KaylaMcNellie, Jacob McManis, Trent Perfetta,Arthur Clark, Lea Harley, Tony Alek Barone,Kaylie Bender, Meghan Clawson.

Teacher: Molly CarrGarrick Shellhammer, Destiny Meyers,

Ben Hodil, Steve Heckman, Tristen Zimmer-man, Holly Long, Susan Feiling, SpencerNicewonger, Lexi Humphrey, Lizzie Zapach,Zachary Moon, Maddie Carr, Isabel Satler,Turner Cunningham, Kelsie Bender, JakeRoman, Mariah Simpson, Taylor Bendis,Sam Brink.

SHANNOCK VALLEY ELEMENTARYTeacher: Michelle DiMaioJoey Harkleroad, Olivia Fusaro, Rena

Hawkins, Karen McCausland, Nicholas Hill,Nathan Fulton, Kara Fisher, Devin Hartman,Kassidi Good, Sarah Anderson, DustenCrossman, Kassidy Weimer, Nicole Rebosky,Tylor Wilson, Brandon Morse, Brianna Top-ick, Noah Harkleroad, Hunter Pegg, Chan-dler Blose, Stephen Vanhorn, Alexis Shaffer,Michael Wofford.

Teacher: Mrs. StefancikDaniel Barker, Elizabeth Boyer, Kurtis

Boyer, Evan Cessna, Shelby Clowser, AdamDennison, Spenser Franklin, MikaylaGoepfert, Hannah Kovach, Julian Lentz, Kar-ley Milito, Katrina O’Neill, Sara Peters,Cheyenne Powell, Adam Prugh, Colt Snyder,Derrik Wesner, Brianna Young, Anthony Zak.

Teacher: Belinda RosencranceTrisha Blystone, Abby Bowser, Anthony

Boyles, Grant Brison, Cassandra Cogley,Doug Cornman, William Fetchko, KaitlynFreedline-Blusk, Morgan Grates, ThomasGulish, Summer Hawkins, StephaneyHutchinson, Annie Linko, Colton Lux, BryceMcClafferty, Erica Sickel, Sam Skamai,Dakota Smith, Cody Swartz, Mariah Wilson,Katelynn Wright.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Denise SwopeMadison Cattau, Edy Clark, Lauren Kreco-

ta, Abby Novak, Olivia Shenkle, Clara Sher-wood, Mohamad Sissoko, Mia-AnnSpadafora, Emma Stossel, Joy Swasy, SalTate, Jacob Botteicher.

W.A. McCREERY Teacher: Susan DottsCharlie Beatty, Zack Betts, Logan Crooks,

Steven Golec, Travis Granat, Mark Hart, KyleHill, Kaitlynn Kirkland, Aaron Kriley, GavinMcClellan, Laci McClure, Tanner Morrison,Joshua Mouser, Maleah Orr, Alesia Quaglia-to, Makaela Rising, Tiffany Sirochman,Teddy Speeney, Mike Turner, Madison Vin-cent, Logan Wells.

Teacher: Max FalisecMichael Blystone, Sebashtian Brown, Josh

Caylor, Evan Dalessio, Kris Fairman, Bran-don Ferringer, Carmen Gett, Danielle Hayes,Desirae Henry, Jane Herring, Laurel Huey,Kevin Kriley, Troy Lewis, Alicia Mimis,




Joe Wilson, Grade 5, East Pike Elementary

Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearDakota Moore, Brandon O’Hara, Rex Olp,Tristan Pfeiffer, Emily Reed, Alicia Ruddock,Robbie Spencer, Mariah Syktich, Luke Wray,Eric Custer.

Teacher: Christine McGeeTrinity Ashbaugh, Nathan Boomhower,

Jared Burkhardt, Tyler Cover, Dylan Da-lessio, Andrew Dugas, Elizabeth Elkin, Cort-ney Ferringer, Katelyn Geesey, Cody Gmys,Dylan Goss, Josalynn Heckman, DakotaHozak, Jason McCausland, John Nichols,Paige Repine, Emily Risinger, Carlos Santia-go, Logan Short, Taylor Speeney, NatalyaWalker, Devon Wood, Colby Toner.

Grade 5-6

SEEDS OF FAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMYTeacher: Sandra L. McCrackenElizabeth Buchanan, Jacob Clark, Morgan

Marquez, James Williams, Aaron McMunn,Paige Smith, Arie Van Wieren, Sierra Nehrig,Taylor McDowell, Kimber Randolph.

Grade 6

BLAIRSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOLTeacher: Stacy FaulkKayla Bertolino, Kaige Calabrese, Stephen

Campbell, Ashley Carlyn, Sarah Carrozza,Jonathan Clayton, Christopher Clevenger,Mitchell Emanuel, Joseph Faulk, JohnFetchko, Dakota Gourley, Paul Hankinson,Trevor Horner, Hailey Malarkey, Emily Os-wald, Laken Platt, Ashlyn Sabella, ChazSleasman, Aurora Swanson, MadisonWehrer, Colin Weinell, Alex Baker, JamesBarnhart, Robert S. Bell Jr., Tyler Cowan,Casey Doyle, Brianna Fulmer, MadisynGalasso, Jacob Hankinson, Kasandra Harris,Zachary Hartmann, Michaela Hays, KylieHitchman, Madison Jones, CameronKuzemczak, Brianna McCully, Dylan McK-endrick, Gerald Resides, Jerrik Rydbom, ColtShannon, Ryan Shirley, Haylee Stiffler, An-drew Stipcak, Mitchell Tonkin, Paige Walker,Tessa Bagwell, Madison Brightbill, BrookeCassidy, Cameron Doak, Zechariah

Faulkner, Kullen Gardner, Rachel Haynes,Nicole Himes, Alexis Kovalcik, Carlee Leary,Travis Lenhardt, Abby Lewis, Dean Mancini,Shayla Mitchell, Skyler Mocek, GerardMoore, Nathaniel Seitz, Richard Shirley, An-thony Smyth, Alex Stiles, Olivia Wilson.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Diane BurbankJack Marshall, Kayla Chambers.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARYTeacher: Mark MorrowKaan Akbay, Matt Berezansky, Keara Cash,

Morgan Doolin, Allen Dow, Bryanna Herter,Taylor Hudzicki, Haley Hunter, SheonKadish, Alania Kiral, Makayla Livingston,Lauren Makara, Beth McGinnis, MufaroShumba, Carrie Smith, Melanie Zolocsik.

Teacher: Jim GeidelJ.R. Sparks, Logan Stear, Nicole Simms,

Brandon Shaw, Tommy Budash, ElijahZacherl, Danny Bellizzi, Rose Mazey, Chris-tine Evans, Benji Walters, Sean Bray, HannahColen, Yasmin Ahi, Eric Bray.

Teacher: Jenna BleggiCharlie Bennett, April Blair, Kayla Bosley,

Leon Cooksey, Hannah Davis, NathanDoyle, Jade Fleming, Nicole Ianarelli, DylanKane, Quinn Smith.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Susan KovalcikGrant Sharp, Ethan Boyer, Savanna

McMillen, Abby Stuck, Devin Repine, PatrickO’Neal, Chad Truman, Nathan Aiello, JustinKardell, Tyler Mulac, Jamal Kimani, JuliaCornell, Logan Bacha, Victoria Mbogo, AmyWallace, Austin Firestone, Rachael Myers,Alex Fefolt, Megan Pesci.

Teacher: Linda LansberryRyan Hoff, Leah Pidgeon, Alexis Leone,

Jason Ricupero, Ian Lemmon, Jacob Ko-valchick, Aaron Kingan, Nathan Sandalfini,Maria Kokolis, Derek Buterbaugh, RhiaPrice, Davis Yantity, Erin Fanning, JimmyTomko, Dylan Wells, Robert Kang.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Melissa McCrackenHannah McCrackenTeacher: Janet McCoyAidan McCoyTeacher: Allison MillerMadeline MillerTeacher: Rebecca TurnerHannah TurnerTeacher: Cindy WilsonMatthew Wilson

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARYTeacher: Cheryl TurkMatthew Alexander, Joshua Boyle, Tayler

Briscoe, Quentin Davis, Courtney De-yarmin, Nathan Faris, Nicholas George, Abi-gail Hagens, Dakota Hippchen, HollyKishlock, Joseph Lehman, Alexis Leysock,Aubree Newhouse, Nicole Patterson, MeganRatay, Noah Reinard, Destiny Sprague, Ash-ley Thomas, Taya Yanoschick, JeffersonYoung.

Teacher: Ruth YatzkanicAbigail Blair, Lindsay Deyarmin, Meghan

Dressler, Michael Dudash, Dakota Duncan,Ashly Fancella, Karleigh Funk, Issac Griffen,Cody Harvey, Lynne Jaworski, Jeremy McK-endrick, Austin Mimis, Morgan Nagle, AnnaOverman, Damien Painter, Taylor Palmer,Bayly Shannon, Samantha Silvis, KerrstinTroup, Jessica Veshinfsky, Allison Walker,Matthew Warr.

Teacher: Suzanne MateerAlexis Alexander, Mikayla Beere, Jonah

Bence, Laken Berezansky, Abigail Boyle,Morgan Buggey, Montao Coleman, Julia Dix-son, Caleb Freed, Rose Gratosky, Alex Harp-er, Angel Henderson, Donald Jones, GabrielManzanilla, Mandy McElheny, Ronald McK-endrick, Laura McNutt, Kristen Peace,Gabrielle Schrack, Alyssa Smyers, Carl Terra-nova, Abby Yancy.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Heidi HoffmanColten Peachey, Stacee Spicher.

PENNS MANOR ELEMENTARYTeacher: Joyce FettermanJohn Domino, Bryce Carrick, Skyler Alte-

mus, Alaina Peterman, Danny Myers,William Oswalt, Regan Grove, ElizabethKeith, Hannah Paulina, AnnjanetteCochran, Mark Sturgeon, Matt Kuzemchak,Sammantha Kane, Cheyenne Hilty, GraceTomayko, Megan Elgin, Chloe Wilson,Clarence Johnson, Garrett Crowe, GeorgeBrown, Katie Allison, Brandin Robinson.

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARYTeacher: Candace SmithBrenden Anderson, Rachel Barnett, Libby

Bernd, Douglas Bouch, Matthew Daven-port, Kaitlin Dempsey, Ryan Dickey, BrianDixon, Austin Dubois, Conner Edwards,Kayla Esposti, Shyann Fishel, Tiffney Geer,Allen Harvath, Jeannise Hauck, Tyler Kauff-man, Kendra McCracken, Mandie McIntyre,Jared Shultz, Caitlyn Smith, Caleb Smith,Morgan Smith, Selena Sturgeon.

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARYTeacher: Doug TitmusCheyenne Anderson, Jordan Booth,

Robert Buskey, Chris Detwiler, Derek Feil-ing, Kayla Gibbons, Andrew Golik, KwanitaHill, Kayla Jorgenson, Tyler Kelley, Kyle Man-ners, Laura McGinnis, Courtney Porter,Cody Reesman, Seth Roman, Jennifer Ross,Skylar Sphon, Autumn Vincent, AlexWilliams.

Teacher: Tim FrasseneiSara Anderson, DeAnna Brady, Caylin

Carr, Gina Clawson, Derek Elwood, RyanFennell, Jesse Fried, Carly Hall, MichaelLong, Adare Medoro, Tyler Nuttall, NickPorter, Bradley Shaffer, Daniel Shirley, AprilSmerkar, Justin Street, Eric Wensel.

Teacher: Heather BoleDominic Beitel, Brooke Buchinsky,

Mitchell Carr, Nick Emanuel, Connor Good-win, Samuel Hefferin, Spencer Jeffers,Jonathan Keltz, Sarah King, Anthony



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NIE contest winners for the best photosBEST NEWS PHOTOS

NICHOLASDiGIORGIO

Indiana AreaSenior High Grade 10

1st

CAITLYNPALMER

Indiana AreaSenior HighGrade 11

2nd

MANDY GALLOIndiana AreaSenior HighGrade 12

3rd


Richard Fanella, Grade 5, Horace Mann Elementary

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NIE contest winners for the best photosBEST FEATURE PHOTOS

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NIE contest winners for the best photosBEST FEATURE PHOTOS

KRISTEN PISARCIK


2nd

MEGAN PARKER


3rd

BEST SPORTS PHOTOS

MAGGIE CARTY


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Caleb Smith, Grade 6, Purchase Line North Elementary

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3rd

BEST SPORTS PHOTOS

There are times in our lives when we meetsomeone or read about someone who isspecial or has done something that setsthem apart from other people we know.

What this person has done to impress usmight be exceptional or maybe they just livetheir ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.

Third-grade students were asked to write aletter to a person they admire greatly and ex-plain what makes them admire that personso much.

FIRST PLACEHOME SCHOOL

(Kim Hartle)FAITH HARTLE

Dear Mr. Martin Luther King,I hope you accept my

gratitude for helpingAfrican-Americans havefreedom in America.

I have seen video of youon a website. I have heardpart of your famous speechand I thank you for whatyou did.

I wanted to tell you that Iadmire you because youstood up for what you be-lieved in and you even gotput in jail for it.

If you didn’t, some of my friends wouldstill be treated wrong.

Your Friend, Faith Hartle

SECOND PLACE HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARY

(David King)JADEN BLATT

Dear Mom,I love you with all my

heart, even when you’veyelled at me after I’ve donesomething bad. I love youfor you, but many of thethings you do make melove you even more. Likewhen we bought a dog.And, you took us to CedarPoint, the best amusementpark in the world. Youmean so much to me I can’teven explain how much Ilove you. You’re the nicest parent in theworld. You and Dad take really good care ofme. You guys don’t spoil me, you just giveme the stuff I need to be happy in life, like anice bed, some stuffed animals, clothes andfood.

We have a nice house to live in and … thebest “mother, daughter love.”

Jaden Blatt

THIRD PLACE BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARY

(Janet Lukacs)ETHAN BOONE

Dear Soldiers,I am glad you are fighting for our country

and you are being brave. If you write back,please give me your autograph.

I will be glad if I can meetyou in person.

Can you give me a pictureof yourself and send it tome? That will be great. I amglad you saved people fromdanger and are sacrificingfor everyone in the UnitedStates of America.

You fight through snow,rain and the burning hotsun. You mean everythingto me and the red, whiteand blue.

Thank you for all you have done for us.When you hold up the flag, I will think ofyou.

Ethan Boone

HONORABLE MENTIONS EISENHOWER ELEMENTARY

(Ed Kocinski)INDIA KRUG

Dear Ceci,I think you’re the coolest! You’re the one I

admire when it comes to bravery, reliability,keeping secrets and much more. For in-stance, you keep the secrets I tell you. WhenI tell you an embarrassing secret, you don’tlaugh.

You are very kindhearted when you don’tlaugh at my secrets. I am able to trust youwith anything. You also never give up. If youwant to achieve something you won’t stopuntil you have achieved it. I like the way youlive your life in a daring way, like when wewent to the creek by your house and youstood on the rocks and went down the slope!You are also very reliable.

When I need someone to talk to, you arealways there. Also, when you play a gameyou don’t cheat. You always have a positiveattitude when we play games, even if youdon’t win.

You’re the awesomest friend ever!Yours truly,India K.

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARY(Janet Lukacs)

TAYLOR YANTIS Dear Dad,I admire you because you were in the USA

Army and saved people. When you got homefor my first birthday, I was so proud. I lovewhen you tell me about your times in theArmy. I was so proud when you came homeand that you didn’t get hurt. I was so happywhen you came home from New York be-cause you were there for all of my lifethrough thick and thin. I love you and thankyou.

Taylor Y.(Mary Hileman)

PAIGHTON PIERCEDear Firemen,I admire what you do to help people in

danger. You are brave and strong. You trywhat you can to help people in a fire. I thinkyou are the best. You have a lot of courage inyour heart.

Love, Paighton Pierce

McCREERY(Kimberly Todd/Ed McCunn)

TY CLOWSERDear God,I admire you most in the world because

you blessed me with a good mom and dad.The next reason I admire you is because yougave me a good life. The third reason I ad-mire you is because you made me. As youcan see, I admire you the most in the world.

Love, Ty

BLAIRSVILLE ELEMENTARY(Janet Lukacs)

KAYLA GRACE MORANDear Soldiers,Thank you for protecting us and fighting

for our country for freedom. You guys arebrave, smart and lovable. You guys are thebest thing we all can ever have. I want to bejust like you guys when I grow up. I wish Icould see you guys fight and protect one an-other. I can’t wait to grow up to be like you.You guys can teach me everything and I can’twait to meet you guys. When that flag goesup we know you guys never gave up andwon the war. I’m sorry for the people thatdied but I know you guys tried your best.Thank you.

Kayla Grace Moran(Hope Staats)

ASHTON STILESDear Katlynn,I look up to you because you taught me

how to be a goalie. You are one of my bestfriends. You are always there for me in agame. When we lose you say it’s not my fault.You always tell me how to watch the puck,not the player. I save more goals now.

Thank you, Katlynn.Ashton Stiles

BROOKE SLEASMANDear Mom and Dad,Thank you for supporting me and helping

me with everything. I love how you are therefor our family and caring. You always fixthings that are wrong in the family. I lovehow you help me with things I don’t knowyet. I love how you try to help me! I like whatyou give me. I love your cooking too! I lovehow you guys smile at me!

Your only daughter.Brooke Sleasman

(Mary Hileman)MORGAN PATTERSON

Dear Daddy,I admire your job for pouring pavement

on the road for us to drive on.I admire what you have to do in the snow

while we are playing in the trailer with eachother.

I admire you when you make spaghettiand ketchup mixed together. It tastes deli-cious and it tastes sweet.

Love, Morgan PattersonCAITLIN WALBECK

Dear Aunt Donna, I admire your work at the hospital. You

meet new sick people.You also get to look at people’s bones and

tell them their problems. You are a goodnurse.

Love, Caitlin Walbeck(Susan Dunlap)SIERRA ZEDICK

Dear great-grandmother,I admire you in many, many ways. The first

way I admire you is you cook for the wholefamily every holiday and you don’t mind.The second reason I admire you is becauseyou took care of your sister for 63 years andyou didn’t mind. The third reason I admireyou is you used to cut the grass and you en-joyed it. The fourth reason I admire you isbecause you don’t feel good and you alwayshave a nice attitude. The best reason I ad-mire you is you love seeing all of your grand-kids.

BETH SCHROTHDear Taylor Swift,There are many reasons why I admire you.

First, you can be up on stage and sing. Sec-ond, you have a great voice! Third, you singcountry music and I love country music. It’sawesome.

From you No. 1 fan!

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMY(Mary Vick Boole)

AMBER MADERERDear Mom,Thank you for helping me when I am sick.

Thanks for putting my clothes away. Thankyou for helping me to make crafts. Thanksfor putting on my scarf, hat and snowpants.Thanks for holding the sled so I can go on.You are a huge help.

SHANE MECKLEYDear Dad,I’m thankful that you helped me when I

was sick. I’m thankful for helping me to un-derstand what I didn’t understand and youtaught me about God. I’m also thankful thatyou love me and I’m thankful for all youhave done for me.

EAST PIKE ELEMENTARY(Natalie McKee)

ZEPHANIAH COOKSEYDear Kobe Bryant,I admire you because you are a great play-

er and you and your team won many cham-pionships. I like your commercials and Ihave two of your jerseys. You made me a bet-ter basketball player by watching you on TV.Now I can shoot three pointers and twopointers.

Love sincerely, your friend ZeffyABBY WALKER

Dear Julie Andrews,I am writing this letter to tell you I admire

you. I absolutely LOVE the movie “TheSound of Music”! You are such a good singerand actress. I love all of your songs! My balletsong is a medley from one of your movies —“Mary Poppins”! That is why I admire you !

Sincerely, Abby(Heidi Higbee)

LUKE BOULARDDear Mom,I admire you because you take care of me.


‘To The Person I most admire’

FAITH HARTLE

JADEN BLATT

ETHAN BOONE



Jenna Beitel, Grade 4, Saltsburg Elementary Alexis Kovolcik, Grade 6,Blairsville Middle

Claire Henderson, Grade 4, Rayne Elementary

Alex Williams, Grade 6, Saltsburg Elementary


Sal Tate, Grade 5, St. Bernard Elementary

Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearLassick, Summer Marana, David Murphy,Abrielle Okopal, Nathaniel Raypush, AlexisShearer, Liam Sirnic, Cassidy Spade, CaitlynWeimer.

SHANNOCK VALLEY ELEMENTARYTeacher: Christina Lasslo/Dennis Kirk-

patrickBrandon Brocious, Cody Kishel, Rory

Farester-Hohl, Alexis McIlwain, MelodyTrudgen, Nathan Skursky, Coby Daymut,Johnathan Patcyk, David Hartzell, JustinBice, Dennis Peters, Walker Fletcher,Christopher Hawkins, Marc Brandon, Han-nah Doyle, Jesse Stroupe, Rebecca Fry, NoahGearhart, Xavier Julius, Charles Skamai,Chance Cobbett, Austin Harris, KierstynReesman, Spenser Short, DominickHawkins, Bret Lundgren, Chelsea Kilgore,Abigail Bradeis, Kaylee Shemenski, SabrinaBrown, Shannon Hawkins, Austin Mills, Jor-dan Stancombe, Jadon Carlson, Chloe John-son, Haley Didiano, Taylor Samosky, TwilaWaugaman, Rachel Johnson, Mariah Webb,Kaitlyn McIlwain, Damon Prugh, ShawnPiper, Samantha Taylor, Logan Wadding,Michael Spera, Cody Rhine, Marty Norris,Rachael Prugh, Johnny Cousins, Emma Sab-ula, Cassandra Wolfe, Amiranda Adams,Austin Crytzer, Hannah Walleck, Kaitlin Mc-Causland.

ST. BERNARD SCHOOLTeacher: Tracy Dixson

Tatiana McAnulty, Grace Zimmerman,Willow Lydick, Annie Tortorella, Jake Lee,Bobby Kanick, Seth Gardner, Nick Edwards,Jordan Grata, Drew Hastings, Emily Pineda.

UNITED ELEMENTARYTeacher: Chris MatavaAshley Aloi, Rachel Schwartz, Lorynn

Stiles, Raven Bearer, Lexus McCarthy,Nathan Smith, Nikki Varner, Michael Gor-man, Stephen Lowther, Kassidy Brosch,Tyler Kurdziel, Nicholas Beiter, Joseph Mon-tanti, Ashley Zarnesky, Brittney Edgar, EmilyShomo, Michelle Bloom, Allison Hoover,Tessa Fry, Leslie Faidley, Sam Hall, Anna-marie Karcher, Troy Mack, Jordan Penrose,Melody Semetkoskey, Emily Kemler, CodyBowman, Nathan Nibert, Julia Stewart, JohnSilvis, Nathan Brown, Taylor Painter, AlexisBetts, Jaelynn Deyarmin, Gary Felosky III,Matt Stephens, Hailey Nixon, CheyanneWidmar, Hunter Shetler, Austyn Becker, Sky-lar Bennett, Devin Mack, Madeline Stinson,Jenna Barbus, R. Franklin Plowman, CullenCameron, Hailee Miles, Dean Harkins,Justin Burkley, Eden Lydick, Emily Jones,Julia Smyers, Logan Neuner, Derek Fether,Cole Fry, Kody Kopka, Logan McIntire,Dessie Kernan, Jared Turner, Michael Norris,Brian Barbus, Casey Uadiski, Jacob Turgeon,Rick Turley, Taylor Deitman, Gavin Strong,Dakota Houston, Brenden Lawton, MadisonTaylor, Dom Lamb, Katie Long, GavinBischof, Laidyn Ingalls, Austin Vogel, JesseBeacker, Kyler Baird, David Brothers, Mor-

gan Mack, Brandy Ryan, Emily Boring, Tay-lor Duplin, Brian Stuzman, Hope Hixson,Allie Ringler, Courtney Stiles, Amber Felton,Abigail Green, Ben Peters, Brantson Ludwig,Kaitlyn Jarvis, Rebekah Snyder, Zoey Everett,Logan Brett, Johanna Knapic, Lila Young,Christian Matava, Tessa Nelen, Bailie Brack-en, Ethan Klauss, Jessica Kahl.

Grade 7 to 12INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOL

Teacher: Amy KunselmanJulianna Nevsetta, Jason Sloniger, Nicole

Wallace, Nathaniel Churchill, Kyle Markel,Dakota Peachey, Justin Spicher, ToddYarnell, Garrett Richardson, Derek Wallace,Alicia Zack, Ryan Markel, Tamara Yarnell.

Grade 7

BLAIRSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOLTeacher: Stacy FaulkCaitlyn Ahlborn, Brendan Chesebrough,

Tiffany Davis, Kaylee Fong, Maxwell Hrebik,Corey Liscsak, Brandon Luker, Sarah Mc-Connell, Allyson Smathers, Sandra Aimino,McKenzie Boord, Jordyn Henigin, JordanHoover, Elizabeth Howard, Ayrton LaMan-tia, James Mastran, Hannah Snyder, TiaraSuggs, Ariana Taylor, Kimberly Aukerman,Amber Chew, Layton Downs, CaitlynneEverett, Amber Luckik, Kandice Palmer,Jazmin Shields, Emily Small, Lauren Baker.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol Hayes

Daniel Aikins, Rachel Covato, Joel Knupp,Johnathan Maderer, Caleb Martin, IsaiahSharp.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: Kristy ScherfHunter ScherfTeacher: Rebecca TurnerBenjamin Turner

INDIANA AREA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Robyn Bailey-OrchardJennifer Ham, Rachel Park, Maya Southard

UNITED HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: John DunnMegan Gehosky, Britton Bracken, Lexy

Huey, Kolt Jarvis, Rosie Mack, Shane Marsh,Everett Powell, Josh Roof, Kolt Jarvis, MeganGehosky, Britton Bracken, Josh Roof, RosieMack, Shane Marsh, Lexy Huey, EverettPowell.

Grade 8

BLAIRSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOLTeacher: W. Frederick PoppRebecca Bell, Sarah Beskid-Perez, Trista

Campbell, Kia Clayton, Brandon Cunkel-man, Andrew Doak, Connor Enterline,Colton Ferguson, Katie Gibson, KristenGlance, Dani Hibbs, Julia Holby, AmandaKauffman, Haylee Jones, Chelsey Koren,Matthew Lambert, Cameron Livingston,




Rory Farester, Grade 6, Shannock Valley Elementary

Charlie Small, Grade 5, Blairsville Elementary

Brianna Mancini, Laurel O’Barto, Shelby Os-walt, Dillan Palmer, Nick Pecze, DeionRobinson, Dana Roth, Jacob Smith, Harri-son Taylor, Scott Thompson, Troy Williams,Cory Block, Nicole Boyer, Kayla Cahill,Channing Cavender, Vivian Chen, SydneyChisolm, Joshua Daugherty, Steven Davis,Jarod Dick, Travis Eckert, Raseland Fenn,Andrew Fisher, Mariah Fluke, Gabby Freder-ick, Lacey Foster, Tylor Grguric, HeatherHartman, Caitlyn Hauser, Tyler Halldin,Tiara Hazlip, Tyler Lenhardt, Devin McK-endrick, Hunter Noel, Corrine Moore, AlexParkhurst, Kristina Pizer, Michael Podolski,Corey Ramsden, Derek Rocks, Jaylin Ryd-bom, Allison Startari, Lauren Swanson, JakeSwiencki, Thomas Tripodis, Zachary Uss,Callie Shannon, Joel Stone.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol HayesHannah McConnell.

INDIANA AREA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Robyn Bailey-OrchardCarlee Benhart, Denali Davis, Emily

Farmer, Megan McCunn, Taylor Thomas,Lorraine Yerger.

UNITED HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: John DunnKeri Rhine, Deanna Chero, Caeley Reidell,

Cody Freeman, Corey Smith, Holly Hoff-man, Cody Thacker, Nick Robinson, Andrew

Lydick, Kassidy Warfel, Charles Heckman,Lucas Boring, Brad Busch, Travis Gabelli,Nicole Garshnick, Cody Henderson, JadeJohnson, Derrick McLaughlin, Alex Ofman,Miranda Pierce, Alyssa Reisinger, MorganRodkey, Brandon Sheiness, Tara Zamba,Tara Zamba, Travis Gabelli, Alyssa Reisinger,Lucas Boring, Morgan Rodkey, Cody Hen-derson, Alex Ofman.

Teacher: Chris WagnerChristopher Johnson, Kelsey Hoover, Alex

Medina, Stephen Weaver, Josh Young.

Grade 9

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol HayesBenjamin Bradshaw, Tyler Chambers, Amy

Frick, Joshua Helman, Matthew Hilliard, Je-remy Houser, Andrew Knupp, Dale Pearce,Megan Plants, Hannah Shirley, EricaStephens, Di Wu.

INDIANA AREA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Robyn Bailey-OrchardBrandon Dunlap, Vicki Grattan, Brendan

Bertig, Amy Colella, Emily Colella, Tim Fair-man, Rebecca Hildith, Carly Morrow, RobynNicewonger, Nyla Numan, Jem Bailey-Or-chard, Kiran Sharma, Mandy Slupek, GlennTravis, Bronwyn Kallsen, Chyenne Yeager,Rachel Floyd, Matt Holuta, Isaac Mastalski,Karina Montgomery, Thomas Nakrosis,Jeanne Marie Stalteri, Grace Williams.

Grade 10-12

NORTHERN CAMBRIA HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Deb FrontinoKaitlyn Sodmont, Olivia Rake, Stephanie

Overberger, Emily Stiles, Carina Perrone,Breanna Sabella, Matt Bugli, Marissa Whit-ed, Deanna Buck, Meghan Hasson, AmberSharkey, Ashley Buterbaugh, Devin Abrams,Nicole Williams, Carey Garrett, Regina Sher-ry, Bryanne Michaels, Lauren Ashurst.

Grade 10

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol HayesAubrey Frick, Paige Heiple, Kristen Henck,

Diana Marshall, Matthew Scott, AbigailShirley, Lauren Wolfe, Hyun Seung Woo,Casey Newcomer.

HOMER-CENTER JR-SR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Kevin WolfordChristian Mintzer.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: ???Avery McCoy.

INDIANA AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Erik PuskarNicholas DiGiorgio, Kristen Pisarcik, Na-

talie Brownlee, Abby Sergent, Tyler Cousins.

UNITED HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: John DunnKylie Wolfe.

Grade 11

APOLLO-RIDGE HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Deborah WrightLexie Orlowski.

BLAIRSVILLE HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Amanda McAnultyKatelyn Carr, Jessica Campbell.

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol HayesElliot Carl, Diana Marshall, Hanna Shirley,

Olivia Maderer, Matthew Hilliard, CurtisChambers.

HOME SCHOOLTeacher: ???Taylar Mayancsik.

INDIANA AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Erik PuskarCynthia Watt, Maggie Carty, Caitlyn

Palmer, Megan Dulion, Shannon Smith, Ra-matdulaye Ganda-Nabi.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOLTeacher: Amy KunselmanAlicia Zack.

Grade 12

CALVARY BAPTIST ACADEMYTeacher: Carol HayesMarah Campbell, Curtis Chambers,

Joshua Hilliard, Megan Kunkle, Hao-Ming

Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE this yearContinued from Page 46


You are an amazing cook. You can makethe best dinners.

You root us on during sporting events. Youget us ready for school in a great way. You al-ways have time for me even after you work along day at the Public Defenders office. Youare the best mom ever.

Love,Luke

HANNAH SCARDINADear Dad,I really admire you because you helped me

with my homework when I was having trou-ble. You helped me learn how to turn on theshower by myself and learn how to tie myown shoes.

You also encouraged me when I was at arunning race at the mall. I want to thank youfor all the things you have done for me.

Love,Hannah

(Sandy Smelko)CIAN WILLIAMSON-REA

Dear Roald Dahl,I like you a lot! I like you because you are

the best author I know. I have probably readall your books and the best one by far is “TheWitches.”

It’s about a boy who lives with his grannybecause he and his parents were in a carcrash. There are also books like “GoingSolo,” “Matilda” and “Esio Trot.”

I like your books because they are reallysilly. I was wondering if you are from Eng-land or Ireland because you use words like“knickers.” I love your writing!

ELIAS SUTFINDear Mom,I admire you because you are so kind. You

make the best parties. I love the Webkinzyou bought me. You make the best pictures.You make stained glass. I love your food. Youcomfort me.

You pick the best games. I love when youmake chicken fingers. It is fun when youtickle me. I am glad you encourage me tolearn. I am glad to have you.

EISENHOWER ELEMENTARY(Dawn Smith)

ERIC ATHERTONDear John,I admire you the most because when I ac-

cidentally bump into you I always hear youaccept my apology. I also admire you be-cause when you want to borrow somethingyou always say please and you are also pa-tient.

You use kind words and actions and youkeep promises. You make people happy withyour funniness and cool stuff. You are astrong, smart, artistic person. You are niceenough to let people in front of you. You waitup for me without hesitation.

Your friend,Eric

KATE HOUSERDear Ceci,I admire you because you help me learn to

stand up for myself when kids in the sum-mertime try to pick on me and I think that isvery nice.

I appreciate how you stand up for mewhen I’m too scared to do it myself. Also Ithink you’re a strong young woman and Iwant to be like you.

You make me very very happy when youcame to my house one day and said I was amiracle when I came. You have a specialplace in my heart and saying that makes meglad to have you as a friend.

Love,Kate

(Ed Kocinski)JULIAN YERGER

Dear Uncle Larry, I really admire you. You are a great person.

You design things for people. The first thing I admire is how you are al-

ways cheerful. I have never seen you glum. Ireally enjoy your stories. They are really cool.I always feel good around you. It gives me apeek at my future.

Next, I admire your accomplishments.Your job gives you plenty of money. That isprobably because you are very successful atwork. I think you are successful because younever give up.

Also, I admire you for your job. You are acivil engineer. You design roads, buildings,pipelines — you nearly build whole cities!What you build is really interesting. When Igrow up I want to be just like you!

I really admire you!

ELDERTON ELEMENTARY(Delores Craig)

CHANTELLE GRAY

Dear Troy Polamalu,You were a playing machine in 2010. Being

defensive player of the year, you showed ushow fast you were. The reason I admire youis because of how you play football andmake game-changing plays. I also like yourbushy hair.

Your fan,Chantelle

KAMERON RAMERDear Eminem,You have your own albums and even cre-

ated a recording company. You are especial-ly known for your rap music. You are smart.

When your dad left, you were only 18months old, but you helped your mom at

home like I do when dad is at work or isn’thome. You lost your uncle, who was some-one important to you.

I have never lost anyone important to me,but it makes me think of my aunt, who issick.

Your admirer,Kameron

HOME SCHOOL(Jamie Killeen)

ZACHARY KILLEENDear Dad,I admire you. You are a very wise man. You

are a very godly man. You correct me be-cause you love me and you want me to loveGod.

You are a good boss. You care for the peo-ple that work for you. You love my mom alot. You listen to her when she is talking toyou. You are a good listener. You are veryfunny and you make me laugh.

Love,Zack

HOME SCHOOL(Rebecca Turner)

JACK TURNERDear God,I love you and admire you because you

saved me. I had leukemia and I could havedied. You saved me because you love me somuch.

You gave courage to my family. You provid-ed good doctors, nice nurses and medicinefor me. You gave courage to me when I gotshots. I had friends and visitors and I wasnever alone!

Thank you, God, for saving me and for allthe things you did for me.

Love,Jack

HOMER-CENTER ELEMENTARY(David King)

WYATT McELHENYDear Grandma, You bought me a North America hunting

game for Wii. You tuck me in when I sleep atyour house.

You are very funny. You give me chunkyapplesauce that I love. You take me to thepizza shop. You let us buy toys. You makecookies and pizza. You let me turn on the TVwhenever I want. You let me run on thetreadmill.

We play games together like Rummy Cube.I love you.


Erica Kendra, Grade 5, Penns Manor Elementary


Lee, Olivia Maderer, Adam Heiple, Julie Ris-ing, Alicia Sandolfini.

INDIANA AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Erik PuskarMandy Gallo, Megan Parker, Kellsey

Pieples.

PUNXSUTAWNEY HIGH SCHOOLTeacher: Michelle HuttonAdam Reynolds, David Roberts, Matt

Weaver, Lucas Burke, Megan Smith, AlexHeitzenrater, Kaitlyn Roney, Justine Kaza,Natasha Kennis, Allie Shields, Sue AnnSmith, Katie Lindgren, Kaitlyn Nestel.


Nearly 4,000 students participated in NIE



GAVIN BROWNDear Mom, Thank you for everything that you have

done for me. You gave me life, you paid forschool and you make my meals when I amhungry.

You are beautiful both on the outside andon the inside. I love when you cuddle withme in bed. I like when you take me placesthat I want to go.

I just love you for being you.(Joe Kotelnicki)ALEXIS CLARK

Dear Aunt Beverly,I admire you because you fought in a war.

She risked her life for a lot of people. I nevergot to see her. She died before I was born.But, I think she would have been a goodaunt. I truly miss her a lot.

HANNAH SEVINDear Jacob, You are a smart boy and you are delightful.You are funny. You are helpful. You have

awesome hair. You are cute and handsome.You are my best friend. You make me laughwhen I am sad. I know that you will alwaysbe my best friend.

(Mary Ann Ciranni)RILEY RURA

Dear Mom and Dad,I admire you greatly. You give me every-

thing I need like clothes and food. You pro-tect me and give me a place to live and take

care of me. You always help me with myhomework and if I don’t understand it, youalways read me pages of Mary-Kate andAshley In Action books.

You help me get through it when my stom-ach hurts. You are always there for me whenI don’t feel good.

That’s why I love you, Mom and Dad. Youwash all my clothes. You buy me toys likeBaby Alive. I like when you tuck me in atnight. When my stomach hurts at night, youlay down with me until I fall asleep. You al-ways talk to me when I get home fromschool. That’s why I admire you.

JAMES LOUGHNERDear Tony Hawk,I admire you greatly. Your passion for

skateboarding is as big as mine is for base-ball. Your tricks are so cool that I can’t stopwatching you in the XGames. Your couragefor skateboarding is really cool. If you fall,you will just get right back up and keep try-ing that trick again. That’s why I admire you.

HORACE MANN ELEMENTARY(Dianna Bennett)OWEN MORRIS

Dear Mrs. Bennett,I admire you because you are such a great

teacher. I think that you are very nice. Youhelp me in so many ways that I can’t evencount them all. You are very funny. And youteach me lots of things. I like having you asmy teacher. That is why I admire you.

Sincerely,Owen

JORIE MEILDear Adennea, I admire you because I think you’re very

smart. You’re the one I look up to. You havelots of tricks for me to learn. I think aboutyou when I’m doing good work because youtaught me how to do good work. When Imake mistakes, you don’t care. You’re thebest teacher ever.

Yours truly,Jorie

(Shannon Tokar)ASHLEY YANNI

Dear Grandma, You inspire me a lot by knitting, you make

a lot of pretty stuff. You help me cook and Iam really thankful.

You always play with me when I havenothing to do. You help me do my home-work. You explain stuff when I don’t knowwhat to do. You always make me feel betterwhen I am sad.

You help me learn new prayers for mypapa. You help me learn new things. You dofun things with me. You never lie to me. Youlisten to what I have to say.

You make me smarter every day. You al-ways do the right thing. Most importantlyyou love me.

KIARA SMITHDear Dad, I love when I need help you help me. I love

when I am sad you make me happy. I likethat you love to sing. The way you are myfriend is amazing.

I like the way you act like you are silly andhug me. I can tell you love me so much. Youare funny and amazing. You are smart andlike to sing.

You help me read and do work. You makeme happy when I see you. You help me whenI am confused. You make me a better per-son. You teach me to try new things. I lovehow you take me places.

INDIANA WESLEYAN SCHOOL(Melinda Hosey)

CARRIE SPICHERDear Stacee,I like it that you share stuff with me. Once

you gave me money for a snack. You love me,too.

You help me also. You help me with mymath and homework, and my chores. Youhelp me feed, hay and water my pony. ForChristmas you gave me a Word Search andyou play with me.

JOEY DUNCANDear Mary,I admire you so much. Your job is probably

lots of fun, even though you do lots of paper-work. Working at the Eagle’s Nest is impres-sive.

I like going there because you let uschoose different things to do.


Emily Risinger, Grade 5, W. A. McCreery Elementary

‘To The Person I most admire’Continued from Page 48


PARKVIEW ELEMENTARY(Marian Klotz)

SAMUEL RODGERSDear Mom, I admire you a lot. You let me have friends

over on the weekends. I learned so muchfrom you, like how it is to be a teacher. Everyyear, you take me to great places for vaca-tion, like the beach and parks. I like it whenyou play games with me.

On some days you go to the movies withme. You make good food to eat for our fami-ly. I like it when you tuck me in at night. Youread me stories a lot. That is fun! You are somuch fun. I hope I am just like you when Igrow up.

Love, Samuel BLADE PIERCE

Dear Jessie, You are the person I most admire. I admire

you because you are an E.M.T. and helppeople.

You worked with my mom, Jen. I like youbecause you are loving. I love you becauseyou let us do things. I like the way you makeyour french toast. I’m so glad you let us sledride!

LOGAN BUSHDear Dad, I admire you very much. I have learned so

much from you. You have taught me how tofix old cars. You have taught me how to buffall parts of cars.

You have taught me how to put tires on.

You taught me how to put putty on holesthat are not supposed to be there. Thankyou for what you have taught me. I love you,thank you.

Love, Logan

PURCHASE LINE NORTH ELEMENTARY(Kerri Mountain)

ANDRE WRAYDear Brother Chad,I admire you very much. You are nice to

everybody and you are kind to me and otherpeople. You are cool! You always consoleeverybody.

Your brother, Andre

KYLE SMITHDear Sister,You are the best sister ever! You play Wii

with me and at camp you ride bikes withme. We take walks at night with my friends.In summer, we play a lot. You help me dohomework and read. You are lots of fun andyou are very special. I love you.

Love, Your brother

RAYNE ELEMENTARY(Lisa Nelson)

BRIDGET GARDNERDear Mommy,I am writing to you because I admire you.

You help so many people who need it. I lovebeing with you because you’re so much fun.You help me feel better when I’m sad orgloomy.

Here are some more reasons I admire you:You help me with problems I can’t tell any-one else. You try to be at the places you needto be at, at the right time. You cuddle me alot.

When I’m sick you take care of me. You doall the chores around the house. You’re spe-cial to me because you’re my mom and youdo the best you can, and there’s never been atime I didn’t love you. I hope you enjoyedthis and understand why I admire you somuch.

Your daughter, BridgetISABELLA KIRK

Dear Mom,I am writing this letter to tell you why I ad-

mire you. I admire you because when yougot the job at the hospital, you helped somany people. I admire you for being your-self.

Another reason why I admire you is be-cause you are nice and think of others. Somethings that you do for me are take good careof me and give me shelter. The biggest thingthat I admire you for is that you love meback. You are so special to me because I loveyou and you try to save other people’s livesat the hospital. The last reason you’re specialis you never give up. I hope you enjoyed thisletter and understand why I admire you somuch.

Your daughter, Isabella(Diane Greene)

JOSEPH SEMETKOSKEY Dear Sidney Crosby,You impressed me at how good you are at

hockey with your moves. Also at how youshow leadership to your team. I respect youbecause you score a lot of goals and you en-courage your teammates to.

That’s impressive to me because I playhockey and I want to be like you and how histeammates listen to him and also stand upfor him. My feelings about you are excitedbecause I would like to meet you.

Your biggest fan, JoeHAILEY McCUNN

Dear Mrs. Greene,I admire you because you are the nicest

teacher in the world. What you impressedme by is you get your paper work done andyou give us homework to learn about whatwe are talking about.

Sometimes you give us candy when wetake a test. You also teach us how to be help-ful. That is impressive because there is noteacher that would give us candy and it isnice for a teacher to teach kids about beinghelpful.

I am thankful for a teacher that helps melearn all the time and forever.

Sincerely,Hailey

SALTSBURG ELEMENTARY(Melissa Hall)

COLTIN-CULLEN SHEARERDear Mr. Crosby,I admire you because your talent is amaz-

ing. You are really good at hockey. You’reawesome at ice skating.

You’re awesome at playing hockey. Youhelped the Penguins win their third Stanley

Cup. You’re awesome at scoring goals. You’re

one of my favorite hockey players. You’re the best hockey player I know. I love

to watch you play.EMILY PAZAK

Dear Troy Polamalu,I admire you because you are loyal and

you help the Steelers. I admire your talent.You’re my favorite player. And you have apassion for football.

(Jeff Smathers)MITCHEL RAGER

Dear Troy Polamalu,I admire you because you are good at foot-

ball and you have really fuzzy hair. First, youare good at football. You’re the best on theteam. You make the Steelers win. I want toplay like you. Second, you have really fuzzyhair. It has a lot of curls. It would be reallyfun to play with. I want to grow curly hair.

From your best fan,Mitchel

COURTNEY BATTISTELLIDear Selena Gomez,I admire you because I want to be a singer

just like you and you’re so so so pretty to me.First, I want to be a singer just like you. I lis-ten to your songs and I get really inspired.Someday I want to be a singer. Your songsare really cool.

Second, you’re so so so pretty to me. I loveyour clothes. I have some of your posters. Iwant to dress just like you.

Your fan,Courtney

SEEDS OF FAITH(Timothy Johnson)MOLLY KODMAN

Dear Dad,I admire you because you make me eggs in

the morning. You work so hard for us. Youhelp people get better when they’re sick. Youspend a lot of time with us. You’re the great-est and the bestest dad ever. When you’re atwork I wonder what you are doing.

Love,Molly

BRADY KODMANDear Jesus,Thank you for dying on the cross. You rose

again for me. You are the Son of God. Thankyou for making me and the earth. You arethe best ever!

I wish I could see You, but I will see You inheaven. Thank you for making sports.Thanks for making books, math, and school!Amen.

Sincerely,Brady

ST. BERNARD SCHOOL(Vera Leonard)

CATHERINE BEVEVINO Ms. Osborne,I admire you because I love your books.

My favorite of yours is “Leprechaun in LateWinter.” I read that over four times. I liked itso much. I just got done with “Blizzard of the


Ashlee Graham, Grade 4, Elderton Elementary

‘To The Person I most admire’Continued from Page 49


Blue Moon.” Your admirer, Catherine

CECILIA SOBOLEWSKILexie,I admire you because you are good at the

French horn and you’re very nice to me. Ilove when you play with me.

My favorite thing is going on the ham-mock with you. You’re the best sister in theworld.

Your admirer, Cecilia McCREERY

(Kimberly Todd/Ed McCunn)JONAH VAGLIA

Grand Master H.U. Lee,How are you today? I am very well. What is

the 10th degree black belt form? My dad sayswhen I am a black belt I can visit you. Justbetween you and me, how old are you?

Do you practice your form every day? Howlong did it take you to get your 10th degreeblack belt?

Do you ever wake up in the morning andfeel pain all over? Well, my dad says pain isthe feeling you get when weakness goesaway.

I just checked out a book on martial arts.Did you know that there are more than 14different kinds of martial arts?

When I grow up, I want to be just like you. Iadmire you the most because you are one ofthe best martial artists on Earth.

Sincerely, JonahMADISON MUMAU

Dear Timmy,You know you’re like a person that’s in my

family. You can make my day if I’m feeling

sad and if I’m happy, we play a game. You’re the best friend I ever had, even

though you’re an adult. Every time I go to seeyou, we always have something to do.

I like to bring my scooter as you see be-cause it gives me something to do. You knowthat we help each other and talk to eachother. You’re my number one friend in theworld. I can’t wait to see you again. I wishyou were my neighbor.

If you were, we could play and talk everyday. I am so happy I met you.

Love, Madison(Reneé Tiesi/Ed McCunn)

ANTHONY TONERMom,I admire you most in the world, mom. The

first reason I admire you is because you al-ways help me when I need it.

Next, I admire you because you are alwaysthere for me and never let me down.

The third reason I admire you is you nevertell me to do bad things. That is why I admireyou.

As you see, I admire you the most in theworld, Mom.

Love, AnthonyALAINA LEASURE

Megan, I really look up to you because you’re great

and special. I love you so much! I really like how you

help me, and give me things. I really admire you and you have done lots

of good things for me, like listened to meand played with me when I’m alone.

That’s why I admire you so much.Love you, your sister, Alaina


Alania Kiral, Grade 6,East Pike Elementary

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2nd

Catch The Buzz with Teen Speak, Tuesdays.


Kindergarten classic comic winners

NADIAGOODYEAREisenhowerElementary

1st

ADAM BALLPurchase Line

SouthElementary

2nd

HAILEY DRENNEN-YACHISKO

Horace MannElementary

3rd


First-grade classic comic winners

NOAH PELES

Purchase LineSouth

Elementary

1st

ERIC WALTMANBlairsville

Elementary

2nd

KAYLA SEYMOUR

Seeds of FaithChristianAcademy

3rd


Second-grade classic comic winners

GENEVIEVESPADE

Homer-CenterElementary

1st

CAROLINEBIANCO

EisenhowerElementary

2nd

AMBERPALMERBlairsville

Elementary

3rd


Josi McConnell, Grade 4, Blairsville Elementary

NIE IN ACTION

TOM PEEL/Gazette

PRIOR TO the start of the NIE contests,Hastie Kinter madevisits to area schoolsto explain the processto the students.


• 9th Street Deli• Access Abilities• Affordable Interiors• All 4a Kid• Allied Milk Producers• American Red Cross,

Indiana County Chapter• Bastian Custom Homes• Beacon Ridge Skilled Nursing

& Rehabilitation Facility• Benamati’s Creekside

Convenience• Bouma Chiropractic Clinic, P.C.• Brown Family Chiropractic• Buggey’s Towing and

Auto Repair• Cambria-Rowe Business

College• Campbell Tire• Cavalancia Orthodontics• Center for Orthopaedics &

Sports Medicine (COSM)• Charlsons Furniture• Child Evangelism Fellowship• Citizens’ Ambulance Service• Colonial Motor Mart • Computer Bytes• Copper Beech Townhomes• Cutting Edge Countertops• Diamond Drug• D.L. Lockard Construction• Dr. Cowburn & Keppich,

Optometrists• Dr. Philip J. Losco, D.M.D., PC• Eaglescripts Apothecary• Elderton State Bank• EME Homer City Generation• First Commonwealth Bank• Gazette Printers• Giant Eagle • Gorell Factory Outlet• Grub’s Sports Bar• Hillsdale Nursing and

Rehabilitation Center• Hobby Speed• Hoff Chiropractic Clinic, P.C.• Holsinger, Clark & Armstrong,

Attorneys• Housing Authority of

Indiana County• Indiana/Armstrong Patriots• Indiana Audiology, Inc.• Indiana First Bank• Indiana County Recycling Center

YOUmake thisprogram

a success!

• Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC)

• indianagazette.com• Ironwood Grill• IUP Co-op Store• IUP Lively Arts/Arts Path• J&D Auto Sales• Jimmy Stewart Airport• Kerr Promotions• Krevel Supply• Lias Tire • Lucy Rae Gifts & More • Luigi’s Ristorante• Mahoning Physical Therapy • Mahoning Valley Milling• Mains Family Chiropractic• Maple Valley Personal

Care Home• Marion Center Bank• McAdams Construction • McDonald’s• William G. Mechling Insurance

Agency• Miss Laurie’s Gourmet Kitchen• Mohawk Lanes • Nap’s Cucina Mia• Norma White Realty• Putt Real Estate • Romeo’s Pizzeria and

Mediterranean Kitchen • S&T Bank• Saltsburg Pharmacy• Service Master of Indiana Co.• Sharon’s School of Dance• Sharp Paving• Shoenfelt Plumbing, Heating

& Cooling• Six Hand Bakery• Supinka & Supinka, Attorneys• Tate’s Supermarket• Tire Express• Tom’s Pizza and Restaurant• TriStar Motors• Uptown Fitness• Upstreet Financial Services• Valeski’s 4th St. Market• VNA - Visiting Nurses’

Association of Indiana County • White Township

Recreation Complex• Whitey’s Peetza & Eatery• YMCA • Zorko’s

2011 N.I.E. Advertisers

Documents

Thursday, March 31, 2011 - Indiana Gazetteepaper.indianagazette.com/docs/sections/110331.nie.tab.pdf · 2 — Indiana Gazette NIE Supplement, Thursday, March 31, 2011 The Gazette